TWA Skyliner Magazine, 1936-08-01_16

              Vol. 1
No.4
Our Fine First-Half Business
Ten Years of Air Transport
The Radio Meteorograph
New Superintendent of
Passenger Service
A Traveling Trouble Shooter
We "See" Into Steel
.f}'Ct 7lirL~ with tlzrL glcrlinrL'C~ "6
han~CO'ntin~ntaf and w~~t~tn IJlt
Tlw fiiJOIO,!!,ra[Jb; rt'fmlllun•tl h1•rruitb tlt•fJicllbl• rnlranciug scrm·;
lo /)(• found l'irlually in 1111)' "on lofl" fli,~bl aboard lb1• Sk)linrr; of
T\¥1 11. Nowb1·rl' is//}(· llllljl'$/y of Ntt!UI't' tlisclosrt! loa .~rralt•r 1'\­ll'ul
Jhau in tbt· lltdt•.lcrtbably b1•autiful colorin,!!,.l tlml formalioll.\
ltJkt•n on /J1 Jbr cloud, 11.1 Jb1• tltr lra1 t•ft•r fwsscs a/)(111' lb1·m. Tbnt•
p,cfurn tLI'rl' cbosru from lbc rolll'rliou of 1111111) web Jll;olo,!!,l"ll/tl~>
lakl'n bv Caf!lain W'. G. Golh•n •II bi.1 )t'llrs of fiJing comJWII) tur­crctfl.
/.ike 11111ny o!Lc•r lltl'tllbrr; of tlw TWII\ family, Ca{Jiain Golil'll
ust·s a 111111ialurr etlllll'rll wbicb gel; rt'lltlh-wbrn b11ndlcd jiYOjll'rly.
T!Jal !11' baudlrs bi, jlllrliculllr camrr11 f~rofJerly i; mdintll'd in fbi'
piclurt'.l. lu ft~cl, b1• i1 11 Jlri:l'-lliuuiu,~ amatrur 11 bl'lt il come; lo
pbolog m flhy.
V01. 1
I' 11 bl is 111'11 by
TRANSCONTINENTAL & WESTER AIR, IN<.
KANSA~ Cl l '' M ISSOURI
AUGUST, 1936 l\o. 4
OuT 7't.izfl 7iT~t-l/al8 flu~tizfl~~
All Forms of Traffic Showed Excellent Gains in the First Half of 1936
Over the Same Period of Last Year
TH[ fiNE gains in traffic which have been enjoyed in t he first half of 1935 w,\S 30,319.
each succeeding month of 1936 over p receding months
of this year and over the correspond ing months of last year,
brought totals for the first ha lf of
The gain in passengers, together with an increase in the
the year which resulted in the great­est
business in rhe history of Tran s­continental
& Western A ir, Inc.
The passenger business over t he
system in the fuse half of 19 3 6
pushed up to a peak 2 8.9 per cent
higher than in the first half of last
year.
Air mail rocketed up to 39.2 per
cenL greater poundage.
General Air Express, t he express
handling organization operated by
TWA, went banging over t he top
with a gain of 73.8 per cent.
The increase in passenger miles
flown was 14 per cent, the actua l in­crease
having been 4,1 11,3 3 0 pas­senger
miles.
In the first half of the current
year, 39,097 revenue passengers used
the coast co coast or other services
of TWA. This developed a gain
near I y of 9,000 era velcrs over t he
company's system, since t he total of
revenue passengers transported in
revenue passenger load f.tctor, was particular!) cncoura~-
INTO ITS OWN
"That air tran~porr now not only is
coming into its own, bur is a general! )' ac­cepted
form of rr.msportation in the United
States. :IS well :1~ other counrries, is proved
beyond the ~lightest doubt in the figure'
pertaining to the pa~senger, mail and ex­press
loads O\•cr the system of T ransconti­nental
& \XIcHcrn Air, Inc.
"A glance :It the traffic in all rhree fonm,
ha ndled over the TWA system in the fir\t
six months of 1936 agai nst the first half
of last year, certai nly must convince even
the most pe~simist i c indi vidual th:!t the
value of cramport;Hion above the ground
is being realiL.ed to a gre:~cer and greater
degree by the J\'er.1ge citi7cn.
"Thi~ happy condition can have bc::n
brought about only through chc remark.1ble
examples of ~afety, cfficicnC), comfort and
convenience. wch .1s tho'>e which have been
demonstrated d.t)' after day over che TWA
system."
J. B. WALKER,
Vice-fJre.lit!rnl in rbarge of lr11jfic
ing since in the first half of this year
there was a l 0 per ccn t i ncrcase in
scat miles operated. In other words,
the company had more scats to fill
and more scats were filled.
The average load of air m;til in­creased
by 2 8. 6 per ccn t. The a' cr­.1gc
load of air-express mcreascd by
more than 30 per ccnl.
The immense gains in air express
over rhc TWA system, gains which
demonstrate the mounting de~irc of
shippers to take advantage of the
remarkably fast service offered by
General Air Express, have led com­pany
officials to consider the feasi­bility
of inaugurating a separ;He a r
transport service for express on I}.
This contemplated sen icc would, of
course, supplement the man)
schedules now operated for pas­sengers,
mail and express between
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts; be­tween
New York and Chicago, and
between New York and Pitts­burgh.
