5. Describe the role
of the U.S. Postal Service in the development of aviation as a business.
As late as 1933, the Post Office was contributing almost 75%
of the corporate revenues through their airmail contracts (Crouch, 271). Most
people still were not flying from one coast to the other, but the postal
service jumped on the opportunity to send mail via air. Postmaster General
Brown put together a linked network of air routes that serviced many of America’s
largest cities. This was helpful in the future, for the U.S. was now connected
from one coast to the other via the air routes. However, air travel was still a
dangerous operation, which is why many people preferred to still use trains;
yet they all still used the airlines for carrying the mail.
8. Why does the
author compare the air races of the twenties and thirties with stock car
racing?
The author states that some of the air races provided almost
pure entertainment (Crouch, 289). This is similar to many of the stock racing
that is seen today. Closed-course air racing turned into a popular spectator
sport much like car racing. The potential for danger and accidents in both race
environments also played a role. A small group of small-scale designers and
builders of aircrafts sponsored much of the racing and the building of the
airplanes. The racers soon began to be seen as celebrities, and the author states
that the men and women flying the winning airplanes emerged as some of the “best-known
figures of their generation” (Crouch, 288).
13. How did the
aviation industry and government encourage youth to be interested in aviation?
Hollywood films and radio shows broadcasted aviation into
the lives of the everyday people. There were clubs for the youth who were
interested in aviation, the best known being the Junior Birdmen of America
(Crouch, 313). The Boy Scouts of America brought in a new aviation merit badge,
and an Air Scout program was started that lasted for a few years as well.
Germany started clubs for young people interested in flying, complete with a
glider training program. This was all part of the movement of “Air Age
Education” which taught children about airplanes, from the science behind them
in the schools to the clubs and training organizations that led them into being
pilots in their later years.
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