[ELI5] How did the auto-pilot in Charles Lingburgh and Amelia Earhart’s transcontinental planes work so they could sleep or use the bathroom?
In: Engineering
Lindbergh wrote that he would have fallen asleep (his flight was 33.5 hours), except there was a fly inside the plane which irritated him enough to keep him awake. He nodded off for a few seconds more than once, and nearly flew into the Atlantic.
“Use the bathroom” would be a joke. He had an extra fuel tank fitted inside the cabin, and it had to be right in the middle to keep the plane balanced as it emptied. There wasn’t even room for him to stand up, and it was so cramped he borrowed a mirror from a woman’s handbag to help him see out of the side window. He did have two sandwiches and a bottle of milk, though.
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