Question for History Buffs

[Guest Inflightmusic]

Hi,

 

I am producing a CD which is themed on a 4-8 passenger plane that goes down (over land) in a violent storm during the 1930's. The first track on it will replicate the sounds (and words exchanged) which would have been heard within the cabin.

 

I would be very appreciative if someone could point me in the right direction regarding the specific verbal dialog that would have taken place in this situation. - No, I don't mean swearing or prayers! - but the types of comments that a professional pilot and co-pilot would have made on the spot while fighting to keep control of the airplane under rapidly deteriorating weather conditions. Both comments about instrumentation as it existed then and mayday radio attempts would be appreciated.

 

I have several leads - especially a recommendation to read Macarthur Job's "Air Crash Vol 1" - however, it seems to be out of print in the US.

 

I also understand the phonetic alphabet would have been different - I have several versions of it and I am wondering if anyone can set me right on which exact version would have been used.

 

Thanks in advance -

 

Gaerwn

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

Hey great first post. Welcome to the site.

 

I'm sure some of our older members may be able to help.

 

 

[Guest Cat on a PC©]

You can get a "feel" for what is said in the cockpit in certain situations from voice transcripts. You may find transcripts from http://aviation-safety.net but I would caution you about using them. They can be both sensitive and gruesome to read and it must be borne in mind that, in some case, people died not long after the recordings stopped.

 

Unfortunately, voice recorders weren't around in the 30s and 40s, so the dialog would be very different.

 

Good luck on your project but keep in mind the sesitivity of the topic.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

Hi Gaerwn

 

This was the likely example used back then.

 

Letter till 1 March 1956 post 1 March 1956

 

A Able Alpha

 

B Baker Bravo

 

C Charlie Charlie

 

D Dog Delta

 

E Easy Echo

 

F Fox Foxtrot

 

G George Golf

 

H How Hotel

 

I Item India

 

J Jig Juliett

 

K King Kilo ('keelo')

 

L Love Lima ('leema')

 

M Mike Mike

 

N Nan November

 

O Oboe Oscar

 

P Peter Papa

 

Q Queen Quebec ('kweebeck')

 

R Roger Romeo

 

S Sugar Sierra

 

T Tare Tango

 

U Uncle Uniform

 

V Victor Victor

 

W William Whiskey

 

X X-ray X-ray

 

Y Yoke Yankee

 

Z Zebra Zulu

 

Which country is the flight in?

 

Is it just a sound of video CD?

 

Was it an airliner?

 

Are they close to the ground... imminent crash, or high... structural failure. This would have a bearing on how harsh they'd be with the controls and the degree of urgency in their voices.

 

A few quick thoughts;

 

The aircraft in that time frame would be something like a Ford Trimotor.

 

The racket of the engines would be ear splitting so passengers and crew wouldn't hear the other. Crew would shout to be heard by the other crew.

 

The Captain was a fairly autocratic fellow and the First officer knew his place in many cockpits and would have been careful in what he said.

 

Of course many captains were teachers and not total bastards.

 

Have you read "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann. He covers a "good" captain in the chapter about striking matches, to get a feel of a cockpit in those days.

 

More likely Morse code was used. Radios in the latter 1940s would be commoner. The airlines in Australia were using Morse in the fifties for long range transmissions over the majority of the country and the aeradio operators answered in Morse.

 

I'll have a talk to a couple of OLD pilots and ask their opinion when I have a better understanding of the situation you're setting up.

 

Sixties

 

 

[Guest Inflightmusic]

A few quick thoughts;

The aircraft in that time frame would be something like a Ford Trimotor.

 

The racket of the engines would be ear splitting so passengers and crew wouldn't hear the other. Crew would shout to be heard by the other crew.

 

The Captain was a fairly autocratic fellow and the First officer knew his place in many cockpits and would have been careful in what he said.

 

Of course many captains were teachers and not total bastards.

 

Have you read "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann. He covers a "good" captain in the chapter about striking matches, to get a feel of a cockpit in those days.

 

More likely Morse code was used. Radios in the latter 1940s would be commoner. The airlines in Australia were using Morse in the fifties for long range transmissions over the majority of the country and the aeradio operators answered in Morse.

 

I'll have a talk to a couple of OLD pilots and ask their opinion when I have a better understanding of the situation you're setting up.

 

Sixties

Hi Sixties,

 

Thanks for your quick and thoughtful response! I am happy to see that some of the sound effects we have made so far are on the right track - the engine and wind elements are quite loud, and I would anticipate that the character voices would have to shout to be heard above them!

 

As far as numbers, let's say pilot, co-pilot, and two passengers, male and female. In a small plane, would they be within ear shot of each other?

 

If morse was used, then I suppose it's unlikely that the keying would be heard through everything else happening. If there was a ground response in morse, would that be heard in the plane - or were there headphones? Sorry for my ignorance!

 

I envision the pilot trying to lower altitude in an attempt to find better conditions, also with a hope of landing eventually over forested terrain. I have recorded material that can approximate the plane coming down on and into contact with branches. In this audio CD, there will be a rapid segue into the next music track before the outcome of the fliers is clear.

 

The outcome will be clarified later in the CD.

 

Again, thanks for your help and I hope this makes the setup a little clearer.

 

- G.

 

 

[Guest Inflightmusic]

You can get a "feel" for what is said in the cockpit in certain situations from voice transcripts. You may find transcripts from http://aviation-safety.net but I would caution you about using them. They can be both sensitive and gruesome to read and it must be borne in mind that, in some case, people died not long after the recordings stopped.Unfortunately, voice recorders weren't around in the 30s and 40s, so the dialog would be very different.

 

Good luck on your project but keep in mind the sesitivity of the topic.

Thanks for this resource - and, be assured I will not take any material from actual transcripts... my interest predates these transcripts by several decades, but it is helpful to read through some of them as background.

 

- G.