TWA 10 Year Anniversary

 

 

October 1940 commemorated the first coast-to-coast service and Transcontinental & Western Air's 10th anniversary of their 36 hour flight under the new name - TWA. This article then describes the history of T&WA's birth and growth into the leading company in passenger travel to this point. In 1930 the company logged 4,800,000 revenue males. By the first seven months of 1940 TWA had logged over 78,000,000 revenue miles!

 

 

 

 

Employee's with 10 years of service in 1940

 

Image courtesy WHMCKC

 

Constellation secret no longer Secret

For months before the June 22nd meeting in which Hughes decided to buy 40 Constellations, he spoke with Jack Frye constantly about the build and design details of the aircraft. Things such as the interior décor, the seats, the cockpit layout and throttle levers all the way down to the curtain zippers being replaced with buttons!

 

Shown above is a Western Union telegram Hughes sent Jack regarding

his communication with Lockheed on the throttle levers.

 

 

There have been many accountings written that Howard Hughes ‘designed’ the Constellation. There is no support of this report. Hughes liked to argue the point taking credit for the basic design. When after all, it was Kelly Johnson who actually designed the airplane as I mentioned on another post. It was Jack Frye’s original concept in 1938 that Howard latched upon in 1939 for only its ‘conception’, not the design. Bob Gross did concede that HH had a lot to do with the cockpit layout, the hydraulic boost system on the flight controls and a number of interior details. Other than that the Connie was a brainstorm from all 3 genius aircraft men – Frye, Johnson and Hughes.

 

By 1940, Jack Frye had ordered another fifteen new DC-3’s with 24 passenger seats instead of 21. Frye was in a constant state of modernization of his flying fleet. This all the while the new Constellation’s were being manufactured in Burbank. Unfortunately in 1940, the governments new Priorities Board mandated restrictions on the delivery of commercial transports to all the airlines. By the end of 1940 only 4 of the 15 DC-3’s were released to TWA. Due to this new government direction of transport management, the secrecy around the Constellation was about to collapse!

 

During the secret building of the Constellation, Johnny Guy was the direct liaison to Jack Frye and Howard Hughes over all things Connie. At Paul Richter’s direction, he would interface with the key Lockheed employee’s after he promised not to quit TWA. He was then to go to Burbank and rent a house with no Lockheed employees in his vicinity so he wouldn’t be noticed at the plant. He couldn’t tell even his wife and family about the Constellation project, and he had to remove the word Lockheed from his vocabulary. He would work weekends and at night while performing DC-3 work at Douglas Aircraft some 20 miles away as his cover.

 

To the house Johnny Guy rented on 938 Cyprus Street, Lockheed would send him all the drawings and engineering documents addressed care of the Hughes Tool Company. He would remove any Mention of Lockheed on these documents should somebody break into his house and steal them. He also used only initials for names. ‘Dear H’ or ‘Dear F’, and signed his letters with ‘G’. He would then mail them to Hughes specified post office box for his review. The constant back and forth correspondence must have been overwhelming at times. And what did his wife think when he would come home late from a clandestine meeting with a Lockheed rep at Griffith Park or somewhere off the beaten path. Guy has been quoted as saying, “This was like working for the CIA".

 

Hall Hibbard broke new news to Johnny Guy that a military task force would be visiting all aircraft factories to access production capabilities! The secret was about to get out. Knowing he couldn’t keep the Constellation under cover from TWA’s competition via the military, Howard Hughes in advisement of Jack Frye made a deal with Bob Gross, president of Lockheed. He would allow Juan Trippe’s Pan-Am International airline into the Constellation project. In kind he would require Lockheed not to sell any Constellations to any east-west airline routes that competed with TWA. They agreed but the whole deal went awry when the Pearl Harbor attack occurred. Six months prior to the attack, Jack Frye literally enlisted TWA into the Army Air Corps. A brilliant move by Frye virtually solidifying a new TWA effort hired by the government training inexperienced Army Air Corp’s pilots and navigator’s to fly across the ocean. Within weeks, the new school was based in Albuquerque and named ‘Eagles Nest’ employing several TWA pilots off the line for instructors.

 

On December 24, 1941, Jack Frye signed one of the most important documents in airline history. DAW 535 ac-1062 which directed TWA to hire and train all personnel, procure necessary facilities, materials and supplies, and to secure necessary certificates of convenience of necessity, licenses and permits essential to providing air service on a worldwide basis for the United States Army. The contract was a direct result of meetings Frye had held as early as December 1940, when he saw both General Hap Arnold and Robert Lovett, Assistant secretary of war for air. In that first meeting, Frye had told them if war came, TWA’s Stratoliner’s would be available to the government.

 

 

          

     Robert Lovett                                       General Hap Arnold

  

On the same day the War Department contract was signed, Frye established the International Division (ICD) of TWA to operate the services required under DAW 535 ac-1062. Thus, under wartime pressures and the uncertainties of a global conflict yet to be fought and won, Jack Frye laid the foundation for his airlines future as an international carrier. Another Frye first in the long history of the airline business.

The Constellation secret was now broken. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fuselage was completed and the wings and tail half finished. When the Air Corp ordered it for use as a military transport, it was designated C-69. Flight tests began early in 1943.
 

Connie gets underway in Secrecy

As early as 1938 before the Stratoliner was delivered, Jack Frye and his engineering group had conceived the idea on a new larger and faster transport plane that was longer-ranged than any other design flying or on the drawing board. He had also spoken sparsely with Howard about this new concept. With the Boeing Stratoliner being very strong, a Boeing trademark, yet too small and slow, Jack Frye knew he needed yet a larger and faster ship to propel his company into the forefront. Hughes the prime stockholder in 1939 began inputting his influence and design details into this new secret transport.

