Historic blind instrument flight not for Wonder Lake winter drivers to emulate

Visibility is crucial when driving and a Wonder

Lake winter poses a problem for winter drivers.

Proper precautions are the solution.

Sept. 24, 1929, famous WWII pilot Jimmy Doolittle did something incredible; he was the first man to take off in an aircraft, fly a set course and then land the aircraft only using instruments. He had no windshield to look out of. That’s an amazing accomplishment but it’s not something you want to do in your car pulling out of your Wonder Lake driveway.

Of course, it’s best if you keep all four of your car’s tires on the ground – your car probably isn’t designed to fly. But even with the tires hugging terra firma, putting a black screen over the windshield while you drive is not a good idea.

You want to see where you’re going. As insane as some might have considered Doolittle’s feat in 1929, driving without good vision is probably crazier. Remember, there are other cars on the road. But you don’t need a black screen across the windshield to struggle with vision, especially with winter making its approach.

In the summer, driving at night with the headlights off will put you at risk. But with winter conditions, even the headlights might not be enough. Considering the following conditions that might impede your vision:

Fogging: The windshield fogs because there is moisture inside the car and a temperature variation between the inside air and the air outside.

Frost: Frost generally accumulates on the windshield while the car is sitting. Moisture, generally, but not always, outside the car accumulates on the windshield and other windows. It’s not exactly ice, but it can create a sheet that is almost impossible to see through.

Ice: As opposed to frost, ice is the actual frozen buildup of moisture on the windshield and windows. This can occur when the warm air inside the car melts snow on the outside and then, when the vehicle sits, the melted snow freezes. It can also happen when weather conditions outside the car conspire to create a sheet of ice on everything, including your car.

Snow: This, of course, occurs when it snows. You may come out to the car after it has sat while it is snowing out and snow will have piled up on the vehicle.

Dried roadsalt: This occurs when you’re driving behind other vehicles on wet pavement where roadsalt has been spread. Tiny droplets of moisture, filled with roadsalt, land on your car and dry.

It is entirely possible that you will face more than one of these conditions as the same time. One at a time, or two or more together, can make visibility while driving difficult if not impossible. You have to be prepared.

You need an ice scraper and snow brush to clean the windshield and windows before you go (clean snow off the car in general, as well, or it can blow up into the windshield once you hit the road). You need a defroster that works to help eliminate frost on the windshield and to keep it from coming back as you drive.

And you want good wipers and plenty of windshield washer solvent.

Gen. Jimmy Doolittle planned and prepared extensively for his blind-piloting instrument flight. You need to be almost as fastidious in preparing to drive this winter so you can see where you’re going.