/foat:~ oD /}lt: ft:an~pot:t
Nea rly One Hundred Fifty Times as Many Passengers
Use Air Travel Now
A lRLII\ES in the United Sene~ recently
completed their first ten years of
scheduled air tr.tmport opcr.niom with a
record ~urp:t\\an~ the progre~s of :1ny other
medium of tr.tn,pon:Hion in it\ fir~r
decade.
Air mail pound.tge laH yc.tr w a~ 17 times
.H great as it w,l\ in 1926. :1ir C'\prc\\ vol­ume
lc.tpcd from 3.555 pound, to more
than 5 millaon pound~ carried l.l\t )'e.tr, and
passenger 1raffic finished the ten year\ with
149 rime' as m.my passengers riding the
airlines a' an 1926.
Air mad pound.tge increased enormously
with each wccc~~ive year of oper:1rion
reachin~ .tn .Ill time high ian yc.1r with .1
total of 13,779,608 pounds tlown. Air e"­press
continued to increase in popularity
each year Wllh andividuals :1~ well .IS with
business concerns resulting in .1 tot.tl of
RUSSELL PASSES TEN-YEAR MARK
E. A. Russell, station man.1ger .ll \Xfin~­low
on the co.1q to coast route of Tr.lns­contincnt.
tl & Western Air, lnc., ha~ com­pleted
ten ve:Jr\ of ~crvice with TWA :tnd
predecessor companies.
Russell JOined
\XI estern Aar 1 >.press
an 1926 .tnd with
Har.tden Pr.ttt, built
and installed the ra­dio
facilities for that
compan\ at lo\ An­~
eles; La~ Vegas, New
~\lex.; \i,lford, Ut.1h;
.tnd Salt Lake Cit\'.
.He '' .H born in
Rice, :vfinnC\Ot.l, Jnd
attended the public
schools of dut city.
In 1920 he enlisted
in the United States
E. A. R v)'>l u
:\'avy and entered the Great Lake\ radio
~chool, complermg this training in August,
1921. Followmg that time :1nd until his
honorable disch:trgc in 1924, Ru~~ell was
Hationed •tt Navy radio stations at Marc
Island , California; Yerba Buena l\l:tnd, San
Francisco; .tnd the Farallonc !~land~. located
about 30 mdc~ west of the Golden Gate
entrance. He was also raclio oper.nor on rhe
U. S. S. r\c\\ York and ac che naval r:1dio
station.
Following his discharge from the Navy,
Russell joined the Tropical Radio Telegraph
Company, a division of the United Fruit
Compall\. .tnd worked at Alminrante,
4
5,511,737 pounds of e>.pre\\ tramported
by air in 1935. Last ye:~r 860,761 revenue
pas~engcrs flew on sched uled air lines in rhi~
country a\ contrasted ro the 5,782 passen­gers
who flew on the few pioneer routes in
1926.
Corre\ponding increases .trc reponed b)
the airlines for rhe firsc llJI f of this ) car
with re\ult.lnt plans for future cxp.1ns!on
exceedin~ any such plans :lt an) time in the
past. Schedules have been increased in num­ber,
service is faster and fare' .tre the lowest
in the hi\tory of air tr:tn~pon .nion.
Tr:ln\conrinental & \Xfe,tern Air, Inc.,
throu~h General Air Expre~s. its own air
expres~ synem, transported more than :1
quarter-million pounds of air e>.press in
19 3 5 with mon rhl y incre.Hes reported for
the first half of this )'e.tr that f:1r exceed
1 he volume reported for any ~imil.tr period
Pan.tnu: C1rtago. Costa Ric.t ; .1ml ~lan­agu.
l, N ac.lr.tgua.
When Wc~tcrn Air E>.prc\\ \t.trtcu opcr­.
ltiom .1nd following the in \t.tllation of it\
radio f.tcilities, Russell wa~ a~~igncd as radio
operator :tt the Las Vega\ ~ution where he
rlmaincd for two years and until the com­pan)
e\t:tblished irs Los Angclcs-S.m Fran­cisco
\ervicc when he w.•~ cr.1mferred co
che station at the bay cit)'· Six months Iacer
Russell was made chief radio operator and
assist:lnt to the head of the communic:Hiom
department. In hi~ new cap:tcaty. he helped
build the point to point CW r.tdio tram­mittcrs
for the Los Angclc,-K,tn'·" c·t\
line .md employed the radao personnel for
the st:ttions on the ne'' route. This direct
route from Kansas City tO the wesc coast
w:ts the forerunner of the we, tern half of
the pre~cnt rome of T\XfA.
In 1929. thi' company oper.lted pa~scn­ger
servacc between Los Angeles and San
Franci~co •. 111d Russell wa\ .tppoinced field
man.1gcr .H S:tn Francisco. In 19H, he was
tr.m<ferred to \'<l'inslow .t~ u:ttion man­ager
for T\Xf A. He has been .a the Ariton.l
city 'incc.
CHANGES IN TWA'S TRAFFIC
DEPARTMENT
F mmctt 0. Cocke, who ha\ been :t traffic
represcntati,•.: for Tr.tmcontinental &
\'V'esccrn Air, l nc., at Los Angeles, has been
promoted to district traffic agent at rh:1r
cit)'· Ma·. Cocke succeeds Frank Rcrtlan who
has resigned.
frank J. Macklin, former di\trict tr:tffic
in the paH. T\'V' A's o'' n 'Y~tcm is the f.t,tcst
coa't to coast ex pre~~ sen 1cc m oper.ttion,
widt the ~reatest volume of irs mcrdt.lll
dl\c traffic consigned to the opposite wa,t.
