DARTMOUTH MEN IN AVIATION
Illustrated by Careers of Aeronautical Alumni
THE AVIATION industry should not be compared too closely to the automobile industry. Transportation on land has been developing for centuries, since before the lumbering ox cart to the latest car; but not every human being desires to fly. Relatively few have felt an instinctive urge to entrust themselves to wings that would take them away from terra firma. Thus to develop a market for air transportation, instruction of the public is required to overcome instinctive fears and Icarian anxieties. Hence it cannot be expected that the airplane industry can be subjected to a class analogy with the automobile industry during this age, at least.
It might not be amiss, first of all, to outline the method of gathering this data about "Dartmouth Men in Aviation." The secretaries of every class were asked for a list of men whom they knew or thought to be connected with aviation. All the men so suggested were bombarded with questions and with the replies that came back was started a most interesting collection of letters telling what Dartmouth men think of aviation. All the information and opinions upon which this article is based come from men intimately connected with and engaged in this field. So the following may not be regarded as the product of a flighty imagination of the undergraduate mind.
It was only 25 years ago that the Wright Brothers made the pioneer demonstration that man, like birds, could fly through space. However it was not till the summer of 1927 that the general public discovered that aviation had become one of the nation's industries. Although the air commerce act of 1926 was in operation and 5-year aircraft-building programs were being carried out for the Army and Navy, to most persons flying was still a spectacle. And it is a curious fact to note that it was a series of spectacular flights that provided the impetus necessary to bring public confidence to realize the future of aviation. An important effect of this wave of enthusiasm was that it made persons inquire into other phases of the science and industry. The funds needed to continue aviation and to launch new projects were made available by men, some astute enough to see the future, and many romantic, publicity-seeking to such an extent that they wanted to be identified with the new sensation. Hastily organized companies became numerous. As a consequence, because there were more enterprises than necessary to supply existing demands, reorganization and realignment in the industry were necessary. Existing corporations were bought or merged until the industry now presents the appearance of a comparatively few, strong, well-backed groups. Leaving behind it the adolescence of barnstorming and exhibition flying, civil aviation has matured in the last several years and has taken its place in general commerce and industry. With its frequent changes it is futile to gather the "latest" statistics, for what is new today is old tomorrow, and so a picture of the industry as of the present date, were it possible to portray it accurately, could be of small value. This is true primarily because the vision of the industry is forward—not backward. However, there are certain underlying trends and inherent peculiarities that bear studying and the following authenticated figures should illustrate the growth of aviation far better than words.
In 1921, 302 planes were manufactured. In 1929 this figure was raised to 6,034. In 1926, 4,318,000 miles were flown over regularly scheduled transport lines; in 1930, 36,945,000 were flown, an increase of about 10,000,000 miles over previous years. In 1926, there were 600 firms engaged in the industry, in 1929 there were 1,500 firms so engaged. Five hundred and forty-five student permits were issued by U. S. Department of Commerce, Aeronautics Branch, in 1927. The interest in aviation raised this number till in 1929 it was 20,400. Today, with the brightest future for aviation resting for the moment on regularly operated air transport, a division of flying which has shown record increases when all others have shown serious effects of the depression, there are approximately 50,000 miles of domestic airways
. . . or marked air routes between air traffic centers. In 1911 there was one mile! In the first 6 months of 1933 American operated aircraft flew 24,668,414 miles on scheduled air lines, carrying 248,954 passengers, and 712,638 express pounds. This represents an increase over the JanuaryJune period of 1931 by more than 4,000.000 miles flown, and 55,000 passengers and 295.329 express pounds. Thus it can be seen that the transportation of mail, express, and passengers by aircraft, operating over fixed routes and on regular schedules, within the past five years has been so successful that there is no room left for doubt as to its stability and permanence in our economic and social life. If once there was thought that flying was a novelty and as a fad should soon die out, the aviation industry now stands as a sound business endeavor that has qualified for and holds a permanent place in the world-wide transportation network.
