“Blinded” Pilot Flew and Landed in Newark, NJ by Using Radio

On March 21, 1933, Department of Commerce pilot James L. Kinney, climbed into the cockpit of a plane in College Park, Md, pulled a hood over his head and fastened it. Then, unable to see anything of the outside world, at 9:30 a.m. he took off, using instruments and radio guides alone. Kinney completed the first cross-country test of an all-instrument flight by flying mostly through fog and landing at Newark, NJ.

Kinney was accompanied by Harry Diamond, a Bureau of Standards scientist who helped develop the instrument landing system, and William LaViolette, a radio technician.