The first five months of chi' year ~how an
ancre.t~e of 57 1 z per cent over the corrc
•pondmg period la~t year. ,\ total of 66,882
revenue passengen flc,, T ramcontinent.tl &
We,tern Air. Inc., b\t ve,tr with .tn an
crea\c indacated ,ll this tame of :tt lc.t\t 26
per cent for T\XI 1\\ p.l\icnger operation'
in the current yc.1r.
Pa\\cn~:er and e'\pre\\ volume from all
cnae\ on rhe T\'V' A route is the br~est at
rhc pre•ent that 1t h~, been in the ~:om
p.tny\ histor). J\ \ubst.tntial increase 111
.tirline traffic has been experienced "llh
each ~uccessive month this vc.tr with .1 tr.d
fie volume for the lir~r 'ix ·months ~urp.1's
ing the first half of .uty \'C.Ir m the p.tsl .
. lgcnt .It New ). ork, h.t\ been tr.tnsfeaTcd
tO \Xta.,hington, 0. C..., where he w dl 'liP
pbnt John B. Molitor, now 'uperintcmll'llt
of p.l\~cnge•· service .
J. C. Stewart, who h.l\ been district tr:tf
lie agent ,H Detroat, h,l\ been tran,fcrrnl
co 'c'' 'I ork. lias phcc .tt the ~lich•g.ut
cit) ha, been t.tken b) J \ Tompkin,, '' ho
i~ well known there .1nd '' .1 ~radu.lte of
the University of f\lacha~.1n.
R. S. Littell h,l\ been tl".lll\fcrrcd to Nc"
York from Wichita, K.tm.l\. lie ''all be a
traflic rcpre•encatl\·e .H hi, ne'' post, \lr
I incll will be ~uCCl'cded b) Robert I
\1ontgomcr).
T. D. Brcnn.tn. former!, ..:onnccceJ "1th
the tr.1ltic office .It '\cw York, h.1s heen
tr.tn~fcrrcd to \\a\hangton "here he w1ll
be chief clerk in the office of \[r . .tvLtdhn.
Mr. Brcnn.tn ~uccccdo, .J. \'\'. Po,vcn, re
'igncd.
HOTDAWGI
One Little Dog to the Ocher Litrlc Dog
- !lis mother tried to c.ndt .t TW 1\ Sk\
liner.
The Sk}lincr for 1\up,utl, /9'!(,
Interesting Device for Obtaining Weather Information Automatically
Introduced at TWA Headquarters
BECA USI of the incrc.l\in~ mutu.1l in­tereH
in the radio meteorogr:aph m:an­ifested
by member'> of the government
weather bureau .1nd the :airline meteorolog­ical
dep.lrtment'>, the genera l :adoption of
this instrument was a nujor point of di,­cussion
Jt the recent meetmg of the Amcr­ic:
an Meteorological Societ) :at K:ans;~s Cit).
Following the meeting of the I I -I mem­bers
of the '>Ociety lrtcnding from :a ll p:~n~
of the country, the first public dcmonstr,t­tion
of the meteorograph was made at th.!
hcadqu:artcr' of Transcontincnt:al & \XfcH­crn
Air, Inc., b) Dr. Karl 0. Lange, who
is :accredited w1th de­veloping
the unit to
its present \tage of
application. The
r.1dio mctcorograph
was fastened by long
cords to two balloons
and relea,ed by Dr.
L:ange in the presence
of member' of the
society.
The de' 1~;e records
temperature,, pres­sure
and rcl.nive hu­midit)'
aloft :1nd has
the faculn of tr.lns­mitting
it·, frequent
readings b) r.1dio to
auromauc recording
instruments
ground \t:lliom.
at
raining to .urlinc oper.niom.
In :addition to the periodic re:adings of
the instruments in pl.111e\ during flight
duty, special recording' on be taken :n will
by sendin~ a r.1dio meteorograph aloft ,\l
cached to .1 snull balloon equipped wllh .1
rele:~se '.d ve to regulate the hn:al :al titutle
desired and .1 par:achute for the r..:turn of
the instrument to the ground. The balloon
can be adjusted co remain .tloft for .1 pro­tracted
period during which the frequent
recordings CJn be autom:nic.dl)' recei,·eJ b\
a radio device :at rhe weather sr:arion.
J umerous tesrs with the me~corogr.1ph
Produced in quantiuc,, the r.1d10 metwr­ograph
i'> not .111 expen\1ve lll\trument .1nd
conr:ains none of irs rc.1ding~ since the rc
cording'> arc sent :~utom.llic.1lly by rJlil<> to
the ground \l.ll ion.
\'<lhile .doft, the r.1d10 mereorogr.1ph
transmit' two readings of e.1ch subject or .1
total of .,i, recording~ e.H:h minute. SuH:c
one re.1ding is commenced .1~ soon :t\ 1n·
orher i' fin:~hed, the radio j., in continu.1l
:action, trJnsmitting this inform:1tion to
the recording :~pparatm .H the grcund ~ t.l ­tion.