                                  

He and Jack Frye met with Lockheed’s Hall Hibbard (left), Bob Gross and Kelly Johnson at his building on 7000 Romaine, Los Angeles. The date was June 22, 1939. Kelly Johnson, the successful and talented Lockheed design engineer with the P-38 Lightning and the L-14 transport thought the Frye/Hughes specifications were too conservative and recommended the Wright 3350 engine be installed, the most powerful in the world at that time.

 

This according to Johnson (right) would double the payload and a passenger capacity up from 40 to 60. More meetings were held that convinced Lockheed to pressurize the cabin as well. The big question from Hughes finally came upon Bob Gross. “How much are these going to cost me?” Gross replied – “About $450,000 each.” Well TWA can’t pay for them Hughes pouted. They are darn near broke, and the bank won’t pick up the tab. Hell, I guess I’ll have to pay for them myself. Go ahead and build them Bob, send the bills to Hughes Tool Company.”

 

Hughes agreed to buy 40 planes and in turn Lockheed agreed to give TWA exclusive rights to the first forty planes off the assembly line. It was a $18-million dollar contract, the largest commercial aviation contract ever at that time!

 

Secrecy of this new project was paramount In Jack Frye’s thinking as well as Hughes in order to gain a new foothold in the commercial airline industry. TWA was about to lose all of their Stratoliner fleet (5 planes) and many of their DC aircraft to the War effort. This included almost 800 employees to support the newly designated airplanes ferrying our troops overseas. Jack was adamant United and American airlines be kept in the dark. They were ready to buy the Douglas DC-4. Jack in agreement with Hughes figured let them go ahead and buy them, then they would spring the Constellation on them and gain a couple years in equipment improvements and revenue.

 

According to Serling, so great was the desire for secrecy that Hughes refused to have the contract typed up by any Lockheed employee. The typist chosen was none other than Tommy Tomlinson’s wife, a court stenographer by profession. She had come to Los Angeles with Tommy and was summoned from the Biltmore to prepare the formal papers, which specified that Hughes Tool, not TWA was buying the planes.  He even went further and code named himself as “God” and Frye as “Jesus Christ.” Secret was the name of the plane designated as '0-49', later to be called the 'Constellation'.

 

 

Lockheed president, Bob Gross

 

 

As the new plane was being drawn up, only five people at Lockheed knew about the project. They were Bob Gross, Hal Hibbard, Kelly Johnson, Don Palmer and Paul Deprane. All were instructed not to divulge the secrecy of this program and to tell passer’s by who might have viewed the drawings that it was a concept plane for testing called the Excalibur.

 

 

Connie production line at Burbank plant

The photo above is a brand new Lockheed Constellation L-049 being constructed at the Burbank plant, circa 1941. I can’t help but wonder if the two men at the top of the platform are Jack Frye and Howard Hughes on one of their many secret visits to the plant. Could that be a lookout standing at the bottom?

 

 

 

        

Right click on images to view full size in a new window

 

Frye's TWA gets a shot in the Arm

Mr. John D. Hertz (Yellow Cab Company, Hertz-Rent a Car) was the prime shareholder of TWA in the 1930’s whom which Jack Frye and Paul Richter had to deal with in company business. This included the acquisition of new airplanes to support President Frye’s vision of a growing and successful airline. By 1939 Jack grew more and more suspicious that he was about to lose control of his airline over Hertz inexperienced ideals for how he thought things should progress. The following is quoted from Serling’s ‘TWA – Howard Hughes Airline’.

 

 

The key blowup came not because of Frye, but Richter. Early that year Frye and Richter attended a directors meeting at Hertz’s home in Chicago. By then, Paul was executive vice-president and remained one of the few supporters Frye had on the board. Another was the young lawyer, George Spater, who also was at the meeting and remembers how the volcano erupted.

 

On the agenda was Richter’s request to install full-feathering propellers on all TWA aircraft. When he brought up the matter, Hertz asked rather tartly, ‘Is it necessary?’

 

The short-tempered Richter took immediate offense and accused Hertz of impugning his technical expertise. A brief argument ensued, ending when Hertz adjourned the meeting so they could go out to the race track and see a couple of his horses run.

 

“It was probably a rather innocuous incident”, Spater adds. “I honestly don’t believe Hertz meant to raise a fuss. He actually knew nothing about propellers and probably was more interested in getting the meeting over quickly so they could go to the races. But it was the proverbial straw hat that broke the camel’s back. Richter and Frye were furious and Frye decided to do something about the situation”.

 

Next, what Jack Frye did was to shape TWA’s destiny for the next two decades. He flew to Los Angeles for a meeting with Howard Hughes.

 

HISTORY NOTE:

Frye and Hughes had known each other for year’s prior though not personal friends. There is also some reports they knew each other as kids on the ranches in Texas. More on that in another post. Jack had flown a brief stint in Hughes movie Hells Angels. Partner Paul Richter had also flown in that movie on many sorties. Hughes had also purchased the DC1 from TWA in order to fly around the world but changed his mind for it being slower than the Lockheed 14 Super Electra. He eventually parked the One and Only DC-1 at Burbank airport. He sold the DC1 to the English Viscount, Forbes, who kept it for only four months until he sold it to a French aviation broker. The plane went to Spain’s government registered EC-AAE. Then it went to Iberia Airlines as ‘Negron’ and found itself in the Spanish Civil War. In 1940 the DC1 finally had its last flight as it lost power on take-off and landed wheels up in Malaga Spain never to be repaired or flown again.

