How did airplane pilots know where to fly before they had GPS to help guide them?
Airplanes are more than just a way to get from one place to another quickly—they are historical artifacts! To keep those planes flying high and on the right route, lighted airway beacons and radio communications were developed during the “Golden Age of Aviation” between World War I and World War II. Even during the challenging years of the Great Depression, these innovations propelled the use of planes by services like the United States Postal Service to get mail across the state, country, and world faster than ever before.
Let's take a look
Questions to consider
Why did more companies start making airplanes in the early 1900s? How were the companies affected by the Great Depression?
How did airplane pilots know where to fly before GPS? What tools or systems did they use, and how did those change over time? What are some tools you use (that aren’t GPS) for getting to the places you want to go?
What does the United States Postal Service have to do with the history of aviation? How did the USPS put new navigation technologies to use in their services? How do you think technology impacts mail delivery today?
Meet the historians
Get to know the historians. Each historian in this episode has a card with information about that historian.
There are 3 cards to read.
Taylor L. Bailey
Public Historian
I get to look at things and moments in history and teach others about them!
Ami Eckard-Lee
Museum Creative Director
Think history is boring? My job is to convince you otherwise!
Sergio González
History Professor
I research and teach about the history of Latinos in the Midwest.
Quote from a historian
“Something that happened in the '20s was aviation got really popular in the United States.”
Ami Eckard-Lee
Episode credits
Producer
David Boffa
Hosts
Taylor L. Bailey
Sergio González
Special Guest
Ami Eckard-Lee
Research and Writing
David Boffa
Ian Glodich
Ryan Hendricks
Ami Eckard-Lee
Michael John Jaeger
Videography
David Boffa
Ryan Hendricks
Ian Glodich
Art Design
Terrance Volden
Editing
Ian Glodich
David Boffa
Captioning
Catie Pfeifer
Translation Services
Rev
Educator Support Materials
David Boffa
Mia Forslund
Jen Kobylecky
Web Design
Charles Barrows
Erika Kachama-Nkoy
Web Development
John Vieth
Graphic and Motion Design
Danielle Riseley
Charles Barrows
Ian Glodich
Additional Production Support
Philip Ashby
Al Barcheski
Terrance Volden
Kurt Kaspar
Doug May
Megan Monday
Zack Sieger
Executive Producer
Ryan Hendricks
Director of Education
Megan Monday
Director of Television
Jon Miskowski
Project Partners
Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History
UW–Madison Libraries
Wisconsin Historical Society
Special Thanks
Kelch Aviation Museum
Funding provided by
Timothy William Trout Education Fund
a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout
Eleanor and Thomas Wildrick Family
Focus Fund for Education
Friends of PBS Wisconsin