In spite of the failures in this new industry—and after all, failures should not be unexpected in any new field—there is every reason to believe that air transportation will develop into a large and thriving industry. Two facts should extend this confidence—first, the idea of air travel is sound; second, transportation by air is the quickest, it can be made the most comfortable, and if present passenger rates are any indication, it should ultimately be the least expensive of long distance travel. It is not unreasonable to assume that eventually all first class mail will be carried by air whereever a plane can speed delivery; that the majority of people who travel "pullman class" today for distances in excess of 100 miles will travel tomorrow by air and that air package transport may exceed first class mail and passengers combined. Ocean travel above the waves and into the stratosphere is no longer a romantic's dream with the Farman plane in France progressing under experimentation. Three factors will determine the length of time for the consummation of this program: (1) The support given by the government agencies; (2) willingness of capital to make investments of consequence in the industry, believing that future returns will justify immediate sacrifice; (3) the amount and character of advertising put behind the industry. This is perhaps the basic factor, for advertising that will educate the pubiic to use aviation will do much to crystallize sentiment favorable to government support and will be helpful in maintaining confidence of capital during a period of small dividends, or no dividends at all.
To GET into aviation is the problem now facing ambitious, far-sighted men. Immediately after the war it was not such a problem. Many of the military aviators kept on flying and, becoming civilian pilots, started to buy up the war surplus planes and engines and to tour the country individually or with flying circuses. From this they developed the business of carrying sight-seeing passengers, giving instruction to students, taking aerial photographs and transporting persons or merchandise in emergencies calling for speed. The pioneers hewed paths in organization and operation now traveled. Taxi flying has become so common a practice that the chartering of a plane for a flight to a distant city is merely an incident in a busy day at an airport. There was a cry for good and courageous men during aviation's early stages.
Dartmouth men who entered the flying services during the War, either Army or Navy, were many—with comparatively few remaining "in the air" after being discharged following the Armistice. Captain Clearton H. Reynolds 'l2 was called out by the National Guard in 1916 and immediately entered the aviation branch of the service. He served as commanding officer of the 91st Aero Squadron in its active engagements with the French Army, Toul Sector then was transferred in August 1918 to command the 104 th Aero Squadron. He participated in the campaign in St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne engagements till the end of the war. Later he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor. At the time of his death, he was killed in an automobile accident February 15, 193°. Capt. Reynolds was commander of the 15th Observation Squadron located at Selfridge Field, Michigan. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington Cemetery.
Lt. Barrett Studley 'l6 enrolled in the Naval Reserve in 1917 and later requested aviation training since he was interested in that phase of active duty. He did not "get across" as he states but became instructor at the Naval Air Base in Pensacola, Florida. At this point he is executive officer of Patrol Plane Squadron Seven, U. S. Fleet, San Diego, California. He is the author of "Practical Flight Training," an exhaustive technical analysis of flight training; "How to Fly," a more popular book, and "Learning to Fly for the Navy," a book for juvenile readers, giving a story typical of training at Pensacola.
Fred H. Harris 'i 1 applied to the Navy in 1918 and was sent to the Naval Aviation detachment at M. I. T., Cambridge, for a three months' ground school course and became lieutenant in charge of flying at Pensacola. Being placed on inactive duty he acted as liaison officer between the Curtiss Airplane and Motor Company and the Government with headquarters in Washington, D. C. He now owns and flies his own plane.
Gilbert N. Swett '17, who is operations officer of the 44th Division Aviation, New Jersey National Guard, applied for the Massachusetts Naval Militia unit at Squantum just prior to the War. When that came he was in the first "flight" to go through the M. I. T. ground school. He was sent overseas and assigned to Northern Bombing Group and saw service with the Italian Navy. After the Armistice he resumed civilian life but reverts occasionally through the National Guard.
Lieutenant George H. Sparhawk '24 describes his entrance into his career of the past nine years with the U. S. Army Air Corps by the following: "Was walking down the street in Los Angeles one day of January 1924. Saw an officer of the Army with wings on his chest. Walked up to him and asked him how one learned to flyfound out. ... Served 3 years as instructor of flying and Aerial Navigation at Brooks Field." He is now instructor in communications, at the Air Corps Technical School, Chanute Field, Illinois.
Lieutenant F. Kennard Bubier, also of the Class of '24, went in the capacity of aviation engineer with Byrd's South Polar Expedition. He was selected by Byrd himself from the Marine Corps Aviation Service because of his high rating, and accompanied the Antarctic Expedition in full responsibility of his department. He assembled and fully tested the planes for each of Byrd's various flights from Little America.