 

Jack Frye had apparently shared his meeting with Hughes to a few trusted associates in later years. In late December 1938 or early January 1939, both Frye and Richter according to Otis Bryan, had met HH at his home. Frye it seems told Hughes that he and others just couldn’t get along with Hertz anymore. “I have an idea you might be interested in buying a airline business?”

They talked about a few different options and other airline offerings they would run for Hughes. The situation was so bad Jack Frye was willing to leave TWA in 1939! The next thing that came up in this meeting from Hughes was the question, “Does Hertz own TWA?” Jack told him he was the largest stockholder with Lehman Brothers. Then apparently with no hesitation Hughes said, “Why don’t we buy TWA, I’ve got the money”. He then instructed Frye to compile a stockholders list.

 

Why two different accountings of this meeting with HH exist is in question, but George Spaters version of what Jack Frye shared with him about this pivotal meeting with Howard Hughes is a little different. Spater is quoted as saying it was Jack Frye who insisted Hughes purchase TWA. It is said Hughes offered to buy a manufacturing company for Jack to run for him, maybe related to Hughes Tool? Jack must have rejected it because Spater reports the following response:

 

“I like the airline business” Frye retorted.

“I could by United,” Hughes offered.

“I like TWA,” Frye stated.

 

At this point Howard Hughes must have liked Jack Frye’s determination and business savvy that he told Frye to gather the list of stockholders and send it over right away. By the end of January 1939, Howard Hughes had acquired about 12% stock in TWA, the same as Hertz and Lehman Brothers combined. Frye then approached Hertz with a proxy fight. Hertz with no love for the airline business succumbed and Howard Hughes ended up with 25% of TWA stock. This is when he told Jack to do the deal for the Boeing Stratoliner.

 

As Serling states, “For better or worse, and there were to be large portions of both, Howard Robard Hughes had become part of the TWA saga – bringing with him the blessing of apparently unlimited financial resources and the curse of unlimited power”.
 

Jack Frye blog Coverage & Brazil

The Jack Frye blog is doing well covering many countries now, and I want to thank all of you who are reading along and for sharing the web address with others. We are continuing to bring you stories about our favorite airline president with historical facts and figures as well as other accountings that may not have been previously known.

 

Have a look at the global map below that currently represents the blog coverage. Darker color means more traffic. While reviewing the traffic sources and figures it’s interesting to note Brazil is a large factor in our viewership. Let me come back to this. Russia has much traffic but I’m not all that confident it is for being interested in Jack Frye. I’m sorry, I cannot trust the Russian arena for authentic searching to learn about Jack. Australia, New Zealand and surrounding islands have decent coverage but we would welcome some improvement. The UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean seem to be on board with good numbers. And the US for obvious reasons. So, looking at the map we seem to be covering all four corners of the globe, and that's good news.

Jack Frye blog audience, 5/2013

 

Back to Brazil... My wife and I recently spent a full day at the Family Research Library in West Los Angeles obtaining family genealogy information to add to the family tree. So I decided to look into the Frye family a bit to see what I could come up with that might add to what I already know. Low and Behold I found Jack Frye’s 1947 Brazilian photo passport no. 31626 as shown below!

 

 

 

 

l almost fell of my comfortable chair and raised the eyebrows of my genealogy attendant helper when I let out a burst of laughter. After a few minutes of joyful noise of actually finding a document of Jacks in West LA, I began to put some things together. No doubt Jack flew all over the world and probably had passports for many countries of which I hope to find as well. But this passport from Brazil is quite interesting as it is dated March 19, 1947, no more than a month after he resigned from TWA and all that rigmarole with Hughes and the board.

 

Brazil? Why Brazil... Ah ha, this makes the connection with Jack’s later airplane designs, the Safari and his working with the Helio Corporation to bring the Courier and Stallion airplanes down to Tucson by developing new manufacturing plants for the aforementioned under ‘The Frye Corporation’ which he had already established in Fort Worth, Texas in 1954. This is well documented historically leading up to his tragic car accident. I now see that all along, Jack Frye back in the early 40’s or maybe 1938-39 was looking ahead to South America for TWA expansion utilizing new routes and wanting to develop new aircraft that would service that market in its jungle topography. Hence the Safari and Courier STOL (short take-off & landing) aircraft. Talk about a visionary. Who other than Jack Frye would have conceived this new territory? I am not aware of any other that would have had the vision for Brazil.

 

It’s really too bad Hughes didn’t have the guts and vision like Jack to invest and develop new world markets that would have propelled TWA as the leader then and even to today. There was nothing in aviation Jack Frye wasn’t capable of succeeding with.

 

If Jack had been able to live out a full life, I would venture to say he would have been the most prolific all time aviation pioneer of them all, no question about it. By 1970 he would have been only 65 years old, in the prime of his life propelling the Jet Age even further, safer and more economically than we see today. Not to mention new and innovative aircraft designs we don’t see in the air today. This is how influential and for the better Jack Frye would have contributed had he lived another 15 years.

 

Just thought I would share this new find about Jack Frye. The Brazilian passport that helped Jack see beyond smaller men’s dreams and horizons of aviation progress.

 

Now, back to the Constellation aircraft development and its launch into aviation history...

 

Flight of the CONNIE by the NAHM

I am pleased to announce a brand new website that fits right in with our current topic of interest - The Costellation. Mr. John Roper, National Airline History Museum VP of Operations has just forwarded to me the new site covering the restoration process of a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation aircraft registration number N6937C.

Website screenshot

 

This video is John Roper addressing the museum members and guests at the

2013 annual meeting covering past and present events at the museum.

