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.

 

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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.
 

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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
 

Ed Betts on Aero Corp & Standard Airlines

Mr. Ed Betts, retired TWA pilot and aviation historian now deceased, produced what I think is the best accounting of Jack Frye's Aero Corp and Standard Airlines that I know of. It was this article that really set me off into the study of these pioneering airlines and the seeded desire to know about my cousin, Nevajac Frye's father. My father being a reader of great depth and ferocity had one day in the 90's sent me a copy of the AAHS Journal volume 39, number 3 (Fall 1994) of which after reading the Betts article, I was set on a new flight path of both aviation and family history.

The stand alone page link below gets you to the Ed Betts article in full. Right click on the images when you get there to view in full size for best reading enjoyment. Eric

L-R: Paul Richter, 'Tommy' Tomlinson, Jack Frye, Walter Hamilton

Click here for the Ed Betts article.

Many thanks to the AAHS Journal for allowing the Jack Frye blog to post this work online.

Jack Frye - Deputized

In 1926, Los Angeles Sheriff William Traeger had a bright idea for chasing down criminals in their getaway cars that the pilots at Aero Corp over at Burdett Field were more than abliged to help out. From what we know this is the very first Airiel Deputy duty program in aviation, on the west coast at least. And who did the good sheriff swear in?

From L to R in these clippings published from two different papers, Walter Hamilton, Lee Wiley, Richard Edwards, Jack Frye and Paul Richter. Sheriff Traeger was then made honory pilot of the Aero Corporation of California.

Just another forward thinking move by Jack Frye including his business partners in the quest of modern aviation and its many advantages to commerce, and passenger travel. I cant help but think Jack must of had a ball chasing down the bad guys in his Fokker, getting more hours of challenging seat time flying in the old birds. Those criminals didn't have a chance!

Collage of FRYE Airline Entrepreneurship

Image source http://www.timetableimages.com

Talk about having an impact towards the future of Airline and Cargo transportation, Jack Frye was thee central figure of innovation and business savvy setting in motion the great Airline business of today. His aviation signature permeates the whole industry as we now know it. Oh if he could see today what he began as a dream and passion!

From Standard Air to T&WA

Jack Frye's Standard Airlines begins operations in November, 1927 sporting FOKKER Tri-Motor, 10 passenger aircraft. Phillips 66 was the fuel of choice and co-sponser of the new airline.

Above, some early facts of the new Air-Rail service.

On March 30, 1929, Standard Air Lines suffered its first (and only) fatal accident when pilot Del Everitt and three passengers were killed in a Fokker F-VIIA-3m version 12-passenger monoplane. The Los Angeles Examiner described this as Southern California's worst air disaster. This occurred on the departure out of Los Angeles in the San Gorgonio Pass.

By March 30, 1930, Western Air and Express had "taken-over" Aero Corp/Standard through controlling stock purchases. Twelve shares of Aero Corp/Standard stock were exchanged for one WAE. What is a credit to Jack Frye's leadership was that the original $50,000 subscribed to form the corporation in February 1926 was now worth (on paper) $2,500,000. It had been his policy not to pay annual dividends; all profits were reinvested to modernize the fleet and expansion operations. Frye was now on WAE's Board of Directors and Chief of Operations.

The Los Angeles Examiner reads: "Converting a oldtime movie studio into airplane hangar and carving an oiled runway through a wheat field on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Western Air Lines in 1926 began operations from Vail Field. Five little Douglas M-2 biplanes, like craft in photo, made up the first fleet of the nation's oldest airline carrier.

Postmaster General Walter F. Brown had his own ideas on how new airmail route contracts would be awarded which resulted in the infamous "Spoils Conferences" with certain airline executives. Brown ordered the merger and terms between WAE, TAT-Maddux and Pittsburgh Aviation Industries Corp. The new T&WA was formed and began service in October 1930 on the "central route" from Newark to Burbank.

This was the end of Aero Corp's activities although the property was carried on WAE's books as an asset for several more years. Frye was elected VP-Operations of the new T&WA, later to be called TWA.

