I think the whole thread is a bit like flogging a dead horse but if anyone believes the long distance flights of the '20's and '30's weren't watching their fuel like a hawk they are crazy
These weren't commercial or near commercial - they were EXPLORATION - worse than even test flying.. Even now people flying small aircraft over long oceanic crossings are fuel crazy - read any article by a delivery pilot.....
I suspect that they were so focused on range and endurance (which they could monitor) that the risks of course (which they had little precise info on by modern standards), came a bad second