 

 

You can follow along at by clicking on this link to witness the unfolding of the historic recreation of the inaugural 1944 flight Jack Frye and Howard Hughes piloted from Burbank to Washington DC in a record setting 6 hours, 58 minutes!

Be sure to register to receive updates on the 70th anniversary flight schedule of the Star of America slated for April 2014. This should be a spectacular event I cant wait for. Many thanks to the National Airline History Museum for all of the volunteers and personal donations that are making this historic event possible.

Eric

Jack Frye and his 'CONNIE'

The Lockheed Constellation & Jack Frye

 

Walter Hamilton, Jack Frye, Paul Richter

 

 

The Lockheed Constellation was the greatest propeller-driven airliner ever conceived and flown around the globe. The plane was cutting-edge in its time during the frantic 40s & nifty 50s, ferrying over 60 passengers from LA to DC and beyond to the Orient at well over 300 mph. The plane opened the world up to new frontiers in passenger travel and changed the way we live. This was a grand time in passenger aviation that served its customers in a most luxurious and glamorous way and it was TWA that led the way. So who led TWA? Jack Frye! The 6’2” gentle, burley man had a keen sense of vision and bravado to trail blaze airline aviation by introducing new technology just as he had done the previous 25 years. Beginning with his first company, Aero Corporation of California during the 1920s, then with Standard Airlines, the two companies merged with a third, Western Air & Express and became Transcontinental & Western Air Inc. or T&WA. Headed by Jack Fry, the three companies would eventually be called Trans World Airlines (TWA).

Now for The Rest of the Story, as famous radio announcer Paul Harvey would lament before every one of his thought-provoking broadcasts. It is a little known fact or should I say, a large four engine fact, that Jack Frye was an integral part, if not the lead in the concept and thrust behind the Constellation. Yes, I said Jack Frye - not Howard Hughes who is often incorrectly attributed as being the lead conceiver of this great aircraft. It was Jack Frye at his best in thought about this new airliner that would serve the world in a whole new way. And this just as he had done with the Douglas DC-1 about ten years earlier, which by the way in its later variant, the DC-3, is still considered the greatest air cargo plane ever invented - a point which cannot be emphasized enough to Frye’s historical credit.

The Constellation was Jack’s airplane. It is well-known that Howard Hughes was an aviator who loved flying and designing. But as a new partner in the company when the Constellation hadn’t yet experienced birth pains, Hughes did not know much about transporting passengers or designing airliners. This was Jack Frye’s expertise. Jack knew years earlier before Howard that the company needed more larger airplanes which could generate more revenue miles with more routes. Jack had already secured bid proposals on the new airliner before Howard came on board as TWA’s prime shareholder. This was a global vision Jack had since conceiving the first transcontinental airline with the Fokker & Ford Tri-motor aircraft out west for his company, Standard Airlines in 1927. Yes, Jack Frye was in for the long haul with airline aviation and the new Constellation was in his sights before pencil hit paper. The globalization of air travel as a whole in 1942 was about to go big with our favorite airline president leading the way.

Some noted articles and notes of Jack Frye’s early influence on the L049 Constellation.

Here is the text of a respectful but pointed response from Jack Frye to the editor of LOOK magazine clarifying the facts of Howard Hughes role in the Constellation project.

"As a reader of LOOK, I have noted with personal interest the references made to me and TWA in your current series of articles - The Howard Hughes Story.

A number of my friends in the aviation field have called my attention to, and I have recognized as much myself, several gross errors appearing in the article which refers to Mr. Hughes's introduction to TWA and that part concerning me...

The references concerning that part Mr. Hughes performed in connection with the Boeing Stratoliner and Constellation are grossly exaggerated . . . TWA had already secured bids from one manufacturer on the airplane in question that ultimately evolved into the Constellation - before Mr. Hughes ever showed interest in TWA or became its principal stockholder.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Mr. Hughes deserves credit for having the courage to financially support the purchase of the Stratoliner and Constellation after he purchased a stock interest in TWA."


Well, this former TWA president pretty much settles any questions as to ‘who’ and how the Constellation came into being...

 

Flight Magazine announces the new Constellation, June 19, 1942

 

 

 

 

 

Though Lockheed’s Hall Hibbard and his team of engineers were given the task of designing the aircraft for manufacturing in the Burbank plant, Flight Magazine recognized Jack Frye and Howard Hughes being the ‘developers’ of the Constellation. A very important historical detail often glazed over in favor of Hughes and not Frye in many other write ups, websites and the like. We can thank Hughes for having the money to support the project and some detailed sub-assembly input but Frye had the overall vision and concept of the plane solid in his sights before Hughes joined TWA.

Announced March 1942 by the Skyliner Magazine, the new

Lockheed Constellation is ready for its maiden flight.

Caption reads:

'The Lockheed Constellation designed and built for TWA, will be test flown at the Lockheed plant in Burbank, Calif., this summer, it has been announced by Jack Frye (right inset), who with Howard Hughes (left inset) conceived the ultra-modern transport. Here are the first pictures of the airliner, built to fly from LA to NY in 8-1/2 hours at altitudes above 25,000 feet and at cruising speeds of nearly 300 miles an hour. The plane carries 57 passengers and a crew of seven. The above is a wind tunnel model'.

