By 1928, Weems was introducing a practical system of celestial navigation.
While instructing Lindbergh, he used several new innovations, most of his own design. After this training, Lindbergh would never again fly long distances without having the latest in celestial navigation equipment.
“By ordinary methods it requires from fifteen minutes to half an hour to plot a position. . . . Weems’ simplified method reduces this time to forty seconds on a starlit night, or two minutes by day.” — Popular Science Monthly, August 1928
In 1933, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh undertook a demanding five-month, four-continent airline survey flight from the North Atlantic to Europe, Africa, and South America that tested the viability of the Weems System of Navigation.
Their open-cockpit Lockheed Sirius Tingmissartoq was far better outfitted for navigation than the Spirit of St. Louis. Charles and Anne demonstrated that long-range air navigation could be safe, practical, and reliable.
