FAA HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY, 1926-1996

FAA HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY, 1926-1996You may use this chronology in three ways:Browse by scrolling through this document.Search this document for words, phrases, or numbers (for example, LindberghField or 747). To do this, select Edit, then Find, or use the Control F command. Toquickly reach the beginning of any year, search for that year preceded by an asterisk (forexample, *1957).Use the index*1926May 20, 1926: President Calvin Coolidge signed the Air Commerce Act of 1926 into law. The actinstructed the Secretary of Commerce to foster air commerce; designate and establish airways; establish,operate, and maintain aids to air navigation (but not airports); arrange for research and development toimprove such aids; license pilots; issue airworthiness certificates for aircraft and major aircraft components;and investigate accidents. (See Introduction.)May 23, 1926: Western Air Express (WAE) became one of the first U.S. airlines to offer regularpassenger service, flying from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City via Las Vegas. WAE had begun flying onApr 17 as the fourth carrier to begin operations under a new air mail contract system that became themajor source of income for the era's small but growing airline industry (see Jun 3, 1926).Over twelve years earlier, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line had offered the world's firstregularly scheduled airline service using heavier-than-air craft. This enterprise lasted for only the firstthree months of 1914. On Mar 1, 1925, T. Claude Ryan's Los Angeles-San Diego Air Line had begun thefirst scheduled passenger service operated wholly over the U.S. mainland and throughout the year.Jun 3, 1926: Amended legislation introduced a more workable method of paying airlines for carryingmail. The Air Mail Act of Feb 2, 1925, commonly known as the Kelly Act, had provided for transportationof mail on the basis of contracts between the Post Office Department and individual air carriers, a systemthat was to prove a great boon to America's fledgling airlines. Under the original Kelly Act, however, thecarrier's compensation was computed as a percentage of the actual postage affixed to the mail carried.Since this computation proved cumbersome, the 1926 amendment substituted a procedure under which theairlines were paid by the pound for mail carried. (See May 17, 1928.)Jun 11, 1926: The Ford Trimotor made its first flight. The famous "Tin Goose" was a high-wingmonoplane with all-metal construction and a corrugated skin. The original 4-AT model seated eightpassengers, later increased to twelve, and the improved 5-AT seated up to thirteen passengers. TheTrimotor became a workhorse for U.S. airlines and remained in production until 1933.Jul 2, 1926: A drop of tree seeds over a burned area in Hawaii on this date was the first recorded instanceof reforesting by airplane.Jul 3, 1926: A congressional joint resolution authorized the President to detail officers of the ArmyAir Corps to the Commerce Department to help in promoting civil aviation, provided the details did notexceed one year.Jul 16, 1926: The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company inaugurated the first daily passenger air servicebetween Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in connection with the celebration of the 150th anniversaryof Declaration of Independence. Both passengers and mail were carried on a schedule of three trips in eachdirection daily, using three-engine Fokker monoplanes seating 10 passengers. The flying time wasapproximately 1 hour 30 minutes each way, and the passenger fare was 15 one way and 25 roundtrip.The service lasted for five months.Aug 11, 1926: William P. MacCracken, Jr., took office as the first Assistant Secretary of Commercefor Aeronautics (see Oct 1, 1929). He thus became the first head of the Aeronautics Branch, created in the

Department of Commerce by Secretary Herbert Hoover to carry out the Secretary's responsibilities underthe Air Commerce Act of 1926. MacCracken, who had assisted in drafting that act, brought to the positionexperience as a World War I Army pilot, as chairman of the American Bar Association's committee onaviation law, and as general counsel of National Air Transport, a contract mail carrier he helped organize in1925.With the appointment of MacCracken as its chief, the organization of the Aeronautics Branchproceeded rapidly. Secretary Hoover believed that the duties imposed by the Air Commerce Act should becarried out by existing Department of Commerce components. Although five principal units made up theAeronautics Branch, which ranked as a bureau, only two were structurally part of the new Branch--the AirRegulations Division and the Air Information Division. The other three units followed directions from theBranch concerning work to be undertaken, but received detailed guidance and administrative support fromother bureau-level components of the Department. Thus, the Airways Division was organized within theBureau of Lighthouses, the Aeronautical Research Division within the Bureau of Standards, and the AirMapping Section within the Coast and Geodetic Survey.Oct 1, 1926: Northwest Airways began service as a contract mail carrier. The company began passengerservice the following year, and expanded its routes in the late twenties and early thirties, changing its nameto Northwest Airlines on Apr 16, 1934. Further expansion included routes to Asia, beginning in the1940s, and for a time the carrier used the name Northwest Orient Airlines.Nov 15, 1926: The Post Office invited bids from private operators to take over the transcontinentalair mail route in two sections: San Francisco-Chicago and Chicago-New York. Although no satisfactorybids were received for the Chicago-New York route, the contract for the San Francisco-Chicago route wentto the organizers of Boeing Air Transport on Jan 29, 1927. After new biding, the Post Office on Apr 3,1927, announced the award of the Chicago-New York route to the newly formed National Air Transport.(See Aug 31, 1927.)Nov 16, 1926: Dr. Louis Hopewell Bauer became the first Medical Director of the Aeronautics Branch.A major in the Medical Corps at the time of his appointment, Dr. Bauer had spent more than half of his 13year Army career in the Air Service. (See Feb 28, 1927.)Dec 7, 1926: The first airway light beacon erected by the Aeronautics Branch began operation. Thebeacon was located 15 miles northeast of Moline, Ill., on the Chicago-Dallas air mail route. By Jun 30,1927, there were 4,121 miles of lighted airways, including 2,041 miles on the transcontinental airway thathad been previously lighted by the Post Office Department. (See Apr 1973.)Dec 7, 1926: The Aeronautics Branch made its first official airworthiness inspection of an Americanaircraft when Inspector Ralph Lockwood tested a Stinson Detroiter before its delivery to Canadian AirExpress.Dec 18, 1926: The first issue of Domestic Air News, the Aeronautics Branch official publication,appeared. (See Jul 1, 1929.)Dec 31, 1926: The first Air Commerce Regulations of the Aeronautics Branch, Department ofCommerce, became effective. Promulgated under provisions of the Air Commerce Act of 1926, theseregulations resulted from many conferences between the Aeronautics Branch and pilots, operators,manufacturers, the Army, the Navy, and the Post Office Department.The regulations required all aircraft engaged in interstate or foreign commerce to be licensed andmarked with an assigned identification number. Pilots of licensed aircraft were required to hold private orcommercial licenses. Commercial pilots were classed as either transport or industrial. Mechanics repairingaircraft engaged in air commerce were required to secure either engine or airplane mechanic licenses, orboth. Owners, pilots, and mechanics affected had until Mar 1 (later extended to May 1), 1927, to placetheir applications on file. Pending action on these applications by the Aeronautics Branch, those applyingby the specified date could continue operating as previously until Jul 1, 1927. Failure to apply as requiredwas punishable by a 500 fine. The regulations also prescribed operational and air traffic safety rules.(See Mar 22, 1927.)*1927