A point I want to reiterate that may seem petty, antagonizing or even disrespectful in some circles, is that Howard Hughes has been portrayed as the sole ‘ideas’ man behind the Constellation as some authors, TV shows and a certain movie have recorded. Frye at carried at least half the weight, if not more of TWA’s development with Lockheed on the Constellation before Howard came on board. This includes all of the behind the scenes company management on the project that is unseen in the public eye. Jack needs to be recognized for his contribution. Howard was the technical partner who later enjoyed the actual nuts and bolts of the build. As we know, Howard Hughes was a clinically-detailed, deep-thinking individual who wrapped himself up to the inth degree of cerebral gymnastics. He was perfectly suited for this share of the project, however haphazard he may have been. But he didn’t know airliners and neither did Lockheed for that matter. Jack Frye was a contributor to the entire concept of a large airliner which could provide the speed and comfort he desired for his customers. Jack knew what would sell tickets for which he and his engineering crew developed many aspects of the airplane based on comfort, safety and efficiency for the flight crew, the ground crew and the passengers. He knew what people needed and wanted and worked very hard without the need to be ‘out front’ in the limelight like the narcissistic Hughes. Jack Frye was the rock behind the project, the clear and solid thinking aviator who would define the meaning of ‘practicality’ when it came to designing the Constellation. I am sure Jack Frye had a great rapport with designer, Hall Hibbard and his team of engineers, fending off Hughes’s idiosyncrasies and indecisions which have been well-documented in all aspects of his bizarre life. To give Howard credit for the whole Constellation project is nauseating and simply not true.

Jack Frye (sitting) and the Lockheed Martin staff, 1945

On this blog space it is time for Jack Frye to be awarded full recognition and a job well done for developing one of the most advanced propeller driven airliners in history, the L049 Constellation. As stated earlier, this was Jack Frye’s airplane through and through and it’s time someone publically set the records straight.

As we unfold more Constellation stories and articles, Jack Frye is integral to all of the Constellation’s history-making travels at home and abroad during his time as President of TWA. So much so, he and his new airplane opened up the globe to travel routes never considered until he, yes Jack Frye, introduced another new first for his company and the airline aviation story that would change the world. Stay tuned.

Special Note: Hall L. Hibbard who built early fighters and commercial airplanes. Born in Fredonia, Kansas, he grew up in the Philippine Islands (where his father was a missionary) and studied at the College of Emporia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He began his career as a draftsman for the Stearman Aircraft Co. in Wichita, Kansas and three years later became a chief engineer. In 1932 he joined Lockheed, where he was quickly promoted to Vice President and Chief Engineer because of his work on the Electra, the world's first 200mph commercial plane. During World War II, Hibbard was responsible for designing and developing the Hudson bomber, P-38 Lightning fighter, P-80 Shooting Star fighter, C-69 Constellation transport and XR-60 Constitution. Later he helped develop several military versions of the Constellation. He rose to Senior Vice-President and director of Lockheed and was a trustee of the Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Eric Johnson,

Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer blog

http://jack-frye.blogspot.com

2013

 

Worlds First Airline onto Frye's Aero Corp.

Before we move into the Boeing L049 Constellation and Jack Frye's important role in its development, I wanted to set a brief background of history leading up to his beginnings in the airline industry..
 

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When thinking about passenger air travel you would assume the first passengers boarded and flew on an airplane over land to their destination. Well, believe it or not, this isnt the case. The first daring passengers actually flew aboard an Airboat! And this is the very airboat that was commissioned for the first paid passenger flight in the world.

 

Follow this link

Thomas Benoist model XIV, 1914

 

In 1913, just eleven years after the Wright Brothers flew under power making worldwide history, Tony Jannus came to St. Petersberg Florida with his brother Roger, and his mechanic, to pilot Thomas Benoist's "Flying Boat" No. 43 into aviation history. On January 1, 1914, Percival Fansler's "St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line" became the world's first scheduled passenger airline service to use heavier than air aircraft, carrying passengers between the yacht basin in St. Pete and the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. The line lasted 3 months carrying just one passenger at a time that sat next to the pilot! What is the old addage? - "One baby step at a time." St. Petersburg Mayor A. C. Phiel paid $400 for the honor of being the first passenger on the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. The flight occured January 1, 1914 and took 23 minutes, 11 hours shorther than traveling by rail. In total, the line carried 1,204 passengers.
 

Follow this link

Worlds first paid passenger flight over Tampa Bay.

 

Since 1911, the US Post Office had been flying various yet dangerous air mail deliveries exploring the new mode of mail delivery. May 15, 1918 was the first scheduled air mail flight from Philadelphia to Washington piloted by Lt. James Edgarton.

New in 1916, the Curtiss JN-4D Jenny was widely used for Barnstorming demonstrations and carrying mail. And as we know the Jenny was Jack Frye's and Paul Richter's plane of choice of their company Aero Corporation of California at Burdett Field training new pilots, carrying mail and barnstorming themselves in the 20's.

 

 

Black Cats aerial team flying Jenny's

Jack Frye's Curtis JN-4D Jenny ferrying mail to Catalina Island.

Next in the history line of airline advancement was the US Governments role in establishing scheduled air mail flights across the country. Starting May 15, 1918, the Army Air Service commissioned two Jenny's to fly from Washington DC and Long Island New York respectively. The idea was to establish a Washington-Philadelphia-New York route. They were to meet in Philadelphia, trade mail bundles and continue onto each respective destination. Well, it didnt go so well. One of them got lost while following railroad lines and roads with no maps and a compass that had failed, and had to land. Upon landing the Jenny was damaged. The connecting flight made it to his destination but without the mail he was supposed to receive from the damaged plane.

Continuing on, the Army Air Corps withdrew from air mail service flights and the US Post Office decided to enlist their own pilots and aircraft. After many trials and fatal incidents, 1920 began with the First Transcontinental air mail service flights with a Capt. Benjamin Lipsner helping to establish the new service. This historic first began in September 1919 which reached Omaha, Nebraska. By 1920 the new service had reached San Francisco. The outcome was a dramatic reduction in mail deivery times from 3 days by rail to around 29 hours by air! A huge milestone in airline aviation.

