Chapter 3 The Golden Age

Preview Questions What were some early goals/milestones in aviation? How did the war ending affect the aviation industry? What happened to military pilots and planes after the war? Who were the barnstormers? How did they help aviation?

Flying the Atlantic 1st attempt made by Cmdr. Read (Navy) May 16, 1919 From Trepassey, Newfoundland to Lisbon Portugal Arrived May 20, 1919 Total time 26 hours 45 minutes First transatlantic crossing First nonstop only 2 weeks later 16 hours 12 minutes, June 14th to 15th Newfoundland to Ireland Capt. Alcock and Lt. Brown

After the War Airplane numbers at end of war France 67,982 Germany 47,637 Italy 20,000 America 15,000 British production, during war, from 20/month to 3,500/month At the end, 177,000 aircraft in service

3 days after war ends, US Government cancels $100 million in airplane contracts 175,000 workers laid off Industry production dropped 85% Surplus airplanes sold to the public, cheap Military aviation cut 95% Closed most airbases Now, lots of trained people with tons of time and lots of cheap cutting edge (for the era) equipment

Barnstormers Mostly ex-military Flying war surplus aircraft Like the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny Flew from town to town giving rides About $5 a ride May have joined a carnival or traveling fair Sometimes groups of pilots would join together and form a “flying circus”

First licensed black female pilot Wing-walkers Pilot flew, they would get out and walk on wing First licensed black female pilot Bessie Coleman Died in plane crash Barnstormers brought aviation to the masses and created a greater interest Helped keep aviation alive between wars

Military Air Power Develops Gen. “Billy” Mitchell still campaigning for separate and equal “Air Force” branch Believes that future of warfare lies with offensive aircraft Wanted to upstage the Navy Asked to be allowed to bomb ship to demonstrate superiority Congress offers captured German ship Thought to be unsinkable

Lesson lost on everyone The Bomb Run First day, light bombs, little damage Second day, 1000 pounders, still minimal damage Day three, 2000 pounders, ship sinks in 30 min. Lesson lost on everyone Mitchells requests refused This does convince the Navy of the future of the airplane, first aircraft carrier built early 1922

Flight Around the World 1924, 4 Douglas airplanes left Seattle The aircraft Boston, down between England & Iceland Chicago, made it Seattle, crashed in Alaska New Orleans, made it Took 175 days, only 2 planes made it back

Route: Seattle, Alaska, Japan, China, Indochina, Burma, India, Syria, Austria, France, England, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, Seattle

Further Accomplishments 1923, first airborne refueling Stayed aloft for 37 hours 15 min 1924, first coast to coast flight within 24 hours Took 21 hours 47 min Demonstrated that anyone could be anywhere in the country within a day 1929, first use of paratroops 18 men, weapons and supplies jumped at 3000 feet

Discussion Why were Americas airplane numbers so low at the end of the war? What did the end of the war mean for aviation? Examples? What was the most important thing barnstormers did?

Exit Slip 5 min Index card Name Draw a picture of a typical barnstormer airplane Share with neighbor

Preview Questions Has anyone heard of air races? Famous modern air race? What industry might have been opposed to the air mail service? Why? Who was Charles Lindbergh? Who was Amelia Earhart?

Air Races Played a part in aviation popularity Ralph Pulitzer offered a trophy to advance high- speed flight American airplanes were slow compared to European planes First Pulitzer air race in NY 1920 Winner Capt. Mosley at 156 mph Last Pulitzer air race in 1925 Won by Lt. Bellis at 248 mph

Red Bull Air Races http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUHMkGacF D8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZeBE9ttUzY

Air Mail Service began May 15, 1918 Aircraft and pilots borrowed from Army 3 months later Post Office Dept. hired its own pilots and bought its own planes Some of the first routes: DC to NY NY to Chicago via Cleveland Chicago to San Francisco Truly regular service did not start until July 1, 1924

Railroads opposed to airmail Air Mail Act 1925 Authorized PO Dept to issue contracts to carry mail Made aviation profitable Regulation began on May 20 1926 with the passage of the Air Commerce Act Established Aeronautics Branch within Dept of Commerce Responsible for licensing pilots, planes and airports as well as air traffic rules navigational facilities and publications

Charles Lindbergh Barnstormer, air mail pilot and Capt. in Missouri National Guard Decided to attempt non-stop NY to Paris flight Ordered plane from Ryan Aircraft co. Named plane Spirit of St. Louis May 20, 1927 left NY Arrived in Paris 33.5 hour later Became instant hero and promoter of aviation

Amelia Earhart Most famous female pilot Licensed in 1923 First solo woman flight across Atlantic 1932 20 hrs 40 min Active in air derby First president of “Ninety-Nines” International organization of women pilots Disappeared in 1937 during a round the world flight Plane went down over the Pacific

Lindbergh Clip Earhart Clip

Discussion What was the purpose of air races? Why did Pulitzer sponsor an air race? Why would the rail industry oppose air mail? Why was the Air Mail Act of 1925 so important to the aviation industry? What did the Air Commerce Act accomplish? Why was Charles Lindbergh so significant?

Exit Slip 5 min Index card Name Who was a more significant role model, Lindbergh or Earhart? Back up your answer Share with neighbor

Preview Questions Who are 2 of the most famous light airplane builders? (companies) What is high wing and low wing? When you hear “Sikorsky” what comes to mind? Which airplane became the standard for most airlines? Pan Am cornered what market of aviation? Most famous Zeppelin? Tuskegee Airmen?

