American Heritage History of Flight by Gordon Arthur

Author:Gordon, Arthur
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History/Modern/20th Century
ISBN: 9781612308715
Publisher: New Word City, Inc.
Published: 2015-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

Seeking Work

Aviation, the romantic military branch of the war, found itself regarded as a useless curiosity in peacetime. Barnstormers drew crowds at county fairs in America, and stunt fliers enlivened the movies. Gliding was a popular sport in Europe, and the exploits of the first transatlantic fliers made exciting reading. But to many people, the airplane was a frivolity that could never earn its keep.

Two new developments began to change some minds. In Europe commercial airlines sprang up soon after the Armistice, and although the planes were uncomfortable and expensive, they usually reached their destinations safely.

In the United States, airplanes were flying the mail. Scheduled mail flights had been inaugurated even before the end of the war. Delays were frequent, and fatalities high, but routes were expanded, and in February 1921, the mail was flown from San Francisco to New York for the first time, in thirty-three hours and twenty minutes.

Although it sometimes bit off more than it could chew, the airplane had gone to work.

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