The next hurdle of overnight air mail service was very dangerous and difficult to overcome. Can you imagine flying without navigation tools or a way to follow the stars in weather, and at night? The pilots had to be tough, talented and daring far beyond ever imagined. Consequently more fatalities occurred. Soon bonfires and lighted beacon's were lit along routs and landing strips. Also the planes began to be equipped with flares, crude landing lights and lighted instruments. The pilots also utilized fhe following of landmarks, waterways, familiar towns and anything that was easy to recognize from the air.

To see how pilots found their way, follow this link

I would like to notice another airline that flew flying boats with passengers aboard with great frequency and success in the 1920's. This company was called Aeromarine Airways. One of our contributors to the Jack Frye blog is Mr. Daniel Kusrow who makes it possible for us to display his early airline images. These are some fantastic shots of early transcontinental flying at its best just prior to Jack Frye (age 16) coming to California to persue his dream.

 

Visit Daniel Kusrow and Bjorn Larsson's excellent website here

(Following images courtesy by permission, Daniel Kusrow)

 

 

A view of the Aeromarine Airport on the beach at Atlantic City, N.J., in the summer of 1920 or 1921. A Model 50 has been driven up on the beach for easy loading. The big sign says:
"Aero-Marine 20 Passenger Flying Boat
Standard Flights $12.00
New York flights $75.00
Information Tickets Here"

 

 

The Ambassador in New York harbour, passing the Lapland (18,565 grt, 620 ft. long) of the Red Star Line. In the early 1920s this liner, built in 1909, plied the Atlantic Ocean between New York and Antwerp.
(Photo from the "Aviation and Aircraft Journal" of November 28, 1921)

 

 

Photo dating to the days of Aeromarine West Indies Airways, taken from the looks of it in Florida, possibly at Key West. The aircraft is an unidentified Model 75. The man smiling on the dock is Edwin Musick, later legendary Chief Pilot of Pan American, but then an Aeromarine pilot. The tall person standing in the background in white is Aeromarine's Chief Test Pilot, Cyrus J. Zimmermann

(brother of Chief Engineer Paul G. Zimmermann).


 

Photo taken from a passing ferry between Key West and Havana, March 1922.

 

 Photo of the Aeromarine arrival in Havana Bay, where the harbour is situated.
The ramparts of the Fortaleza de la Cabaña can be seen to the left.

A flown cover from the first U.S. mail and passenger flight of Aeromarine West Indies Airways on November 1, 1920, from Key West to Havana.

Airlines began taking over the Air Mail for the US Post Office in 1925. By 1927 the airline system was providing a reliable schedule of air mail service. It continued to lead and shape the industry by regulating the airways and guiding its growth promoting safety and technology. The Air Mail Act of 1925 allowed the Post Office to pay private airlines to deliver the mail. Payments were based on the weight of the mail carried. The Post Office later added a subsidy to help offset airline operating losses, until more efficient aircraft could be developed.

Jack Frye is now 21 years old upstarting his aviation career by beginning his own transcontinental airline company, The Aero Corporation of California. The rest is history!

 

Aero Corp in 1927. Jack Frye second from left.


 

 

 

We have come full circle from the very first powered flight and the first airline in the world up to Jack Frye's point of entering the airline business. Go to the first post on the Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer blog to read Jacks beginning's in global aviation... Thanks for reading.

Eric
 

Jack Frye Southwest Safari #1

Tucson Arizona, 4/13/13

For reasons wanting to gain more understanding of Jack Frye's history in airline aviation, its necessary to attempt to visit particular locations in which he made his mark. And since we live in Southern California, only 5-7 hours drive to Arizona where a lot of his life was spent, we decided to begin taking some road trips to actually see the locations we read and hear about. So, what I term as The Jack Frye Safari's, this entry is the first in a series for the Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer blog. We hope you enjoy and learn from our experiences.

On Saturday the 13^th of April, 2013, while visiting family in Phoenix, we headed south to Tucson with our first goal being to visit the Arizona Historical Society Library in order to search for photos and articles about Jack and his early companies, Standard Airlines and Transcontinental & Western Air. It is well known Tucson was Jack and Paul Richter’s prime spot of establishing a new airline route for commerce and travel as it was in a direct line towards El Paso, a spot they both had their eyes on for the future. We were able to come up with many articles and photographs and at $0.15 a copy, we loaded up! More photos are being researched via the Tempe Arizona AHS location.

The ladies at the Library were very helpful frequenting the archives and retrieving related material we hadn’t even asked for. We were able to view and copy the original Ms. Mary Hughson’s photo of the first ever merchandise flight into Tucson in 1929 by Jack Frye for Steinfelds Department Store.

The quality of the original photo is spectacular with clarity that rivals today’s image quality. I was completely dumbfounded how clear it is. The photo is registry number 47302 in the AHS. Ms, Hughston by the way was the Advertising manager of Steinfelds in 1969 when this photo was donated by her. I am unable to publish the actual high resolution photos here due to copyrights that are in place. Low resolution thumbnails are shown for reference only.

Another large photo we found but not directly related to Jack Frye but equally historical is of the Spirit of St. Louis aircraft N-X-211 photographed in Arizona in 1927. It is AHS registry number 44172 and what a gem of a find! I thought this photo very unusual. Charles Lindbergh's historic US to Paris solo flight began on May 20, 1927 and ended in Paris on the 21^st. Another known fact is the Spirits first flight was on April 28, 1927, at Dutch Flats in San Diego California, just one month before the transatlantic flight. This photo donated by Ms. Armstrong in 1969 was shot November 23, 1927 at Tucson’s Davis Mothan Field when Lindbergh arrived to dedicate the field. I can't help but think Jack was somewhere in attendence of this occasion. 

