Ricker WINGS #3

2. What factors enabled aviation to emerge as a business in the United States in the 1920’s?

According to Tom Crouch, in his book Wings, several factors influenced the development of post WWI aviation as a business in the United States.  Most of these factors, however, fall into two categories: government involvement and philanthropic involvement.  For its part, the United States government saw the advantages of allowing private business to compete for Air Mail contracts and to develop air routes (Crouch 234-35).  Politicians and attorneys split military and civilian aviation and developed separate regulatory bureaus to oversee each (Crouch 234-35).  On the other hand, philanthropists also saw the advantages of developing aeronautics science and technology, which in turn would open up avenues of new business.  For instance, Daniel Guggenheim’s son flew in WWI and continued flying privately afterward (Crouch 236).  With his son’s urging, Guggenheim set up an endowment at New York University, with an oversight board filled with experts in “aviation, business, finance, and science” (Crouch 236).  The significance of these factors is that government regulation provided consistency, and philanthropic efforts fostered education and technological advances.  This would open up avenues for aviation businesses to grow and ensure that aviation experts would be trained and would go out and invent newer and safer aircraft.

5. Describe the role of the U.S. Postal Service in the development of aviation as a business.

Air Mail has been a political issue almost from its inception.  Says Tom Crouch in his book Wings, “Republicans objected to the domination of commercial aviation by an air force owned and operated by the U.S. Post Office” (232).  During the 1920s, while the Air Mail system was profitable in and of itself, it was in a holding pattern – not growing, and not causing much of a ripple in the business aspects of aviation. In 1925, President Coolidge signed the Air Mail Act, which switched Air Mail delivery from the government planes to private contractors (Crouch 233).  Air Mail service was expensive, and with the U.S. government paying premium rates, private airlines were making profits.  Eventually, new Acts changed the way air mail fees were calculated (to space considerations rather than weight), and so airlines began to use larger aircraft (Crouch 271).  The Postmaster General of the time, Walter Brown (a political crony of several presidents) began awarding Air Mail contracts based on the size and potential earnings of private airlines rather than taking lower bids from smaller operations.  While unethical in many respects, Brown’s rationale was that these larger companies would invest back into new airplanes, would create several dedicated routes, and would also add passengers (Crouch 272-73).  Eventually, this system created a scandal and, for a time, Air Mail service went back under government control; but, the military simply did not have the non-combat flying experience needed to fly these runs, nor the most up-to-date airplanes, so safety issues forced them to return the service to the private sector.  Although many airlines lost money during the interim, after regaining contracts they were able to rebound.  There is no doubt that the U.S. Postal Service played an important role in helping the aviation business grow.

13. How did the aviation industry and government encourage youth to be interested in aviation?

Since WWI saw the popular flying aces race into the hearts and minds of children and adults everywhere, aviation became a pop culture sensation says Tom Crouch in his book Wings (312).  Movies about war fighters quickly skewed into movies about civilian pilots, and even futuristic science fiction aviators came on the scene.  When the radio became a household fixture, exciting programs about aviators filled the airwaves.  This resulted in sponsor tie-ins such as books (Crouch 313).  Aviation theme comic strips also captured the imagination of young people.  Soon, “clubs for air-minded youths abounded” (Crouch 313).  These included the “Junior Birdmen of America” sponsored by Hearst newspapers, the Boy Scouts (which developed aviation themed merit badges), and the uniquely American trend of building model airplanes (Crouch 313-14).  “Leading aviation magazines,” such as England’s Flight, promoted model building (Crouch 314).  This attracted budding engineers; and soon, was “attracting bright youngsters into careers in aeronautics” (Crouch 314).  It wasn’t long before the aviation industry, as well as the government, took notice of this interest.  Eventually, school competitions for flying model airplanes were being held nationwide, and young people were encouraged to participate because it was “regarded as wholesome and patriotic” (Crouch 314).  The government agency, NASA, even went so far as to create educational material and train teachers how to use it to stimulate interest in aviation.  These efforts encouraged students to pursue careers in the aviation field.