Growth 1920s, growing market for private aircraft Many small companies formed to meet demand Travel Air Manufacturing Company Wichita KS Lloyd Stearman, Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech Built biplanes Cessna believed a monoplane would be more successful

The other 2 partners did not agree 1927 Cessna left and started Cessna Aircraft Company Later the last 2 partners started their own companies Beech Aircraft Co., 1932 Stearman Aircraft Co., 1933 All 3 stayed in Wichita KS Area referred to as the light aircraft capitol of the world

GC Taylor, building aircraft in PA Went bankrupt in 1929 William Piper bought company for $600 Renamed it Piper Aircraft Company Piper J-3 Cub

1915, Pres. Wilson formed NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics “supervise and direct scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view of their practical solutions” 1926, Daniel Guggenheim NY philanthropist Founded School of Aeronautics at NYU Established $2.5 million “Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics” Supplied grants and scholarships to student across the country

Improvements Monoplane adopted More efficient wing shapes Cowling covers Retractable landing gear Pressurized cabins Air cooled engines Wing flaps Ice control

Flight Instruments Lt. Doolittle did much research Enable safer flight at night and in bad weather September 24 1929, Doolittle made first successful “blind” takeoff and landing Took off made a 180 degree turn and landed all without looking outside of the airplane As a result, instruments and radio navigation equipment installed in aircraft

Rotorcraft Little progress made during WWI 1923, Juan de la Cierva built first autogiro Autogiro not as effective as helicopter Designs led to the modern helicopter

Real progress made in Spain, France and Germany during the 1930s Cierva’s hinged rotor and autorotation features contributed to helicopter design First helicopter with complete controllability Focke-Achgelis (FA-61) Built in Germany in 1937 by Dr. Heinrich Focke

Igor Sikorsky Developed first practical helicopter VS-300, later R-4 (military) Used during WWII

Commercial Aviation McNary-Watres Act Initially 1 airmail route Amendment to Air Mail Act 1925 Contractors now paid by available space Bonus for multiengine and instruments Incentive to build larger better airplanes Initially 1 airmail route North Route (NY-Chicago-San Francisco) 2 more routes opened, Central and Southern Central (NY-Kansas City-LA) Southern (Atlanta-LA)

Northern Route belonged to United Airlines Central belonged to TWA Transcontinental and Western Airlines Southern was American Airlines United contracted with Boeing, in 1933, to build new modern aircraft, 247, 10 passengers 400 lbs of cargo

TWA contracted with Douglas Aircraft Wanted an airplane “better than the 247” Douglas Commercial One DC-1 Soon gave way to the DC-2 in 1934 14 passengers and thousands of pounds of cargo American wanted a different plane from Douglas 1935, DC-3 24 passengers 5000 pounds cargo Most successful airplane of the time Adopted by civil and military aviation worldwide

Seaplanes Carry Mail Pan American Airways Began in 1927 to fly mail between Key West and Cuba Extended to rest of Caribbean and Eastern South America Igor Sikorsky built 4 engine S-40 flying boat Next, S-42 the Clipper 1934, switched to Martin 130 China Clipper 1938, Pan Am bought 6 Boeing 314

Pan Am History http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNlqnjKk3o0 &playnext=1&list=PLF98175531BEDA176

What about Dirigibles? Between WWI and WWII dirigibles and other rigid airships rose to the peak of their success and completely disappeared 1926, Treaty of Versailles allowed Germany to begin construction of Zeppelins 3 built Graf Zeppelin Hindenburg, exploded in NJ 1937 Graf Zeppelin II

Interwar Military Developments Military aviation viewed as a defensive weapon Though developments were made in bombers and fighters B-17 Boeing entered Army bidding process for a “multi-engine” airplane Other companies took that to mean 2 engines Boeing only company to go with 4 engines

Now saw need for new fighter, Curtiss P-36 Boeing 299 Military designation B-17 Could out-fly any fighter of the time Now saw need for new fighter, Curtiss P-36

War on the Horizon Civilian Pilot Training Programs (CPTP) Authorized in 1939 by CAA Created reserve supply of pilots incase of emergency 99th pursuit squadron, first all black unit 1941 at Tuskegee Sub Depot, AL

Discussion Why is Wichita KS considered the light aircraft capitol of the world? What improvements were made to aircraft during this era? What was Lt. Doolittle’s contribution? What type of aircraft led to the modern helicopter? What provided ample incentive to develop larger multiengine aircraft? How did Boeing win the Army contract to build the B-17?

Quiz Where did the 1st nonstop transatlantic flight originate and terminate? Describe the aviation industry post WWI. what 2 conditions led to the “Barnstormer” era in aviation after WWI? Who was the biggest military aviation advocate? Why were air races so important to Ralph Pulitzer? What year did air mail service begin? What allowed the government to issue contracts to private companies to carry air mail? Who completed the first nonstop flight from NY to Paris? What 3 aircraft companies eventually formed from Travel Air Manufacturing Company? Where is the light aircraft capitol of the world? What were 3 improvements made to airplane design during this time? Who developed the first practical helicopter? What are the names and routes of the airmail routes established be the McNary-Watres Act? What airplane built by Douglas was the most successful of its time?