Finally after finding many original newspaper articles about Jack and his companies, we found another high quality original photo AHS registry number 51419 from the Flynn Maxey collection that was donated in 1972. This photo L-R shows a young 25 year old Jack Frye in late July 1929 standing next to Ray Krebs, Bill Kelly and Kirk T. Moore. Jack had just landed his Wright Whirlwind powered 1928 Eaglerock model A14 at Tombstone Field on his way to El Paso. We will be visiting Tombstone on Safari trip #2 to photograph this old field and to drum up any information we can find related to Jack there. We ended up spending 3 hours combing the archives at the AHS Library with even more to research. We will visit the Library again on Safari #2.

 

Jack Frye Accident site

Next stop is the location of the accident site in which Jack Frye tragically lost his life on February 3, 1959. I would like to speak directly to all of the Frye family members at this point and state, in no way is the following account of Jack Frye’s final evening with us meant to open old wounds or disrespect the pioneer's life. You must know by now I also love Jack Frye as best I can from a distance not knowing him personally. The whole Jack Frye blog space is a testament to mine and my families love for Jack as well. I spend countless hours with the help of my wife Kelly researching and assembling all the content on the blog for love of Jack and family. May I suggest we consider choosing to look at this tragic day in Jack and his family’s lives as a celebration of this great man’s life here on earth. This is our aim and purpose on the Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer blog, to celebrate his life.

This was an emotional period retracing Jacks unfortunate accident today. It brought to my thoughts what might have been on his mind after leaving his office, his business day and how it went, and thinking of his child Nevajac and wife Emily who were visiting his mother in law Lillian Johnson Smith in Las Vegas. It was quite surreal and brought home the whole Jack Frye story for me. At just 54 years old, he had so much more to offer in aviation, but more so, to raise and enjoy his beloved and only child Nevajac with whom we are in contact on a weekly basis. We are so blessed to be able to have a relationship with Nev and Jacks granddaughter, Breanna Frye.

Our main focus was to video the route Jack traveled from the Tucson airport area, specifically the old Hughes access road up to the Ajo Way and Palo Verde Road intersection, a 12.4 mile trek where the accident occurred. We got the drive on video and it will be produced for Nev and the families eyes only until further notice should she wish to release for public viewing. Below are some photos of the intersection and a small memorial and flowers we placed in Jack Frye’s honor at Ajo and Palo Verde.

While standing on this spot surveying the intersection, I couldn’t help but imagine the accident scene that occurred in the dusty darkness and the horrible sound of smashed metal, tires squealing and glass breaking. I have been in a few car and motorcycle accidents in my life and everything happens in a flash. We don’t know if Jack saw the station wagon approaching, my guess is he didn’t from reading the accident descriptions in the Tucson Daily Citizen newspaper. The cause of the accident, Mrs. Rosabell Wright did though. She described seeing a sign that said “Stop Sign Ahead”, then it was dark, then she saw bright lights. I assume these were Jacks headlights.
 

Looking westward from the NE corner of Ajo and Palo Verde. The drunk drivers trajectory can be represented by the oncoming white cars traveling east into the intersection.

This view of the red car represents Jacks 1959 Ford Galaxie 500 traveling north on Palo Verde into the intersection. It was dark with poor visability according to Deputy Wade who was on the scene.

 

Tucson Daily Citizen clipping of Jacks mangled car

The drunk driver stated to the police that she swerved to the right to try and miss Jacks car. The officers reported the station wagon that hit Jack was traveling about 50 miles per hour and that there we’re no tire skid marks in the intersection to be seen. By looking at the photo above, her car hit the left rear door extremely hard causing a massive concussion in the sturdy Ford Galaxie. The report also states Jack was thrown from the car about 30 feet before it stopped some 175 feet from the impact point. The only thing I can think of why he was thrown from the car after the impact is, he was probably unconscious without a seat belt which was common in those days, and the door swung open from bouncing in the dirt off the pavement. Just a tragic accident...

February 4, 1959 morning report of the accident.

~ Jack Frye Memorial ~

 

 

While on our way to Hughes Access Road to shoot the video, we went through three supermarket stores to find some flowers to place on the memorial. This went without success until we were driving behind a strip mall and found an open door with flowers outside. No business sign or address was seen, but we decided to give it one last try. We walked into the establishment to find the owner stating – “we are out of flowers, we are doing a large wedding and you will have to wait a half hour before we can try and help you”. My wife Kelly said sure, we have just been to 3 other stores without success so waiting won’t be a problem. We stayed out of the way of rushing employees loading up a van, then suddenly Ms. Jane Thrall asked us what kind of flowers we needed. We said a small bouquet of assorted flowers in a vase will be fine. As we watched her tend to our request, we began sharing what the flowers were for. I had said a famous individual who was an airline pioneer here in Tucson and that the accident occured out at Ajo and Palo Verde. A man asked “who was he?” I get this question all the time. I said Jack Frye. He said, "never heard of him." This is the typical answer that over time we hope to dispel of and begin bringing Jack and his story into the forefront of American culture. After a few minutes the bouquet is ready to go. We trade contact information and we pay and leave.

 

Thank you Arizona Flowers for taking care of us for the famous airline pioneer in which you now know as Jack Frye.

