Airmail Needed Courage, Determination to Get off the Ground February 23, 2010

Early Airmail Pilots Faced Great Adversity

Boyle Should've Checked His Map

On This Date in History:  Lt. George Boyle was chosen to pilot the first leg of the first airmail flight from Washington, DC to New York.  Among the spectators who gathered to witness the takeoff  on May 15, 1918 was President Woodrow Wilson.  With the throng watching in anticipation, Boyle sat in the cockpit of the Curtiss JN-4H “Jenny” biplane and shouted, “Contact!”  Nothing happened.  After several embarrassing attempts, it was discovered the plane was out of gas.  After it was gassed up, Boyle took to the sky but instead of flying North toward Philadelphia, he circled the field and went South.  What made this a bit perplexing is that Boyle had a road map strapped to his leg to help him navigate his route.  About an hour later, the coordinator of the new airmail service of the US Post Office got a phone call.  Captain Benjamin Lipsner was surprised to hear Boyle’s voice on the other end of the phone.  Seems Boyle’s compass had “gotten a little mixed up” and Boyle crashed the plane in a Maryland cornfield.  Lipsner summoned a car to pick up three sacks of mail and one shameful pilot.

Lucky Lindy Lept From Several Disabled Aircraft

A few months later, military pilots were replaced by civilians who were crafty fliers.  They had no navigational aids and so made their way by following  landmarks such as railroads, highways and riverbeds to make it to their destinations.  One small Nebraska town lit bonfires to help pilot Jack Knight find his way to deliver the mail to their community.  Knight made his delivery but not all were so lucky.  Thirty-two of the initial 50 pilots died in crashes while attempting to deliver the mail faster.  One pilot twice had to bail out of a mechanically failing plane as he attempted the St. Louis to Chicago route.  That pilot survived both episodes to fly again with the new moniker, “Lucky Lindy.”  That pilot, Charles Lindbergh took a leave of absence from his mail route to make his historic solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927.   Lindbergh had no idea that his flight would bring him such fame that his life would never be the same.  After he arrived in Paris, he told reporters, ” I am an airmail pilot and expect to fly the mail again.”  

Knight Was an Early United Airlines Pilot

By September 1920, a transcontental airmail service was inaugurated.  However, planes were not allowed to fly at night so the mail was transferred to railcars for night travel.  With all of the stops, the mail still took 78 hours to move across the country which was only 30 hours less time than the railroads alone could provide .  President Warren G. Harding was not impressed.   He thought it was a waste of money and that the little bit of extra time could not counter the fact that more mail could be transferred more cheaply by singular rail service.  He threatened to veto any funding that Congress might provide for additional air service.  See, Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson had convinced Congress to subsidize airmail service because stamps alone would be too expensive for the general public.  So, Burleson and his assistant Otto Praeger had to work quickly.  They decided to try to demonstrate the potential of airmail service by making a cross-country delivery completely by air and thereby show just how much faster airmail could be.  They decided that February 22, 1921 was a great day to start the test since it was George Washington’s Birthday.

Knight Had to Bundle Up For Winter Mail Flights

The idea was to have two pilots take off from New York and two take off from San Francisco.  Along the way, relief pilots would take over in a relay type system reminiscent of the Pony Express.  They would eventually meet in the middle of the country and complete the mission.  Disaster struck right away when one of the two pilots flying the mail from San Francisco crashed and died.  His partner continued on.  Remember, this was February and these guys were flying with an open cockpit, so they were exposed to winter conditions.  They had to fly at night with no navigation so towns along the way lit bonfires.  A huge snowstorm was going on across the Midwest and nearly all of the pilots were grounded; all but Jack Knight.  When Knight left North Platte, Nebraska for Omaha, he did not know that he was the last pilot flying.  The whole experiment and the future of airmail rested with him.  When he got to Omaha, he had no relief pilot as that pilot was grounded in Chicago by the massive storm.  Now, Knight had never flown east of Omaha but he learned that he was the last pilot.  So, he drank coffee, stuffed his flightsuit with newspapers to help insulate against the bitter cold and off he went.   Farmers and even postal service workers lit the prairie with smudge pots and bonfires to light his way.   He made it to Iowa City, Iowa and almost crashed when he landed in a 25 mile per hour arctic blast.  Knight lifted off again at 6:30 AM and landed in Chicago at 8:40 AM after an all-night trek that covered 830 miles in extreme conditions.  Later it was learned that Knight had broken his nose a few days prior ot the flight and the bumpy, cold ride was especially difficult.  Knight was hailed across the nation as a hero.  The final legs of the journey were taken up by other pilots and, on this date in 1921, the first successful transcontental airmail flight was complete. 

Knight Rose to VP of United Airlines

It took seven pilots over 33 hours to fly nearly 2700 miles with actual flight time taking up about 26 hours.  The news created a new buzz in the public for airmail service and Warren G. Harding, a keen politician, quickly embrased the idea and did an abrupt turn to support government subsidized air service.  Money was spent to light routes, navigation aids were developed and on July 1, 1924 regular coast to coast airmail service began.  Railroads began to lose money because so many customers were paying reduced stamp rates for the government subsidized air service.   The 1925 Kelly Act addressed these issues but none of it would have come around if not for the courage and perserverance of Jack Knight who faced down adversity, literally in the face of a wicked wind, to deliver the mail.  Knight took the old mail carrier adage, “nor rain nor snow nor dead of night will prevent us from making our appointed rounds.”   My mailman Tim seems to have the character of Jack Knight. 