The recorder i, r.1d10 controlled .tnd
operates .1 cylindric:al un1t which is eqUipped
t
with a graph .1nd
m.1ke., two complete
revolutions J minute
S•gnals arc reconlcd
on the graph b) three
pem, each repre\ent-mg
its respective
'lubject ( temper.1 -
ture, pressure and
rclauve hum1dit\ )
on a ume b.lSI'> whi~ h
calibr.ues autom.ni ­cally
on the gr.tph.
Thi~ system of re­cording
permtt\ t hL·
receinng appar.1ru'
to f uncrion \\ 1thout
atrend.1nce except w
change the gr.1ph
when ncccssar}. The
infornurion on the
gr.1ph used 1n pre­parmg
the we.nher
m.1p 1'> in ~rr.11g:n
lines, 'ari::ttion in
length indicating the
amount of ch.1nge in
the condi tiom en ­countered.
From a ground
temperature of 74
degrees the two bal­loons
carr1ed the
meteorograph to :an
altitude of 52,000
feet where .1 temper­ature
of 76 degree'
below Lero " .1\ re­corded.
In the fine
5,000 feet, the tem­perature
dropped 3
degrees e'er} 500
feet. From 5,000 feet
PREPARIJ G THE RADIO .METEOROGRAJ>II I OR FLIGIIT
HORS D'OEUVRES
TO YOU
The intereslinx dt•1 ·ice wLicb lwnwuls wealbt•r infor111111ion lo llw ,~t,rouud i~ .1bown
/wn· bl'ing Jm•jJal't'd for fligblallacbl't! to" balloon. C. B. Pettr, Jr., tlHillanl r111lio ll'cb­nicitlual
Blur lli/1 ob.,rr ,·a/ory, 1/an·tml,ll'/1, tmd Dr. Kt~rl 0. l.tlllgt, aho COIIIII't'lt•d wifb
the obsal'nfor), ttrl' 1'\llllliuiug tlw imfru/1/t'ul.
T\Xf A :again as,erc,
lt\elf in the m.ncer
of dl,tlnguishcd P·"­senger
'>cnicc by providmg afternoon tc.1
on cert:ain of its schedu l e~ .uriving .It thc1r
coast destination before me:al time. ln .tddi
cion co the temptingly delicious meal., ~erveJ
passengers on this line, hors d'oeuvre'> 'en ­icc
has b~;'Cn added to flights 14 and I H
operating non-stop bet ween Chic:~go and
New York, .1s well :as on two Sky Chicl
'chedules, flights 5 and 9. An assortment of
hot and cold beverages including lcmon.1d..:
i~ .n .1ilable on Jll flight\ .It .1ny time.
upward, the temperJture drop was comi\­cent
with few levels reponing little change.
Experiments with the radio mctcorograph
conducted during the paH ye:1r by Dr.
Lange, who 1\ connected with the Blue Hill
Observ:~tory at Harvard Un1versity, re~ult\
of which h.we appeared in the official pub­lic:
ation of the American Meteorological
Society, have re)ulred in an increasing in ­terest
in the imrrumcnt .Is .1 reliable medium
of obr:aining :1erological conditions ·" per-have
resulted in practic:all)' every case wllh
the return of the instrument by rhe finder
after it had reached the c.u·rh. Reaching
a ltitudes, sometimes as high .1~ 40,000 feet
when wind~ .1Ioft arc strong, might re~ulr
in the imtrument being returned co c.1rth
many miles from its ~t.1rting point. An
ownership pbce guamntecing return po~t­age
and .1 small reward is attached ro tht:
instrument, and the finder ~cldom hc\it.ne~
ro return the appar:atus.
5
.f/.A/Clw _gUflel'Cintelndelnt ttU Pajjeln9Cl'C _gel'Cvicel
Former District Traffic Agent at Washington, D. C., Is Appointed to Head
That Important Department of TWA
THE appointment of John B. Moliror
to be superintendent of passenger serv­ice
for Transcontinental & Western Air,
Inc., was announced by J. B. \'<lalker, vice­president
in charge of t raffic, effective
July 15.
Mr. Molitor. a graduate of Olivet College,
Olivet, Michigan, was T\'<1 A's district traf­fie
representative at \!V'ashingcon, D. C. ,
until his new appointment which has re­sul
red, of course, in his transfer to Kansas
City. As head of the passenger service de­partment,
he is in direct charge of rhe
company's air hostesses as well as all mat­ters
pertaining to service for passengers
aboard TWA SkyliJ1ers.
He is a pilot, having learned co fly in
1928. Shordy afterward he became sales
man:~ger of rhe glider division of the De­troit
Aircraft Corporation and then en­cered
the export sales division of the same
firm. He is rhe author of several articles
on gliding and the adaptability of tl1e air­plane
to modern business.
The company's new superintendent of
passenger service assisted in planning spe­cia
I eq ui pmcn c for such flights as cha c of
Lieut. Comm. Glenn Kidston (London co
Cape Town) ; the first world flight of
Post-Ga cry; the first transcon tinen cal flight
of Amelia Earhart, and others. He engaged
in radio work for stations \'<IWJ Jnd
\'<IMBC, and in 1933 became SJ!es manager
for the Lambert Aircraft Corporation at
Sc. Louis.
He entered rhe air line business in 1935
when he became the representative at \'<lash­ington
for Central Airlines. Lacer he was
made general traffic manager of chat con­cern.
