Transcript Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Golden Age
1927-1939
Golden Age of Flying
Adventure
Exploration
Sport
Airplanes
• Increased safety
• Reliability
• Frequency
Charles Lindbergh
Early Life
• Worked on farm
• Dropped out of U. of Wisconsin
Flying
• Flying lessons – 1922
• 8 hours of dual instruction
• Wing-walking/parachuting
• Bought Curtiss-Jenny – 1923
• Continued barnstorming
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Military aviation
• Cadet - 1924
• Formation flying
• Bombing and strafing
• 104 cadets in class
18 graduated
Lindberg finishes first
2nd lieutenant
Released from active duty
Charles Lindbergh
Robertson Aircraft Corporation
• Airmail pilot
• St Louis to Chicago
• Tested airplanes
• Organized routes
• Hired pilots
• Arranged delivery trucks
• 1st airmail run – 15 April 1925
5 roundtrip flights per week
• Left in February 1927
Charles Lindbergh
Orteig Prize
• $25,000 prize
• First nonstop flight
• Between New York and Paris
• Either direction
Financial support
• St Louis business community
• $15,000 business loan
Spirit of St Louis
Wanted monoplane
• Reduced drag
• Single engine
• Additional fuel tank
• Periscope added
Ryan Aircraft
• $10,580
• Test flights – April 1927
• Flew from
San Diego to St Louis
St Louis to Roosevelt Field
Other Attempts
Rene Fonck (21 Sep 1926)
• Crashed S-35 on takeoff
• Survived – two died
Naval aviators (April 1927)
• Died during test flight
French airmen (8 May 1927)
• Nungesser & Colt
• Never seen again
Clarence Chamberlin
Richard Byrd
Atlantic Flight
Coast-to-coast speed record
• 21 hours 20 minutes
Packed for trip
• 4 sandwiches
• 2 canteens of water
• Army rations
Takeoff – 20 May 1927
• 07:52 AM
• 450 gallons of gas
• 20 feet clearance of wires
Atlantic Flight
Challenges
• Skimming over storm clouds
• Flying as low as 10 feet
• Icing
• Flying blind in fog
• Navigating by stars
Landing
• Le Bourget Airport
• 21 May 1927
• 10:22 PM
Charles Lindbergh
Won Orteig Prize
Awarded Legion of Honor
Chevalier of Royal Order Leopold
Distinguished Flying Cross
Promoted to Colonel
Congressional Medal of Honor
Time “Man of the Year”
Brief flights in Europe
Longines watch
Charles Lindbergh
1st Goodwill Tour
• Sell aviation
• Promote commercial aviation
• 20 July to 23 October
Visited all 48 states
82 cities
30 million people
22,000 miles
Logged 260 hours 45 minutes
147 speeches
1,290 parade miles
Charles Lindbergh
1st Goodwill Tour
• Pilot applications tripled
• Licenses aircraft quadrupled
• Passengers
1927 – 5,782
1929 – 173,405
3,000% increase
Charles Lindbergh
2nd Goodwill Tours
• Nonstop Washington to Mexico City
26 hours 15 minutes
• 17 Latin America countries
9,000 miles
• Flew airplane to Washington
Donated to Smithsonian
174 flights
489:28 hours logged
Charles Lindbergh
“Crime of the Century”
Move to Europe
• Return to U.S.