Lieutenant William J. Scott '28 attended the Army Flying Schools at Brooks and Kelly Fields and was assigned to the 18th Pursuit Group, Wheeler Field, Hawaii. Lieutenant Scott was killed in line of active duty on December 17, 1931, while conducting gliding experiments. On the same day he lost his life he also lost the American record for distance gliding. A personal letter I received from Lieutenant Scott in May, 1930, stated this, "Our life here in Hawaii is almost perfect, we have excellent equipment and can fly as much as we desire."
Lieutenant George A. Hersam Jr. '29 became interested in aviation through the activities of the Dartmouth Aeronautical Society which was reanimated while he was in Hanover. Hersam went through the regular Army training at Brooks and Kelly Fields and was graduated last July. He is now stationed at Selfridge Fieid, Michigan. George A. Sarles '30 is a lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve having gone through Squantum and Pensacola and taken a year's active duty with the Marines at Quantico, Virginia.
Harry Lyon '08 who has had a spectacular and adventurous career, though he is no pilot, flew with the "Southern Cross" when Kingsford-Smith flew from California to Australia in three hops. Lyon who is a Master Mariner, navigated that passage with unerring accuracy for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. It was an outstanding feat when he directed the famous monoplane to Suva, Fiji Islands, after a 3,000 mile flight from Hawaii.
To include all the Dartmouth men who are in the Army Air Corps and the Naval flying units the following are added: Edward A. Keddie '17, Lt. T. C. Lonnquest '17, Lt. Lawrence A. Waite '22, Lt. John A. Ball '29, Lt. Paul Waterman '29, Lt. Henry Salisbury '30, Lt. Hamilton I). South '30.
To CONSIDER aviation as a business career, one should discount the romance and glamour generally associated with flying—even discount flying itself—and realize that it is simply just another industry. Aviation, like everything else, is a very serious business of careful, efficient management and from a business standpoint holds no more glamour than the railroad business, the bus business, the public utility or automobile businesses, and quite as naturally as do these others, divides itself into departments of accounting, financing, operation and physical upkeep, etc. Each of these divisions is similar to those divisions in the other businesses mentioned above. Efficiency and economy is the answer to success in the aviation industry, the same as in any other industry.
The opinion seems to be that the real future is in transportation rather than private flying. And inasmuch as it will unquestionably grow and develop during the next two decades, it ought to be a good field to enter. Flying per se, while it offers thrills and is a magnificent spectacle, to omit the Government Services flying operations, from a practical standpoint is merely a most efficient method of transporting with speed and not great expense. The fallacy which overtook the aircraft industry in its early stages that business men, sportsmen, and the public in general could be put into the air in privately owned ships in large numbers, has been fairly well dissipated for two reasons. The depression and the severe tax on time and money necessary for upkeep and operation of privately owned planes. Private ownership will assume large proportions when the country once more becomes prosperous. Transportation and its incident industries, however, offer the future for aviation.
From the business point of view the only advantages offered by aviation over other means of transportation are those incident to a developing industry that has an amazing future. Lieutenant Studley 'l6 who knows flying personnel avers that if one were to mix fifty aviators that he knew with fifty men of other professions requiring the same degree of education, he could not possibly tell them apart. "Aviators are simply average men who happen to have picked out flying as a vocation," Barrett Studley says.
