Davies, R.E.G.
First Edition
It is a little known fact that the world`s first scheduled air service was operated before the First World War - by flying-boats in Florida, thus to the United States goes the honour of pioneering air transport with heavier-than-air craft.
In the years following the Great War, the USA lagged behind Europe in developing commercial air Services but did organise and establish trans-continental air mail Services. Slowly, however, from the mid-1920s, passenger airlines were built up and to serve them the U S aircraft industry produced outstanding aircraft such as the Ford Tri-Motor, the Boeing 247 and the Douglas DC-3. These great aero-planes and their successors established the United States äs the leader in world air transport and led to today's domination of the world's air routes by such aircraft as the Boeing 747 and 707 and the Douglas DC-8.
Airlines of the United States since 1914, by the author of A History of the World's Airlines, traces the whole story from those first tentative Steps in 1914 up to the present when the US air transport system carries more than half of all air passengers outside of the U S S R.
Every development in airline progress is covered. There are chapters on the exploratory pioneer days before the Air Mail Act of 1925, the adventurous years of the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Air Mail Scandal of 1934, and the Era of the DC-3, culminating in the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, and the establishment of the nucleus of the airline industry as we know it today. There are chapters on all the main categories of present-day airlines, Trunks, Local Service, International, Supplemental, All-Cargo, and of the US overseas territories. The historical development of routes, fleets, and fortunes of every airline, large or small -including the Third Level, Air Taxi, or Commuter airlines - are dealt with in a narrative which avoids excessive statistical detail. However, for reference purposes, there are numerous tables of data, supplemented by many maps
and charts.
The interplay between individual initiative, government regulation and control, the role of factors such as competition, international policy, and public opinion, all find a place in this airline story. Not least is the development of the modern airliner up to the 350-ton flying leviathans such as the Boeing 747. The progress and contribution made by the aircraft manufacturers in providing the tools of the airline trade is given full emphasis, and illustrated by almost 500 photographs which alone would provide a fascinating story.
Contents
List of Maps and Charts
List of Appendices
List of Tables
Foreword by Secor D. Browne
Author's Note
The First Steps
The United States Air Mail Service
The First Regular Airlines
Formation of the Big Four
Spanning the Continent
Survival of the Fittest
Upheaval and a Fresh Start
The DC-3 Era
Pan American goes South
Ocean Conquest
World War Two
Airlines in U.S. Territories
Post-war Domestic Boom
Post-war International Boom
The Second Level
All-Freight Airlines
The Charter Airlines
The Third Level
Propeller-turbine Interlude
The Jet Age
Twilight of the Gods
Fresh Horizons
Bibliography
Tables
Special Note on Appendices
Appendices
Index
Hardcover with dust jacket
746 Seiten / pages
hundreds of photos, tables, maps and graphs
good condition
London - 1972 - Putnam & Company
Art.Nr. 18832