He WJS with Central when he resigned
to become discricc traffic agent at the na­tion's
capital for TWA.
SIX HUNDRED TIMES AROUND
THE WORLD
The total of 15 million miles flown •n
less than two years, or the equivalent of
600 times around the Earth at rhe Eqtmtor,
was passed by the Skyl iners of Transconti­nental
& Western Air, lnc., shortly before
the close of the first half of chis year.
This great coral of miles flown by TWA's
Douglas planes. which were placed in serv ­ice
over rhe compa ny's coast co coast sys­tem
in November 1934, was reached with
the completion of the scheduled flights of
Monday, June 15. This is a record un­equalled
in rhe history of these remarkable
airplanes, and it is aside from miles flown
wich other planes of TWA.
In rhe period in which these planes have
6
/'!r tn.~raj.b b) nJCbracb
.JOliN B. MOLITOR
been in operation over rhe TWA system,
the frequency of schedules has been dou­bled
on the company's route between the
Atbntic and the Pacific coasts. Also
through the use of its Skyl iners, T\'f A has
been able ro establish :lnd maintain rhc
fastest service across the United States
from wcsr tO e:~sr :~nd vice versa. The in­troduction
of these planes meant a reduc­tion
of :tpproximarely 30 per cent in travel
rime from one coast to rhe ocher.
As the first and only air transport opcr·
acor ro use Skyl incrs on al l its schedules,
T\'<1 A established a reputation in the trans­portation
world for travel I uxury combined
with speed. The palarial Skyliner was con­structed
to specifi cations presented by
T\'<1 A officials and, when completed , rep­resented
an advancement in airline equip­ment
many years in the future of any pre­vious
transport plane. So complete and ad­vanced
are rhe derails embodied in rhe
construction of this pl::.ne, chat rhe Sky·
liner retains its supremacy in performanct
and preference among air travelers.
The favo rable public acceptance of rhe
Skyliner service on TWA has been e"pre~scJ
in rhe continually increasing volume of
passenger traffic on this l inc and has neces­sitated
the addition of more frequent sen­ice
over rhe company's rouce. TWA's Hcet
of Skyliners maintains irs lead in rhe field
of transport airliners as a remarkable de­velopment
surpassing any previous trans­pore
plane in performance and comfort.
ATTEND MAINTENANCE MEETING
Walter A. Hamilton, superintendent of
maintenance, and William B. Maxfield, a\­sisranr
superintendent of maintenance,
represented T\'<1 A ar the Aeronautical
Chamber of Commerce maintenance meet­ing
held in Los Angeles for rhree days be­ginning
July 9. The meeting was attended
by sevent)'-five members representing air­line
operators and aircraft manufacturcn
throughout the coumry. Mr. Hamilton i~
chairman of chis national maintenance ;\\­sociacion.
HANG 'EM UP, BOYS!
An unusual bit of publicity for T\'<1 A
found irs way into print recently by the
aid of a TWA Sky Chief calendar hanging
on the wall of a sheriff's office.
The .fiance of a bride-to-be, who leaped
to her death from a hotel window, was be­ing
questioned by detectives. A new~ pho­tographer
snapped his picture and returned
to the newspaper office. \'<lhen the picture
appeared in print it was Cl\.cellenr. Whether
intentional or otherwise, a full reproduc.­tion
of a T\V A calenda1· was included 111
the picture hanging on rhe wall behind the
fiance being queSLioned.
HELP! !
Ted Peaso, station manager at Amarillo.
Texas, receives his copy of the .1ccounring
and transportation manual.
The Skyliner for August, /9l6
WHY NOT MAKE HER A
DISPATCHER?
Ed1tor, T111 TWA SK YLINtR,
K.1nsa~ City, Missouri
Dear Sir:
1 am a constant T\'V A radio listener and
consequently quite interested in anything
pertaining co news of the line and its per­sonnel.
l have seen the June issue of THE SKY­I
IN'l R :tnd T think it quite interesting and
entcrt:tining.
Would it be possible to place my name
on chc mailing list and to forward rome the
May issue of that publication? I am inclos­ing
postage to defray expenses. Please ad­vise
subscnprion price of THE SKYLINER
and I will forward same.
Very truly yours,
(Signed) Run1 S. LEWIS
(Mrs. Wm. H.)
P. $.-Excuse inclo~ed contribution!
THE SKYLINI· It reproduces the above let­ter
from Mrs. Lewis, who li ves at 13 2 East
Leasure Avenue, New Castle, Pa., merely
co introduce and expl:tin the contribution
for which Mr~. Lewis apologized in her
post script. It is believed every reader will
.tgree with THE SKYLINER. t hat Mrs. Lewis's
l:Ontriburion, which follows, calls for no
.tpology upon the part of the author.
LISTENIN' l N
I wonder If you re:tlize the fun it is each
&t)
To turn to shore wave frequency and hear
T\VA?
H o\\ Zimmerman trills his " threes" and
" r's" when flying "nine" and "eight;"
Don Terrv whistles for his wife tO meet
him :lt ·the gate.
Ted Hereford drawls out his "Okay" and
Robey ~ings his om.
Wayne Williams gurgles ''Ok lc Dokle"
when he brings his ship :~bou t.
