CHAPTER II AERIAL TRANSPORT; ONE THOUSAND AIRCRAFT PUT TO BUSINESS USES; LINES ESTABLISHED OVER A LL aeronautical activity, in the last analysis, is aerial transport, for aircraft, to be useful in commerce, must carry either people or materiel. Regarded thus, aerial transport includes, not only the transportation of passengers, but all the peacetime activities to which aircraft may be put. Among these are the Aerial Mail of two and one-half years' successful operation; the Aerial Forest. Patrol, which is credited with saving a larger amount in standing timber than was appropriated for the entire Air Service; the employment of planes in newspaper, motion picture and advertising work; aerial photography in its many ramifications; map making and surveying; exploration; timber cruising; fish spotting and the saving of life and property at sea. That part of aerial transport, which has for its chief aim the fulfillment of transportation demands not met by the railroad train or the steamship, is destined within the next few years to be the most important feature of aeronautics. Therefore it is given precedence in the present volume, although it has scarcely had time as yet to be established. ONE THOUSAND COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT In the absence of any Federal system of registration it is extremely difficult to estimate closely the number of commercial aircraft in operation in the United States and Canada. It is believed that there are about one thousand, this approximate number being fixed. through manufacturers' reports and data gathered by the Air Service. The Manufacturers Aircraft Association prepared and distributed a questionnaire in an effort to obtain information from the operators of commercial planes. But due to the itinerant nature of much of the flying it has been impossible to trace and record the activities of more than one-half of the estimated number. Accepting the returns to these questionnaires as typical, generalizations for the entire one thousand have been arrived at. The accompanying table gives what is believed to be a fair sectional picture. It shows eighty-seven companies or individuals, of permanent location, engaged in commercial aerial transport. These are scattered all over the United States and Canada and, as far as can be learned, they operate from 365 to 425 machines of varying capacity and of both land and water types. All have terminal facilities of some sort and many possess well-equipped air ports. Still others operate from fields obtained through the interest and courtesy of municipal authorities. By far the greater mileage was recorded in short demonstration. flights of from 10 to 15 minutes, for which an average fee of $12.50 was charged. There was an increasing demand for transportation between cities and toward the close of the year considerable flying of this nature was being done, the average charge for such service being 65 cents a mile. On practically all inter-city flights, baggage or freight was carried, the quantity limited only by the capacity of the craft, reports showing an aggregate of 41,390 pounds. During the flying season, which varied according to the region, these eighty-seven organizations carried 115,163 passengers and flew a total of 3,136,550 miles. Accidents there were, and forced landings, but, according to the signed reports, in all the 3,000,000 miles flown, not a single person lost his life. Altogether, there were 222 forced landings and 88 accidents without fatalities. There have been fatal accidents in other instances, but so far as records show, most if not actually all of them happened in the course of stunt or exhibition performances, or under circumstances indicating that undue risk had been taken. It should be emphasized that, in the commercial business reported, not a fatal accident occurred, a fact in itself indicative of the comparative safety of travel through the air. THE GYPSY FLYERS Before proceeding further with the analysis it is well to review the progress of aerial transport in its application to the ordinary course of business. The first spring after the signing of the Armistice, thousands who had been engaged in military aeronautics, either in operation or production, turned to commerce. There was the airplane new, mysterious for the sight of which hundreds of thousands were eager. The first pilots to be released from the service were quick to take advantage of this popular curiosity. And so there sprang into full-fledged being, a new race the gypsy flyers. Equipped, for the most part, with Army or Navy training planes, they flew from point to point, picking up a gradually increasing trade, some of them realizing considerable profit. At first they operated from cow pasture to town lot and then, when local interest abated, flew on to other communities. Some of these men, more ambitious than cautious, came to grief and carried others with them — leaving behind fear and misunderstanding. Many, however, leased or purchased terminals, and some assumed incorporate responsibility, and thus established themselves as pioneers. It is to them that the art owes much. In the late winter of 1918 it was a distinction to have had a closeup view of an airplane. By the summer of 1919 a few hundreds of civilians, here and there, had experienced the sensation of flying. At the close of 1920, these hundreds had multiplied into thousands, many of whom flew no longer for "thrill," but for business or the sheer pleasure of dominion which powerful motion and exalted height alone can give. But gypsy flying continues and will continue so long as there are fairs or small-town expositions to attract curious folk from remote districts and consequently provide business for the alert and wandering pilot. This accounts for the inability to trace all commercial activity and is the basis for estimating that, during 1920, the one thousand machines believed to be in actual use, carried some 225,000 passengers and flew about 6,000,000 miles. PROOF OF FLIGHT IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD The transition period between itinerant and permanent flying has been particularly interesting, inasmuch as one