They planned each flight on charts using a pencil and a straight edge. During flight they check their position using VORs. Note that VORs are rarely flown directly to or from. They are used for reference by means of triangulation (using two VORs to check your exact position) or by using DME. The advent of GPS systems really took the fun out of old-fashioned VOR planning and navigation. Its much more gratifying to see your destination airport at the end of a manually navigated flight.