Page 24 - January 2015 Volume 9, Number1

The aft cockpit is crammed with Pioneer instrumentation including vertical readout displays that monitored engine operation. The drift device is mounted on the left side of the cockpit, and the wind-driven vane that powered the earth inductor compass is visible on the aft turtledeck. (SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRAIRIES)
to create widespread public awareness and fuel national interest in aviation, automotive mogul Henry Ford helped to create the National Air Tour for the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy, named in honor of and managed by his son and heir to the Ford empire. The aerial tour was, to some extent, patterned after popular automobile activities such as the Glidden excursions that began in 1904. These “road trips” were intended to not only educate the public and promote sales of the “horseless carriage” as a useful means of reliable transportation, but also to promote the creation of non- existent infrastructure such as paved roads, bridges and travel facilities including refueling stations, hotels and restaurants.
The concept of airplanes flying a pre-determined course between cities actually originated with America’s Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce soon after the Armistice was signed in 1918; when proposed, it was met with silence and found little or no public or political support. In theory, the tour was a good idea but was too far ahead of its time. Although the reasons are numerous, chief among these was the fact that in 1919 the United States was recovering from the horrors of World War I, the airplane was essentially ignored as potential means of public and private transportation, and a commercial aviation industry did not exist to support and assist the creation of such a long-distance aerial exhibition.
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During the early 1920s, however, that scene had slowly begun to change. By 1925, there were at least 290 operators in 41 states flying 676 airplanes. Only a handful of small, would-be airframe manufacturers existed, many of them (including the Travel Air Manufacturing Company) tucked away in make-shift facilities across the nation. The aviation visionaries who worked in those shops were building a limited number of airplanes per year, including seaplanes and float planes, while others managed to create a niche market by modifying World War I surplus biplanes to meet specific customer requirements. In addition to Travel Air, other early pioneering companies included Waco (abbreviation for Weaver Aircraft Company), Curtiss, Laird, Martin and many others too numerous to mention.
As the momentum for private and commercial flying gradually accelerated, the climate was finally ripe for an air tour. In addition to exposing the public to the advantages of flying, the event provided small manufacturers such as Travel Air the opportunity to demonstrate the design and performance attributes of their airplanes. When the Ford-sponsored event was announced, Beech, Stearman and Cessna, management’s “top guns” at the company, were quick to enter three airplanes – two “Model B6” three-place biplanes, one powered by a Curtiss OXX-6 and another powered by an OX-5; and one Model A three-place biplane powered by an OXX-6. Travel Air’s trio of flying machines easily met the technical and performance requirements stipulated by tour officials for entry. These included a maximum speed of more than 80 mph carrying the pilot and a payload of 0.5-lb. per cubic inch of engine displacement, and the payload could consist of a passenger, ballast or a combination of both. In addition, the rules required pilots to promise that they did not take alcohol in any form, and state that they were in good health.
Additional impetus for the Ford Tour came from Congressional passage of the Kelly Air Mail Act of February 1925, which cleared the way for airlines, then in their infancy, to assume responsibility for carrying U.S. Government air mail. It was a crucial first step toward creating a viable commercial aviation industry. The inaugural “Ford Tour,” as it became known, was sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and managed by the Detroit Aviation Society. Last but not least, Edsel Ford donated a special, gold and silver trophy standing nearly four feet tall that reportedly cost about $7,000. It was inscribed with these words: “This trophy is offered to encourage the upbuilding of commercial aviation as medium of transportation.”
The tour would be flown over a 1,000-mile course divided into 10 individual legs stretching from Detroit to Chicago, on to Omaha and St. Joseph and Kansas City; thence to St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland and returning to Detroit. The Travel Air Model A (assigned Tour number “0”) was piloted by E.K. Campbell, one of the original handful of Travel
JANUARY 2015