Introduction to Flying

mass produced to serve as fighters, bombers, trainers, as well 1 New York 6 Iowa City 11 Rock Springs as reconnaissance platforms. 2 Bellefonte 7 Omaha 12 Salt Lake City 3 Cleveland 8 North Platte 13 Elko Aviation advocates continued to look for ways to use 4 Bryan 9 Cheyenne 14 Reno airplanes. Airmail service was a popular idea, but the 5 Chicago 10 Rawlins 15 San Francisco war prevented the Postal Service from having access to a a i g r r p e l e a m ne e s n . t T i h n e 1 W 91 a 8 r . D T e h p e a r A tm rm en y t w an o d u l P d o u st s a e l t S h e e r v m ic a e il r s e e a r c v h i e c d e a to n 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15 train its pilots in flying cross-country. The first airmail flight was conducted on May 15, 1918, between New York and Washington, DC. The flight was not considered spectacular; the pilot became lost and landed at the wrong airfield. In August of 1918, the United States Postal Service took control of the airmail routes and brought the existing Army airmail pilots and their planes into the program as postal employees. Figure 1-6. The transcontinental airmail route ran from New York Transcontinental Air Mail Route to San Francisco. Airmail routes continued to expand until the Transcontinental Mail Route was inaugurated. [Figure 1-5] This route spanned Department of Commerce made significant advances in from San Francisco to New York for a total distance of 2,612 aviation communications, including the introduction of radio miles with 13 intermediate stops along the way. [Figure 1-6] beacons as an effective means of navigation. On May 20, 1926, Congress passed the Air Commerce Act, which served as the cornerstone for aviation within the Built at intervals of approximately 10 miles apart, the United States. This legislation was supported by leaders in standard beacon tower was 51 feet high, and was topped the aviation industry who felt that the airplane could not with a powerful rotating light. Below the rotating light, two reach its full potential without assistance from the Federal course lights pointed forward and back along the airway. The Government in improving safety. course lights flashed a code to identify the beacon’s number. The tower usually stood in the center of a concrete arrow The Air Commerce Act charged the Secretary of Commerce 70 feet long. A generator shed, where required, stood at the with fostering air commerce, issuing and enforcing air traffic “feather” end of the arrow. [Figure 1-7] rules, licensing pilots, certificating aircraft, establishing airways, and operating and maintaining aids to air navigation. Federal Certification of Pilots and Mechanics The Department of Commerce created a new Aeronautics The Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce Branch whose primary mission was to provide oversight for the began pilot certification with the first license issued on April aviation industry. In addition, the Aeronautics Branch took over 6, 1927. The recipient was the Chief of the Aeronautics the construction and operation of the nation’s system of lighted Branch, William P. MacCracken, Jr. [Figure 1-8] (Orville airways. The Postal Service, as part of the Transcontinental Wright, who was no longer an active flier, had declined the Air Mail Route system, had initiated this system. The honor.) MacCracken’s license was the first issued to a pilot by a civilian agency of the Federal Government. Some 3 months later, the Aeronautics Branch issued the first Federal aircraft mechanic license. Equally important for safety was the establishment of a system of certification for aircraft. On March 29, 1927, the Aeronautics Branch issued the first airworthiness type certificate to the Buhl Airster CA-3, a three-place open biplane. In 1934, to recognize the tremendous strides made in aviation and to display the enhanced status within the department, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce. [Figure 1-9] Within this time frame, the Bureau Figure 1-5. The de Haviland DH-4 on the New York to San of Air Commerce brought together a group of airlines Francisco inaugural route in 1921. 1-4