" W. L." clips every word off short; Bob
Larson\ speech is slow;
Don Smith ha~ fun with every "three." 1
listen and should know!
The ~imilar names of Hull ,1nd Hall; Gene
Klose; Alexis Klotz;
Which Campbell; Smith or Olsen, trouble
radto men the most.
Col lings, Taylor, Abbott, Gove, Gallup and
Otis Bryan;
Burford, Tomlinson ,tnd Houle are heard
along the line.
Thornburg, Peterson, Hansen, Brill , have
\'Oices I am able
To tell aparr-and Wilkins, Rowe, Medler
.tnd Johnnie Cable.
rredcricksen, Stanton, Munger, Snead,
DeVrees, Smiley and Scott;
l-Llrlin, T lobi it, Moser, Coyle, confuse me
quite :1 lot.
ln due time, I hope to tell the ochers. lt
would seem
I \hould know Bartles, Bohnet, Dick, An­drews
:md Swede Golien.
Nisewander, Eischied and Hideman have
voices in the bass.
Just chink! 1 wouldn't know them if I'd
meet them face to bee!
\'<'hen Jack Frye flies his "seventeen;" or
"606" goes out;
Or "spades" are pul led, I've listened ' rill
] know what it's about.
I' ve seen Camden's field and radio; seen
Cresson get the wind.
Hung on the fence at Pittsburgh when the
Douglas planes came in.
To n·avel's my ambition. Coast co coast I'd
like ro sera y.
I've an air fund I'm collecting just to fly
TWA.
NEW SUMMER UNIFORMS AND A
NEW SHIELD
Our atr hostesses are mighty proud of
their new white uniforms for summer
wear, but they are not a bit more so than
are these four members of the Philadelphia
traffic department. For John Clemson &
Comp:tny seems not only all dressed up in
new summer uniforms, but the Philadelphia
representatives also are proud of the traffic
contest shield which they won for their
own in rhe recent competition held in that
department of TWA. Left co right in the
group herewith pictured arc Richard
PHILADELPHIA TRAFFIC
Henry, traffic representative; A. Martin
Logan, district manager of General Air
Express, T\'f A's own express system; John
H. C lemson (holding the "baby"), district
uaffic agent, and L. P. Marechal, traffic rep­resentative.
The Philadelphia district was
declared winner of the traffic department
shield, although there remain several other
districts from which claims still come to
the effect that there was an African in thz
wood pile so far as chat contest was con­cerned.
HE.AP BIG THUNDERBIRD
In the recent ceremonial at Burbank in
which TWA's Sky Chief (Flight Eight )
was ch ristened "Thunderbird," a group of
Indians was c:tlled upon co conduct the
ceremonies. Here we find three noble Red­skins,
one would-be noble Redskin, and
one thunderbird, all having .1 pan in the
pwceedings. From left to right, front row,
we find Chief Willow Bird, the Princess
Wyhnemah and Chief Thundercloud. In the
rear row, left to right, are the Thunderbird
(on the door) and Chief Flying Beans (in
I NOIAN~
the door). When off the re~enation, Flying
Beans is our own Captain John D. Grave~.
who dons a head dress and warpaint every
time he so much as sees a cigar swre Indian.
We have the word of the chief of the avi­ating
vegetables that Mrs. Chief Flying
Beans snapped chis photograph of the cere­mony
in which Chief Willow Bird is bless­ing
Princess \'Vybnemah with a ~hi lla l ah.
(Dubl in papers please copy). lncidentall)•,
we can not guarantee the name of the In­dian
who is constructed along the lines of
Strangler Lewis. Chief F. Beans alleges his
name is Chief Willow Something Or Other
and he thinks the last was Bird, but he isn't
certain. Anyway, ic seems there's no such
thing any more as an Indian who isn't a
chief or a princess. As for Captain John D.
Beans, he got his Jndian name of Graves
from the fact that-. Oh well, you all have
heard that story, bur it does seem as though
all Indians now either arc in che movies or
with TWA.
* Morrill Tucker, TWA engineer, and his
f:uni ly :tre vacationing in California.
7
TWA SERVICES FOR THE MAJOR
PARTIES
Direct :tirline service to the D !mocratic
na tiona I convention at Philadelphia and co
the Republican notifi<.:ation ceremony at
Topeka, Kansas, was operated by Trans­continental
& Wesrern Air, lnc., through­out
the period of these n:ttional political
events.
TWA operated six additional sc hed ules
to the Democratic convention by stopping
all eastbound flig hts, except one, at the
airport serving the Philadelphia :trea. A
total of nine eastbound schedules landed
there daily, providing air tr:tnsporr service
to and from cities as far away as rhe Pacific
coast. This increase in se rvice to Philadel­ph
ia for rhe period of the convention affo rd­ed
the same qu:t lity of speed and comfort
offered br TWA through the Skyliners used
on all irs scheduled flig hts.
The frequency of the sp::cia l flights to
include Phibdelphia permirrcd .lttenda nce
at the convention for many on the Pacific
coa~t or intermediate points whose citizens
would have been prevented otherwise from
attending because of the rime element.
Through T\VA, the convention in effect
was overnight from west coast cities and the
return trip possible the night fo llowing af­ter
a full day of attendance at the con ­vention.
