On 24 September 1929, Lieutenant James H. Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Corps, made the first completely blind airplane takeoff flight and landing, solely by reference to instruments on board his aircraft. Flying from the rear cockpit of a NY-2 Husky manufactured by Consolidated Aircraft in Buffalo, NY, Doolittle had his visual reference to earth and sky completely cut off by a hood enclosure over his cockpit.
Learn more about Consolidated Aircraft and see the Fleet Model 1 biplane descended from Doolittle’s aircraft at the Niagara Aerospace Museum.
See more at This Day in Aviation.