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In 1938 the International Telephone Development Company (ITDC) was awarded a contract by the Bureau of Standards for the Aeronautical Branch of the Department of Commerce (BAC) to develop a blind landing system which would enable pilots to land their aircraft under conditions of poor visibility. In 1944, the term 'Blind Landing' was changed to 'Instrument Landing.'

 Identifier

NASM.1991.0089

Creator

Byrne, Paul

Date

1939-1944

Provenance

Mrs. Paul Byrne, gift, 1991, 1991-0089, unknown

Extent

0.45 Cubic feet ((1 legal document box))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection includes newspaper and magazine articles on ILS testing and development; ITDC proposal for the system; technical reports with engineering drawings; 24 photos of the Indianapolis testing, 13 with accompanying glass plate transparencies; and 3 autographed photos of pilot Benny Howard, CAA Chief of Radio Development Bill Jackson, and United Airlines Director of Flight Operations R.T. Feng.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Topics

Instrument landing systems

Aeronautical instruments

Aeronautics

Airplanes -- Landing

Instrument flying

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Clippings

Reports

Photographs

Drawings

Glass negatives