T\VA service to Topeka, Kansas, location
of the Republican notification ceremony,
was operated with Skyliners from Kansas
City, Missouri. This extra service was
gratuitous to passcnget·s :1rriving at Kansas
City and having a letter from a T\XI A
traffic representative indicating chc Kan­sas
Capital as chc destination of passengers.
The extra service to Topeka was opera ted
with Skylincrs offering the same comfort
and consistent T\XI A service right co rhe
Republican ceremony.
Passengers Jrriving in Kansas City were
provided either one way or round trip rrans­porr:
nion from chis poi11t to t he Kansas
capital. Service wa~ started the d:ty before
the ceremony LO .1ccommodace those arri v­ing
in Kansas City from either co~1 sc. Pas­sengers
departing the ease or west coast
made direct connection at the Kansas City
Airport with morning or afternoon planes
to Topeka. Ocher flights between these two
cities were operated in time to make di rect
connections with arriv ing and departing
cranscon tin en tal schedules.
ODD AND EVEN
One-way Stl·eecs! That's one solution to
traffic regulation :ts presented in some cities,
yet neither cities nor land transportation
mediums can lay c laim exclusively to this
principle since ic is used by Transconti­nental
& \Vestern Air, Inc., in regu lating
irs own traffic back and forrh over that
aerial highway which is the Central air­way
across the Uni ted Sr:tte~.
T\'(1 A Skyliners Aying in one direction
8
MAINTENANCE INSPECTION AT TWA HEADQUARTERS
MAINTFNANCE INSPECTION
A II maintenance personnel in the com­pany's
headquarters plant at Kansas City
are inspected each Monday mornin~. Here
is shown one step in the process with shop
foremen and mechanics lined up for t he
weekly "once over."' At the extreme right
is Walter A. Hami lton , system superinten­dent
of maintenance. Next to him is his
assistant, Will iam B. Maxfield, :tnd chen
F. T. Jaques, c hief of the main tenance in­spection
department.
From left to right in the line arc J. A.
LouKo t~t, foreman instrument department;
Ralph Lich tenberger, foreman miscclbn-travel
at a specified and a different altitude
chan t he Skyliners oper:tting in the opposite
direction. Al l eastbound schedules of chis
airline company fly at odd numbered alti­t
udes. For instance, Flight Six, one of
T\XI A's famous Sky Chief se rvices, is an
eastbound schedule and flies at 3-5-7-9 or
11 -thousand-foot levels. \XIestbound flights
usc even number alrirudcs, such as Flight
Five, one of the westbound Sky Chiefs,
which flies at 2-4-6-8 or I 0-thousand-foot
levels.
T he altitude level ;tt which these planes
tly is determined largely by the direction
and the velocity of the winds aloft. Since
eous overhaul; F. M. Weed, foreman m:un ­ccnancc
dep:tnment; Roy Spengler, a~si'
t:tnt fo reman maintenance department·
F. G. VanSkike, foreman engine overhaul;
T. N . Hagerman, foreman radio and electri­ca
l department; \XI. M. Mitchell, foreman
propeller department; C. H. Calhoun, crew
chief; G. A. Putn,tm, crew chief; .J. L
McMullen, mechanic; George Robmson,
mechanic; Royal Kibler, crew chief; James
Poole, inspector; S. A. Beach, mechanic;
K. P. MacDowell, mechanic; Tom W:~ckms,
mechanic; A. M. Hall, mechanic; B. J.
Dowd, mechan ic, and I. B. Rucker, me­chanic.
a tail wind i ~ advantageous co airline oper­ations,
TWA Skylincrs tly at rhe elevallon
offering the most beneficial atmospheric
conditions. \XIinds :doh do nor travel al­ways
in che same direction or with the same
velocity and it is possible for both the cast­bound
and the westbound planes traveling
at different altitudes each to ha,·e ;l tail
wind of the same velocit).
To the observer on the ground, t\\O
planes approaching each ocher overhead
appear co be meeting, wherea~ in reality
they arc at least one thousand feet apart
and in most cases there is even greater dis­tance
between their flight levels.
The Skylincr for Ali811SI, 1936
J. H. Nickerson to Tour System, Instructing in Running Down
Mechanical Difficulties
A SPECIAL course in mechanical trouble
shooting to meet local fie ld require­ments
is being inaugurated by Transconti­nental
& Western Air, inc., for members
of its maintenance department located at
the airports on the company's coast ro coast
route, is announced by \'{falter A. l-hmilton,
superintendent of
maintenance for r--------­TWA.
]. H. Nickerson of
the TWA mainte­nance
staff at the
company's head­quarters
base at Kan­sas
City, is to be the
instructOr of the new
course. Mr. Nicker­son
has a long record
of similar instruction
experience, being li- censed by the bureau J. H. NrcKr.RSON
of air commerce ro instruct in 7 sep:trate
subjects of aviation. He is a licensed trans­port
pilot also with considerable experience
as a flight instructor.
FROM TOWN AND COUNTRY
A survey of rhe air hostesses on Trans­continental
& \Vestcrn Air, Inc., proves
that .1 girl living in a small city off an air
route has ;~s good a chance of becoming an
air hostess as does her sister who I i ves in
the city.
While SO per cent of the hostesses em­ployed
by TWA ;~rc from cities, not all
of them arc from cities on the T\XI A coast
to coast route. At least 3 0 per cent of the
air hosresse~ in the employment of chis
company arc from cities and towns in other
sections of the country, some Js remote
from the established route as rhe extreme
southern and northern states.
