In 1929 Jimmy Doolittle made the first take-off, flight, and landing using instruments alone, without outside visual reference. The achievement was crucial for safe flying in poor visibility and at night. It helped make scheduled aviation more reliable and less dependent on fair weather.

Instrument flight changed the poetic relationship between pilot and sky: seeing gave way to trusting dials. Modern writers found in such technology a potent image of faith, abstraction, and human dependence on machines.