Jack Frye and first wife Debbie Greer Frye

Debbie Greer Frye, Jacks first wife was a great cheerleader and co-worker with her forward thinking husband during the formative years of his airline operations. She is known to have performed many supportive tasks around the airport grounds planning and coordinating activites for the flying schools, parties for dignitaries and promoting Aero Corp and Standard Airlines in Southern California. Debbie was an aviation pioneer in her own right that helped her husband towards the advancement of airline growth on the west coast.

AERO Corp of California

A 1926 photo of the Aero Corporation. (L-R) Sheriff Traecer, Jack Frye,

Richmond Edwards, Walt Hamilton, Lee Willey, Paul Richter and Sherriff Biscailuz.

 

William John (Jack) Frye was born on March 18, 1904 and was raised on the family ranch near Wheeler Texas. The 15,000 acre cattle ranch was a family affair and Jack, along with his brother Don and sister Opal, each owned a small portion of the herd. Jack's first exposure to aviation was almost his last one. He was age 14 at the time when three Army planes made an emergency landing near Wheeler due to weather and mechanical problems. They were stuck there three days waiting for good weather, during which time young Jack ran many errands for them. He did'nt get to watch their departure as he was bedridden with a severe case of pneumonia. In 1921-1922 he served a year with the Army Engineers. After some time working on the ranch, Jack sold his share of the herd and bought a car. Along with Don and two friends they set out for Southern California where the "good paying jobs" were supposedly available.

 

Well it turned out to be washing dishes, selling newspapers and "soda jerking" at a drugstore. Jack met a veteran pilot and barnstormer named Burdett Fuller, at the drugstore who operated a flying school and had a few WW1 surplus Jennies for local and charter flights. He flew out of a field located on "Barnstormers Row", a group of airdromes located on the outskirts south of downtown Los Angeles on 104th street and Western Avenue. For the price of $5, Jack took his first ride in an airplane. It only lasted 15 minutes, but this was enough to convince him he wanted to be a pilot. Jack rented the plane for $20 a week on his meager $25 a week pay, so it took several months before he had enough experience (7-1/2 flying hours) to solo. On the same day as he made his solo flight he took his first paying passenger for a ride. Within a short time Jack owned his own Jenny (it cost $350).

Frye soon established a reputation as an excellent pilot and instructor. The new Long Beach airport hosted a Memorial Day Air Meet (May 30, 1925) where 25,000 fans witnessed 50 pilots and their planes compete in 10 events for cups and cash prizes. Jack won the "Dead Stick Landing" contest.

Among the students at the Burdett School who also became an important part of TWA's roots in later years were Paul Richter and Walt Hamilton. The trio of "Jack, Paul and Ham" became very close friends and in early 1926 they pooled their resources ($5000) and bought Fuller's interests. This included the goodwill of the business, 14 planes, the repair shop and equipment, a well established flying school and air taxi service.

 

Burdett Airport, 1925

On February 3, 1926, the Aero Corporation of California was formed with a total investment of $50,000.In 1927, the corporation was reorganized and Frye was elected President; Richmond Edwards and Hamilton VP's; Charles Cradick, Secretary; Paul Richter, Treasurer. Lee Willey was appointed Chief Instructor. Lee Flanagin, in exchange for his work as a "grease monkey," learned to fly and became an instructor.

 

 

 

Aero Corp obtained the Regional Distributorship for the American-built Fokker aircraft. At the time, this included the single-motor six-place high wing monoplane called the Universal. Aero Corp established branch offices in Phoenix and Tucson for the sale and maintenance of the Alexander and Fokker aircraft.

 

Jennys circa 1925. Note the "Blck Cats" aerial team logo on the tail fin.

On November 26, 1927, Standard Airlines, a subsidiary of Aero Corp, inaugurated a three-times-a-week schedule between Los Angeles and Phoenix-Tucson, the first This is a good example of Jack Frye's firm belief there was a bright future flying passengers on a regular schedule as the company did not have an airmail contract. Under Jack's leadership, business was great and, at one time, as many as 86 men were employed in the shops. Aero Corp's maintenance and engineering were considered among the best in the country. The flying school was among the first to be accredited by the Department of Commerce and also ranked among the best.

Ultimately, these operations led by Jack Frye, Paul Richter and Walter Hamilton merged becoming Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA) by 1930.