• Temporary call-up to active duty
Dr. Alexis Carrell
• Glass perfusion pump
• Future heart surgeries possible
Travel to Germany
• Report on German aviation
• German award
Charles Lindbergh
America First
• Proposed neutrality act with Germany
• Resigned commission
Anti-Semetic
• FBI investigates Lindberg
• Future heart surgeries possible
United Aircraft
• Tech representative - Pacific
• Flew over 50 combat missions
Brigadier General appointment
ADVENTURE, EXPLORATION,
AND SPORT
Dole’s Pacific Air Race
• $35,000 prize
• Nonstop flight
• Oakland to Honolulu
• 15 airplanes entered
3 crashed before race
Dole Derby
16 August 1927
• 8 participated
2 crashed on takeoff
2 went missing
1 returned for repairs
• Search for missing
• Disappeared
• 2 planes completed race
Wooloroc
• Art Goebel and Bill Davis
Aloha
• Second prize - $10,000
Other Pacific Crossings
Oakland to Sidney, Australia
• 31 May to 9 June
83 hours 38 minutes
Japan to Wenatchee, Washington
Clyde Pangborn
• October 1931
Atlantic Crossings
South Atlantic Ocean
• Italian Francesco de Pinedo
Amelia Earhart
• 1932
Solo, nonstop transatlantic flight
James Mollison
• First east-to-west solo crossing
• England to Cape Town
Airship Graf Zeppelin
• 18 crossings (S. Atlantic)
Round the World
Graf Zeppelin
• Lakenhurst start/stop
• 21 days, 5 hours, 31 minutes
• 20,651 miles
Wiley Post
• 1931
8 days 15 hours 51 minutes
• 1933 – solo
7 days 18 hours 49 minutes
• Monoplane “Winnie Mae” on both trips
Round the World
Howard Hughes
• Lockheed Super Electra
• 3 days, 19 hours
Polar Flights
• Byrd
South Pole – November 1929
• Russian crew
First nonstop great-circle flight
Soviet Union to United States
63 hours 17 minutes
Italian Distance Flight
Benito Mussolini
• Chicago World’s Fair - 1933
• Squadron of airplanes (Flying Boats)
• 25 airplanes
One lost enroute
Flew in formation over Fair
One lost on return flight
MacRobertson Air Race
October 1934
• $75,000 prize
• England to Melbourne
No limit to aircraft/power/crew size
5 compulsory stops
Initial field - 60
Start of race – 20
9 finished race
Scott and Black winners (Britain)
• 71 hours 0 minutes
ADVENTURE, EXPLORATION,
AND SPORT
Dole’s Pacific Air Race
Atlantic Crossing
Round the World
Polar Flights
Italian Distance Flights
MacRobertson Air Race
ALTITUDE FLIGHTS
Altitude Flights
Speed Flights
French Raids
Light Airplanes
Autogiros
Homebuilt Aircraft
• Flying Fleas
• Homebuilt Movement
Gliding
ALTITUDE FLIGHTS
Flight over Mt. Everest (29,030 ft)
• April 1933
• PV.3 Torpedo Bomber
• Lord Clydesdale/Dave McIntyre
Balloonists
• 1934
Explorer I
Captain Orvil Anderson
More than 11 miles
• 1935
Explorer II
72,395 ft (13.7 miles)
SPEED FLIGHTS
Absolute Record
• 278.481
• 297.817
• 318.624
• 407.001
• 440.678
• 463.921
• 469.224
(May 1927)
(November 1927)
(March 1928)
(1931)
(1934)
(March 1939)
(April 1939)
LIGHT AIRPLANES
Popularity of airplanes
• Manufacturers produced small planes
Private pilots
High performance
Competitive aviators
• De Havilland D.H. Moth 60
Bi-plane
Two-seater
Over 1,000 built (1925 – 1934)
• Taylor Aircraft Company
• Piper Aircraft Corporation
• Stinson
ADVENTURE, EXPLORATION,
AND SPORT
Golden Age
Autogiros
• Both rotor and propeller
Rotor generates lift
Propeller draws aircraft forward
Competitive aviators
Juan de La Cierva (Spain)
Homebuilt Aircraft
• Standard feature of aircraft
• Heath “Super Parasol” kit
Popular Mechanics
• Pietenpol’s “Air Camper”
Modern Mechanix
Flying Fleas
Henri Mignet
• Built own airplanes
• Inspired homebuilding movement
“The Flea of the Sky”
• “a kite with an auxiliary engine”
Did not have
•
•
•
•
Ailerons
Slots
Elevators
Cowling
Flea rally - 1935
ADVENTURE, EXPLORATION,
AND SPORT
Gliding
Germany
• Enrollments increased yearly
1930s – 10,000 members
• Investigated thermals
Fly in front of storm
Cloud to cloud
City thermals
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
Aéropostale
• Airmail service between France and S.
