As I looked down at the scenic Hudson River Valley during a flight to Albany, New York, (KALB) this week, I thought about aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, who made a similar trip more than 110 years ago.
Curtiss flew lower and slower, kept an eye on chimney smoke to help in reading the wind, and made two pit stops on the way. In my case the Garmin G5 in my Commander 114B’s panel displayed a small arrow indicating wind direction and speed. I didn’t need to follow the river closely because I could track the magenta line on the GPS screen. In truth, I left that to the autopilot for much of the flight. This might have offended Curtiss. In his day flying was a physically demanding challenge.