SPACE IN THIS issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE does not allow for an enumeration of the deeds other Dartmouth men have done in aviation; but a list of those who are now actively engaged in the com- mercial end of it includes the following: Eugene W. Fuller '11 is president of the Chicago Aerial Survey Company. George T. Leach '11 has been a director of several aircraft companies and is interested in providing working capital for aviation enterprises. Jesse K. Fenno 'l6, who was in the Air Service during the War and instructing at Dan Diego and March Field, Calif., is at the head of the Providence (R. I.) Airport Corporation. Leighton W. Rogers 'l6 is connected with the aviation interests of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in Washington, D. C. W. T. Ponder 'l7 who flew in the Army during the War is doing active commercial flying. J. F. Wheelock 'l7 has been with the Colonial Division of American Airways for several years and is stationed now in Boston, Mass. J. W. White 'l7 is in the traffic branch, affiliated with the northwest division, of Pan-American Airways, being now stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska. John C. Felli '2O is treasurer and assistant secretary of General Aviation Corporation, Dundalk, Baltimore, Maryland. Herbert H. Mills 'go is airport manager at Brainard Field, Hartford, Connecticut. Livingston Clewell '22 is active in the promotion, opening and development of airports, and organization of glider clubs. He is a frequent contributor to Air Transportation, the national trade journal for commercial aviation. Gordon E. Varney '32 is manager of the Brockton (Mass.) Airport. James Hutton '24 is a director in Aviation Corporation, the Waco Aircraft Company, and Air Investors. He does some personal .flying on the side. Theodore Hubbell '24 is an air-mail and transport pilot with headquarters at Lunken Airport, Cincinnati, Ohio. Richard C. Copeland '25 is chief pilot at the Pittsburgh-Greensburgh (Pa.) airport. John D. Jacob '25 developed and now manages the Sky Haven Airport at Malvern, Pa. Lee B. Jamison '25 is affiliated with the United Air Lines in Salt Lake City. Newton Wakefield '25 is vice-president of Warner Air Transport, also vice-president and general manager of International Air Transport Company, in Spokane, Washington. Thomas C. Colt '26 is a lieutenant in the flying service of the Marine Reserve Corps and is president of the Cavalier Flying Service of Richmond, Virginia. Harry J. Zimmerman '27 is an air-line pilot of the Transcontinental & Western Air organization. Donald T. Reilly '2B is an airplane inspector. James H. Stickler '29 operates a flying school at the Congressional Airport, Rockville, Maryland. Jack W. Dobson '3O is associated with Wing Aeronautical Research Company, New York City. Frederick D. Moller '3O at the Bridgeport (Conn.) Airport is director and vice-president of the Northeastern Air Service, business manager of the Aerial Public Service, meteorological agent of the American Airways, and secretary and treasurer of the Connecticut Aircraft Pilots Association.
This list is as complete and as accurate as possible on the information known at this time. It no doubt does omit many men who should be included, and if such is the case any additions or corrections would be appreciated.
Harold Fitz-Gerald '24 started flying as recreation and soon found that aviation could be of assistance in his business. He has become convinced by experience that it is profitable from the economy speed with which he can cover a given territory. There are many Dartmouth men who have taken up aviation as an avocation, some own their own planes. Among them may be listed the following: O. S. Warden 'B9 who has represented the Governor of Montana at all recent western aeronautic conferences and is a member of the National Aeronautic Association; Thomas W. Streeter 'O4 who was appointed chairman of the Aviation Committee of the State of New Jersey; John Pearson 'll who was president of the Dartmouth Aero Club in 1910 and 1911 where he won the name of "Glider" Pearson from his efforts on the golf course and who participated in the first and only Intercollegiate Balloon Race (the balloon was donated and piloted by Jay Benton '9O) is a director of the Concord (N. H.) Airport Corporation; R. L. Holbrook 'l7 is interested in an airport and flying service in Keene, N. H. Others who fly for pleasure are: H. C. Davis 'O6, Ben Ames Williams 'lO, F. N. Blodgett '25, Christian E. Born '29, Harold B. Walker '29, Robert M. Walsh '29.
DARTMOUTH MEN are in aviation and will continue to go into aviation. It remains, then, just how to make the initial start. Flight training through the Navy, Marine, or Army Corps has its advantages though it is not an essential prerequisite. The matter is largely personal and depends upon the plans the individual may have in mind. But it must be remembered that flying forms a minimum part of the aviation industry. The industry is just outgrowing its adolescent stages and is enlarging its field of activity, so a saturation point has not been reached. There will be opportunities. But anyone selecting this as a life work should keep in mind the fact that aviation is an industry and not a romantic, glamorous calling that opens the door to prosperity and renown. As a business it calls for executive ability, originality, and hard work that would be needed in any business. Yet there are satisfactions in the aviation industry that are not present in other pursuits. This is what calls college graduates.
Carroll A. Boynton '33 Dartmouth's premier scudent aviation enthusiast.