 

54 years later, the age of Jack Frye on his last day with us, we placed a small memorial at the accident scene in his honor and as a gesture of respect in behalf of his family. There are no words that I can describe how Nevajac and all family members miss her father and the grandfather her children have never met. We all experience great loss in families but this one is especially hard to cope with even today for the sudden loss of such a great pioneering aviation man, father and husband who had much more to give. I never met him personally as I was 5 years old when Jack Frye was still with us. But my family and I feel the loss of cousin Nev, and this day really brought it home.

May God continue to bless Jack’s soul while he rests for the Lords resurrection day when we shall see Him and Jack again...
 

St. Mary's Hospital

The next stop was to visit St. Mary’s Hospital in which Jack was rushed in an ambulance to try and save his life. I have included a late 50’s photo of the hospital for period reference. And a floor plan of the hospital today. We were able to speak to a very nice elderly volunteer of over 30 years service about where the emergency room was located where Jack's life was trying to be saved in 1959. Rosemary was most helpful in narrowing the location down over decades of remodeling. The red X on the floor plan is the presumed spot of the emergency trauma area. Again, this was quite surreal and emotional knowing where the famous Jack Frye, TWA’s first president and Aviation Pioneer passed away.

50's era image courtesy cardcow.com

The Frye Bungalow

Our final stop on this day of discovery after some 8 hours on the road is The Lodge On The Desert where the Frye’s had leased a bungalow for a few months. This period of our day was very enjoyable. Nevajac has fond memories of this place with the swimming pool, horseback riding and a blissful life with her parents. This is a place Kelly and I are very interested in as the same exact bungalow can be rented today of which we will endeavor in the near future. To reside in the Frye’s actual bungalow will be a highlight of our lives.

Circle drive entry into the lodge

Bronze statue 'Jack Knife' by Ed Mell, his first large scale work

This was a great and very informative visit that was freely hosted by one of the Inn keepers, Ms. Tabitha Maddock. As we are relating the Jack Frye story to the innkeeper ladies at the front desk, Tabitha pipes up and says she remembers a story about the Jack Frye ghost in the dining room. And another innkeeper relates the story out there about a cleaning lady seeing an open suitcase full of money in Jacks room. Isn’t it amazing how fables become so ingrained in peoples minds, it is sometimes comical. We dispel these old wives tales with the innkeepers and share the Jack Frye story. And that I am related to him by marriage to Emily Nevada and his daughter Nevajac, his only child, my 3^rd cousin. We inform them we are visiting the lodge to document the grounds and room for his daughter and the Jack Frye blog. So I ask, where is room 16 & 17? I explain these are rooms Jack had leased in 1958-59 just prior to his accident up the road a piece. The inkeepers tell us there are no rooms with those numbers now. Well Tabitha immediately jumps in and says let me check. She comes back five minutes later and says "I know where they are." I said, "how did you find them out so quick?" She had asked an elderly maintenance man who remembered the location while the Inn was being remodeled and additions made a few years ago.

As Tabitha was leading us down the pathway towards the location, I began to get a real sense of Jack, Emily and Nev as a family unit and it just made me internally emotional to the point of telling Kelly, this is amazing! She agreed and had a similar sense herself. The grounds have been recently landscaped and all the buildings restored and repainted. It is a serene and beautiful place to hang your hat as I’m sure Jack agreed back in his day. There is no sense of the typical multi-floored hotel environment here. It’s very homey and comfortable allowing you to spread yourself out in a relaxed and quiet environment.

The pathway to the Frye bungalow straight ahead.

I am standing in front of the west wall of the bungalow about to round the north corner to the front porch. In 1959 there were no buildings in front of this bungalow allowing a view of open land with shrubbery and beautiful mountain landscapes. It is also located furthest away from the original front office lending to maximum privacy.

This is Jack Frye's bungalow #16 at The Lodge On The Desert in Tucson Arizona, now #135. Jack had also rented bungalow #17 next door for more room for family and visitors. It is now #136 and is cojoined to #135 with a common entryway into two individual doorways.

 

I am shooting this photo from the newer section second story

hallway which didn't exist in 1959

The entryway into old bungalow #16, now #135

This is the view of the grounds behind the Frye bungalow

We weren’t able to go inside the Frye bungalow as it was already rented. But we did meet the renters and informed them they are residing in a famous aviators bungalow, the first president of TWA. They were quite impressed. We really wanted to peek inside but didn't have the heart to intrude upon the renters.

Below is another bungalow Tabitha let us go into to get a feel for the ambiance and style. The Lodge maintains the original flavor and finish utilizing original styled furniture with some modern amenities. Then Tabitha showed us another room off to the side the Lodge doesn’t rent out. Reason being is they keep it in a non-restored original condition as a remembrance of the lodges past. When you enter the first thing you notice is the musty aroma of age and non attention. It’s not a bad room actually. We would definitely rent it if they would allow us. It needs attention to the plaster and some tidying up. But the solid original wood furniture, floor tiles, bed and cabinetry are really neat.

Kelly, and Tabitha on the right, our enthusiastic and helpful

hostess guide inside a similar bungalow

Can you envision Jack catching up on his daily business here?

Thank you very much Tabitha, you were great and we hope to see you again soon when we stay in #16.

The red X above marks the spot where bungalow #16 is located. Everything left of the X along the sidewalk is new construction that didn’t exist in 1959. For those that might remember, the pool has been moved north of the green grass on the right where it was originally located.

click here to visit the Lodge

We walked away from the Lodge experiencing complete fulfillment of our day’s safari in Tucson with complete enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment. We hope you enjoyed our pack-filled day of discovery also. Until next time...

Eric Johnson

Owner/Creator

JACK FRYE Aviation Pioneer blog

http://jack-frye.blogspot.com

2013