Was it a pilot or someone inventing planes.
2007-11-11 16:06:36 · 4 answers · asked by grey g 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
What I heard was that it referred to doing something risky on instinct alone. It was commonly used in the World Wars (especially the First, where instruments were rudimentary at best), as noted above, when a person's visibility was affected by fog, clouds, darkness, and so on. The pilot had to rely on instinct to navigate, judging the movement of the airplane by the vibration and shifts in gravity of the chair they were sitting in.
2007-11-11 16:10:20 · answer #1 · answered by camel herder 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In early aviation, when planes were piano wire and fabric holding them together, it was a hit or miss whether you were going to make it back or not. You were basically flying by the seat of your pants which was pretty much just hanging out there feeling the airplane's movement from your seat. Instruments such as turn and bank, artificial horizon and the like were not yet invented. The term has carried over to modern pilots who are flying at the limits of their experience or beyond.....
The term of "Cover your A$$" was coined during WWI when biplanes were flying low over the trenches, the ground forces would shoot up and sometime hit a pilot. The pilots started to take the round stove covers off the top of stoves to sit on, that provided a slim amount of "cover to their A$$" and was the first aircraft armor used.
2007-11-12 00:15:38 · answer #2 · answered by fogtender 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Flying by the seat of your pants
Meaning: To do something without planning, to change course midstream, to figure things out as you go.
Example: Most stock investors are not making educated decisions, they are just flying by the seat of their pants.
Origin: Before airplanes had sophisticated instruments and flight control systems, and even today, planes are piloted by feel. Pilots can feel the reactions of the plane in response to their actions at the controls.
Being the largest point of contact between pilot and plane, most of the feel or feedback comes through the seat of the pants.
If you are "flying by the seat of your pants" your are responding to the feedback received."
2007-11-12 00:31:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
old phrase referring to pilot judgement. for more info, go to THIS WEB SITE:
www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/139400.html
2007-11-12 00:12:56 · answer #4 · answered by Mike 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