Captain Yvonne Pope Sintes on the BBC

BTW… the mirror compass, was on board a Morton Air Services Dak

hi again,
thank you to all who responded to my question,very interesting.

regards
jack…

My wife’s friend’s ex mother-in-law! She used to live on Menorca

Yep… I first met her there in 1992, when I was researching my Dan-Air book. I’ve been nagging Yvonne to do her story since then and finally got it picked up after a number of false starts! She retired there after her last 1-11 flight and remained in Menorca until Migel, her 2nd husband passed away when she moved back to the UK. I gather she’s just got a lifetime achievement award from the British Womans Pilots Assn last month!

Sorry for thread ‘drift’
This is a reasonable representation of the Spirit of St Louis cockpit,you can see the compass unit hanging from the roof,with the small mirror on the top of the panel to read it !

Hi Jack,

P.12 compass – most 1950s transport/bombers and

D4 Links
[ATTACH=CONFIG]224083[/ATTACH]

Including a recent refit to Lindy see Blue2 photo from the thread
http://s819.photobucket.com/user/Blue2MGB/media/Victor%20Stuff/IMAG1078_zps12e1cc5d.jpg.html

Regards
Ross

hi,morning,
just noticed in the photograph the compass mounted upside down, and the mirror to view it, I never saw this way before, would the face/dial have been adapted for this view. Also what a/c had this system?.

all the best for a happy and peaceful new year,
regards
jack…

Lovely clip thanks

The mirror system was in use before Lindbergh’s Atlantic flight ,he moved his original mag compass up to the top of the cockpit to get it clear of ferrous metal (made compass too inaccurate to compensate !) – which is probably similar for the photo you refer to – with the added advantage of being away from main electrics…

It was relocated to a position directly in front of Lindbergh’s head. The compass card which is the internal moving part of the compass which has the compass headings on it (north, east, south, and west) was printed backwards on the replacement compass which necessitated the use of a mirror on the instrument panel to actually read the compass. The compass installed apparently was not specifically made for the Spirit installation hence the reverse reading compass card.

Reverse reading compass cards were put in compasses which had remote installation locations which placed them well away from any substantial steel structure to improve the accuracy of the compass. Unfortunately, this also placed it sometimes out of direct view of the pilot so the compass was modified for this specific type of installation to read after being seen through a reflecting mirror.

My wife’s friend’s ex mother-in-law! She used to live on Menorca but – judging from the room in which she is sitting – it appears that she has returned to the UK. And much to my surprise, the clip can be viewed from outside the UK!

Excellent stuff.

hi,morning,
just noticed in the photograph the compass mounted upside down, and the mirror to view it, I never saw this way before, would the face/dial have been adapted for this view. Also what a/c had this system?.

all the best for a happy and peaceful new year,
regards
jack…