experiment has led naturally to another and both have combined to produce further activity along practical lines. Thus the gratification of pleasure instincts through the patronage of "joy rides" or "excursions" has led to the establishment of aerial transport lines with increasing patronage between cities. And the ever-present desire of modern business for advertising has afforded opportunity for aircraft to demonstrate also their package or freight-carrying capabilities. Typical instances of the former are the success of the Aeromarine Sightseeing and Navigation Co.; the Aeromarine-West Indies Airways, Inc.; the America Trans-Oceanic Co.; and Aero Limited, all on the Atlantic coast, and the Mercury Aviation Co., of Los Angeles. The most convincing demonstrations of aerial utility were made either in sparsely settled regions where rail or road transportation was inadequate, or in more congested areas where the pressure of demand offset the sharp competition of established modes of convey ance. The experiences of the three big Atlantic coast companies, dealt with more fully later on, indicate the excellent opportunities for aircraft in centers of population. In the middle west, southwest and Pacific regions specific examples also may be cited. On one occasion, when the railroad schedules were interrupted, the President of an oil company, with headquarters at Tulsa, used a Curtiss "Oriole" for a two-thousand-mile inspection trip in Texas. and Oklahoma. By train or motor this would have required at least a fortnight, with many inconveniences. But by air it was accomplished in two days. As a result of this experience zone maps for aerial service are to be found in all the oil company offices; and inspection tours by airplane are becoming the rule rather than the exception. Again, a grain company in Nebraska found itself in a desperate situation when a sleet and wind storm halted wire communication. Negotiations were pending in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, on the immediate completion of which (due to the state of the market) depended profit or severe loss. The company chartered a Curtiss "Oriole," visited all the points desired and by this quick move was able to close every deal successfully. A rice grower in California made a hurried trip by air. His idea. was transportation, but as he passed over his fields the whir of the propeller startled wild ducks which rose in clouds from the grain crop on which they had been feeding. The idea of utilizing the airplane to patrol his property occurred to the planter. And now thousands of acres of rice lands are protected by flyers. AIRCRAFT UNIQUE IN ADVERTISING In advertising, aircraft are unique. They are not only the publicity medium-they are also the means of moving the goods. They are not alone the means of attracting attention, they carry the very individual or article which it is desired to advertise. The aircraft companies incidentally advertise themselves even while they operate and when employed to advertise other activities, they must, perforce, continue advertising themselves. What hint of the quick transportation of perishable foodstuffs is contained in the performance of an Aero Limited boat which flew to New York from Florida in sixteen hours with a cargo of grapefruit at a time of year when that delicacy was rare to even the choice menus of the north? And the traveling salesman who took a sample case in an Aeromarine flying boat up the Hudson, thus getting the jump (or the hop) on his competitors, surely was the first of a long line of "flying drummers." Ice cream has risen in popularity and in fact since prohibition was enacted. And it was the airplane that did it! Who ever heard of shipping frozen food hundreds of miles in the middle of summer without the aid of salt or ice? A Dayton Wright " Aerial Coupe" did the trick, flying high amid the cool winds between Cleveland and Washington with a special container of cream which later had the place of honor at a banquet of the Retail Ice Cream Dealers' Association. Mention of Washington calls attention to the Air Service, which is by no means insensible to the benefits to be obtained from letting the people see what an Army plane and flyer can do. The Air Service has probably obtained more constructive publicity out of a certain Glenn L. Martin twelve-passenger transport, which is in constant demand for the quick transfer of high officers, than out of many squadrons of strictly military types of machines. Aerial advertising has a double appeal. Today it is the airplane that is seen by all eyes on earth. Tomorrow, when many more thousands are flying and thinking of ordinary travel in the vernacular of three dimensions, that which is on the earth will be seen by all in the air. Today we have "flying billboards"-aircraft with signs on wings and fuselage. Tomorrow we certainly shall have signs on roofs and highways and who knows?-hillsides and pastures sown to advertise some commodity. And when that tomorrow comes who will deny the possibility of the family group at ease on the furnished or gardened housetop watching the sky parade, even as we now sit on the front porch and watch the ceaseless stream of motor cars? Alfred Decker & Cohn of Chicago; the William J. Wrigley, Jr., Co.; the Brandram-Henderson Co. of Montreal; the Simmons Hardware Co.; and the Dayton Co., dry goods house of Minneapolis, have established “stables" of Curtiss aircraft which serve the double purpose of advertising and transportation of salesmen and packages for urgent delivery. The Vivadou Co., filling an order for Mrs. Wilson, astonished even Washington, accustomed as it is to aircraft, by delivering the goods from New York almost to the gates of the White House in a Gallaudet "Liberty Tourist." POLITICS, RELIGION AND TRAVEL Aircraft have sometimes combined the three functions of publicity, passenger and cargo carrying. In the last national campaign the Republican, Democratic, Farm-Labor and Prohibition parties and the Non-Partisan League all utilized airplanes. "Vote for — was the legend painted on them the candidates ranging from a citizen of Queens Borough, New York, who aspired to be sheriff, to |