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)
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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
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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”
• 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
the masses and created a greater interest
▫ Helped keep aviation alive between wars
to
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
• 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
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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
• 5 min
▫ 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 highspeed 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
▫ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEbcFBdRs
A
• Earhart Clip
▫ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEbcFBdRs
A
Discussion
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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
• 5 min
▫ 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
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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
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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
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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
• 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
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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?
8. Who completed the first nonstop flight from NY to Paris?
9. What 3 aircraft companies eventually formed from Travel Air
Manufacturing Company?
10. Where is the light aircraft capitol of the world?
11. What were 3 improvements made to airplane design during this time?
12. Who developed the first practical helicopter?
13. What are the names and routes of the airmail routes established be the
McNary-Watres Act?
14. What airplane built by Douglas was the most successful of its time?