America
• Strong government support
• Competed with Lufthansa
• Longest line of routes in world
• Scandal in 1930s
• Lost subsidy
• Liquidation and bankruptcy
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
French Aviation
• Merged 5 airlines into 1 (Air France)
Air Orient
Air Union
CIDNA
SGTA
Aeropostale
Air France
• National airline
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
French Aviation
• 1930s – decline in aviation
Poor domestic economy
Government corruption
Civil war in Spain
Fasicm
Military strength
• 1937 – produced 37 planes/month
Custom craft techniques
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
Deutsche Luft Hansa
• Installed radios on large transports
• Instrument rating compulsory-1926
• 1928 – refreshments for passengers
• Large European network
• Flew more miles
• Transoceanic Routes
N. Atlantic Ship-to-land service
Floatboat off passenger ship to New York
S. Atlantic service - 1934
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
Deutsche Luft Hansa
• International Cooperation
Reduce competition along routes
China service – 1930
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
British Airlines
• Imperial Airways
Neglected domestic routes
Did not improve colonial routes
• Hillman
• British Airways
British government
• Divided international routes
• Imperial – long Empire routes
• British Airways – short Empire routes
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Air Mail Act of 1925
Stimulated formation of airlines
• Air Mail Act of 1930
Premium to airlines
Transported passengers and mail
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
Mergers
• United Airlines ---- Boeing’s United
Aircraft and Transport Corporation
• Eastern Airlines ---- Florida Airways
and Pitcairn Aviation
• TWA ---- Transcontinental and
Western Air
• American Airlines ---- 82 small
airlines
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Air Commerce Act
Bureau of Lighthouses
• Airway development and maintenance
• Light beacons, navigational aids
Bureau of Standards – government lab
• Aeronautical research
Coast and Geodetic Survey
• Mapping airways
Commerce Department
• Air regulations
• Administration of Aeronautics Branch
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Air Commerce Act
Test/license pilots
Issue airworthiness certificates
Make/enforce safety rules
Establish airways
Operate/maintain aids to air navigation
Investigate accidents and incidents
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Jeppesen
Airmail pilot – Elrey V. Jeppesen
Recorded detailed notes in notebook
Charted “letdown procedures for emergency
airfields along routes
Other pilots requested info
1934 – published airway information
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Airmail Scandal
9 Feb 1934
Postmaster James A. Farley
• Cancelled airmail contracts within U.S.
• Charged collusion
• Congress investigates
FDR – directs Army Air Corps to fly mail
19 February to 1 June
• Not prepared
• Fighter planes/trainers not appropriate
• Many pilots had little experience
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Army Air Corps
Suspended service - March 10 to 19
Reorganize for safer operations
• 14,745 hours
• 1,707,559 miles flown
• $3.76 million dollars
$2.21 per-mile cost
Contract airlines - $0.54
• Failed test of readiness
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Air Mail Scandal
Congress force separation of
• Airlines flying mail from
• Companies that produced aviation
equipment
DC-3 emerged
• Requirement
Airlines carry passengers without
subsidy
• Popular with passengers
• Over 10,000 built in 1930s and 1940s
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
United States
• Pan American
Scheduled service in 1927
Juan Trippe
Secured monopoly rights on routes
Passenger service across Pacific Ocean
• 1936
• Prepared routes
• Constructed bases
Commercial Airlines and Airliners
Airships
• British Airships
R. 100
• German Airships
Graf Zeppelin
Hearst funds
Hindenberg
Commercial Aviation
Aviation Radio and Military Aviation
Early Radios
• “Radios must be improved a lot”
• 775 of 8,000 civil airlines
• Only 326 two-way capability
Four-Course Radios
• Two directional signals “N” & “A”
• Figure 8 pattern
• On-course signal – steady dash
• Morse Code
Aviation Radio and Military Aviation
Accidents
• Lack of familiarity with radio
navigation
• Faulty reception
• Dec 1936 – Jan 1937
5 airline crashes
Martin Johnson
Aviation Radio and Military Aviation
Pacific Radios
• Pan Am
• Long-range direction-finding
equipment
• Amelia Earhart flight
Military Aviation
Chaco War
Abyssinia
Spanish Civil War
Nazi Germany
Sino-Japanese Conflict
Military Expansion