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