Log P Skew T Tutorial

Weather Bottom Line:  I’ll tell you what’s difficult.  I don’t have a Log P/Skew T diagram.  I need that to do mixing schemes.  Now, it’s not that big of a deal during the winter.   But we are coming out of the gloom of the cold and so data that translates easily in January doesn’t work so well in March.  For instance, the thickness numbers showing up for the next 10 days or so would tell me that we don’t get above freezing.  But, are heading into March so conditions aren’t the same.  Without any Log P/Skew T diagrams, I have a hard time comparing what is really going on.  Be that as it may, I find it hard to see how we get to 40 in the next week and Wednesday and Thursday, I think its going to be tough to get above freezing.  Just figure on it being colder than average through about March 10.  We have perhaps some light snow or flurries on Wednesday into Thrusday with the NAM calling on about a half inch while the GFS is going for an inch total.  Really, I don’t think accumulations will be an issue since this snow falls over about 24 hours time, if not a little longer.  Otherwise, I don’t see any major events coming along, though there are some possibilities.  However, there is nothing out there that indicates any real prospects. I want another big snow though I’m wondering if I will have to wait until next year.

Michael Vick Vs Leonard Little; Charles Lindbergh Vs Amelia Earhart May 21, 2009

Is This Fair?  Michael Vick was convicted on Federal and state dog fighting charges.  He has been in prison for about a year and a half, he is bankrupt and now he has to petition the league for reinstatement as the commissioner mulls whether or not he should serve a league suspension.  Compare this with the case of Leonard Little.  He was drunk and got in a wreck that killed someone.  He spent 90 days in jail.  He was suspended from the NFL for 8 games.  He went on to sign a multi-million dollar contract.  A few years later, he was arrested again for DUI but was not convicted.  Let’s see…kill a person….8 game suspension and sign a multi year contract.  Kill dogs through pre-meditated abuse through conducting dog fights…2 years out of hte league, prison and the loss of millions of dollars…should the league prevent him from salvaging his career or pile on some more?  The system seems to be saying he’d be better served had he been drunk and killed someone.  Somethin’ ain’t right.  And something really ain’t right when someone, somehow equates the efforts of Vice-President Cheney, who has not been charged with a thing except by the lunatic fringe of doing anything except to try to maintain national security.  Unbelievable.

On This Date In History: Remember the story about De Soto and his pigs from a few days ago? Well, he died on this date in 1542 and the pigs he was saving got auctioned off.
Pig Brigade

But it was a day for flying. On this date in 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic when he landed in Paris. But, I think it was the 22ndin Paris while it was the 21st in the US. Anyway, less celebrated but significant nonetheless was on the same date in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic when she landed in Ireland. Now, she flew from New Foundland and it was just under 2000 miles. Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris which was nearly twice as far and he had to stay awake for over 33 hours while Earhart’s flight lasted but 15 hours. He won a prize of $25,000 and she got the Distinguished Flying Cross from the US Congress.

The photo of Earhart is interesting because most of the photos of her are somewhat unflattering but do indicate the potential for beauty. This photo verifies….she was a hottie.

Whether it’s 15 or 33.5 hours, that’s a long time to be driving, or flying. Perhaps they could have used the help of Jacob German, who on this date in 1899 became the first person ever arrested for speeding. He had been spotted driving a taxi for the Electric Vehicle Company at the “breakneck” speed of 12 miles per hour. The cops grabbed him and threw him in the clink but they didn’t take his driver’s license. That’s because New York didn’t issue driver’s licenses until 1901.

Flights of Fancy and Tokyo-No to Greenhouse Reduction May 21, 2008

Our weather will be on the upswing. Wednesday will still be cool with a number of clouds but a sunny start. Then we get to the mid 70′s to end up the week and head into the Memorial Day Weekend. Sunday we get to the low 80′s and the mid 80′s on Memorial Day. Monday night perhaps some thunderstorms.

 

 

On This Date In History:  Remember the story about De Soto and his pigs from a few days ago? Well, he died on this date in 1542 and the pigs he was saving got auctioned off.
Pig Brigade

 

But it was a day for flying.  On this date in 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic when he landed in Paris.  But, I think it was the 22ndin Paris while it was the 21st in the US.  Anyway, less celebrated but significant nonetheless was on the same date in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic when she landed in Ireland.  Now, she flew from New Foundland and it was just under 2000 miles.  Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris which was nearly twice as far and he had to stay awake for over 33 hours while Earhart’s flight lasted but 15 hours.  He won a prize of $25,000 and she got the Distinguished Flying Cross from the US Congress.

The photo of Earhart is interesting because most of the photos of her are somewhat unflattering but do indicate the potential for beauty.  This photo verifies….she was a hottie.

Whether it’s 15 or 33.5 hours, that’s a long time to be driving, or flying.  Perhaps they could have used the help of Jacob German, who on this date in 1899 became the first person ever arrested for speeding.  He had been spotted driving a taxi for the Electric Vehicle Company at the “breakneck” speed of 12 miles per hour.    The cops grabbed him and threw him in the clink but they didn’t take his driver’s license.  That’s because New York didn’t issue driver’s licenses until 1901. 

On The Not-So-Green Front:  You’ve probably heard of the Kyoto Protocol which is the international treaty signed in Kyoto, Japan where all the signature nations agree to work toward reduction of Greenhouse Gases.  The US didn’t sign because it felt that the agreement was destined to unfairly penalize the United States.  That has drawn much criticism.  But, it seems that many of the people of Tokyo, Japan have a kindred spirit with the United States and reject their brethren in Kyoto. A recent poll indicates that over 41% of the citizens of Tokyo are not willing to sacrifice anything to fight global warming.  They’d rather maintain their lifestyles and convenience.  Do they know something that so many other’s do not?  Here’s the story.

Tokyoites least ecologically minded