The first intrepid
aviators who lifted off in heavier than air machines were all too aware of the
huge gulf between the urge to fly and the strenuous, dangerous business of
keeping a plane aloft. But thanks to the risks they took in testing out new
technology, aircraft quickly improved until they were safe and reliable enough
to carry fare-paying passengers.
Instrument panels
on the earliest aeroplanes were rudimentary in the extreme. To get their
bearings and judge conditions as they flew, pilots simply kept their eyes
peeled and looked around them. On clear, days using observation with the naked
eye, it was relatively easy to tell if the plane was flying straight and level,
and to judge manoeuvres involving climbing, descent and banking with reasonable
accuracy. If pilots lost their way, all they needed to do was drop down low
enough to pick up a railway line.
Then follow it to a
station and read and large signs on the platforms. But the moment a plane flew
into cloud, visibility disappeared and the risk of an accident increased
dramatically.
Breakthrough
in Aerial Navigation
When making his
cross-channel flight in 1909, the only instrument and board Bleriot’s Type XI
monoplane was a fuel gauge. But before long, cockpits began to fill with
instruments that made flying a less haphazard affair. From 1941 onwards, most
aircraft were equipped with an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, a rev counter
a thermometer, a clock and a roller map. Radios were introduced very early on,
but their usefulness was limited as aerials that would allow anything but very
short range communication were too heavy.
The answer was a
radio receiver and directional antenna linked to a dial to tell the pilot or
navigator where incoming radio compasses were fitted with a small electric
motor that kept the antenna turning constantly.
As night flying
became more commonplace, well-used air routes were marked with beacons along
their entire course. But again, this system only really worked in fair weather
conditions.
The first airport serving
London was at Croydon, which opened to commercial traffic in 1920. However, in
1933 to cater for the growth in air travel, the Air Ministry approved
commercial flights from Gatwick. Heathrow was opened in 1946. 
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