Pennsylvania leads with 28 per cent of
the T\'(1 A air hostesses coming from that
state. The state of Missouri is second with
15 air hostesses, and Tllinois is third in the
number of girls who serve as hostess to
passengers on TWA Skylincrs.
Most of the hostesses on T\'{1 A arc from
the middle eastern states. New York, rhc
thickly popubred eastern terminus of this
transport company, is represented by two
hostesses; and Los Angeles, the center of
rhe motion picture industry and the west­ern
terminus of chis coast to coast line, is
represented b) only one.
ln 1917, Mr. Nickerson enlisted in rhe
aviation section of the United States signal
corps. After the war he was appointed
director of the Sweeney A via cion School
in Kansas City, Missouri. Later, he was field
manager and direcror of school operations
for the Nicholas-Beazley Company at
Marshall, Missouri, and subsequently, be­came
director of the Curtiss-\'{fright ground
school at f.tirfax Airport, Kansas Cit)',
Kansas. Mr. Nickerson has been with TWA
fo ur years, in which rime he has served
in every branch of rhe company's mainte­n;
tnce department. His ex perience in the
different TW' A maintenance deparrments
and in the procedure established in these
departments at the company's main base
station especia lly equips him ro conduct
the newly inaugurated trouble shooting
course.
Mr. Nickerson wi ll cover the entire T\XI A
system, stopping ar each of the company's
stations for several d:tys where he will nuke
a study of local maintenance requirements
and establ ish a coordination course to cope
with local conditions. On August 1, Mr.
N ickerson will begin with a stay of one
week at the TWA base at Newark airport.
He will work westward along the T\'{1 A
system with a one week stop :lt Chicago
and Los Angeles and with stops of a few
days at each of the intermediate stations
along the route.
The instruction to be given by Mr.
Nickerson to the maintenance personnel at
each station will be given locally and will
supplant the present system of chief me­chanics
at each station attending courses
conducted at the TWA maintenance base
in Kansas City. The maintenance head at
each station will continue to attend these
special courses several times each year from
which evolve advancement and improve­ment
in maintenance procedure. In order
tO insure personal contact with each main­tenance
member for instruction in the
trouble shooting course, Mr. Nickerson will
arrange his rime to be on active duty for
all shifts at each of the T\'{1 A stations ;1long
its transcon rincntal route.
ANOTHER COMPANY ARTIST COMES TO LIGHT
Captain Fred Smith has submitted
this drawing of one of our Skyliners and
we believe you'll agree ir is a nice job of
reproducing one of our Douglases with
pen and ink. This is Captain Smirh\
conception of flight "on top." No doubt
there arc many others within the widespread
T\'{1 A organization who also ,trc handy with
pen, pencil or crayon. Let's have your ef­forts.
They'll be returned whether used or
not. That's the only promise we make-­they'll
be returned.
9
WINSLOW
To disrupt .1ny belief th:u
\'V'inslow is ;1 'mall sta tion and
imctive due ro the limited
number of sched ules that land
at this field, please be assured
that Win~low boasts a well
rounded personnel that keeps
plenty bu~ y in rhc general round of T\'Q A
duties.
The following TWA personnel is lo­cated
:lt Winslow :1nd deserves an intro­duction
in these columns: E. A. Russell.
station man.1ger; Joseph Kasulaitis, H. A.
Stancil, and J. \Vf. Gunn, passenger agents;
G. S. Englehart, A. L. Scroggins and C. X.
Hale, mechanics.
During the month of June, 90 private,
army, and navy planes bnded for service
at the TWA field in Winslow. In addition,
79 TWA Skyliners landed at this field on
regular scheduled flights. A total of 169
planes were serviced at this field during
June. "What do we do in our spare time?
\Vf'e have an airport to maintain, also," an­swers
the personnel in chorus.
"The movement of military pl:tnes
through Winslow brings back the mem­ories
of military service long ago," says
Station Manager Russell. " T n the last week
of June and the first week of July, we had
two group movements of pursuit planes
through \Vfinslow. On June 28, twelve
P -26 planes from Shrcveporr, Louisiana,
and on july 5, six P- 12 planes from March
Field stopped in for fuel and service. \Vf e
chink we shou ld be included in some fed­eral
reserve unit of the military service,
being centrally locared as we are for train­ing
flights from Kelly and March Fields.
"We admit that the hunting in the \Vfins­low
vicinity is excellent, but Clancy Day­hoff's
idea of the hunting conditions around
here arc extremely complimentary. A wire
received from him on July 7 indicated
quote advise if possible to obtain baby elk
which can be shipped to Los Angeles in con­nection
publicity elks convention here un­quote.
Of course chis can be done bm it
mkes time and the cost is no small item co
consider. Any large game from bear down
to cotton tail rabbits can be secured with
the right kind of planning and a li ttle help
but we can't go out on the landing field
10
intO the sage brush and ;~ccompli sh chis.
And this being the baby st ate of the union.
it is still pretty wild, we :tdmi t. \'V'e admit
we have lndians and cowboys and all that
goes with them but we are getting civilized
slowly and th:H means we have .1lso game
commissions with which to contend when
we cry ro secure game out of se:tson or game
that does not come under the age and sex
limits. This is embarrassing sometimes as
it has been proven on several different oc­casions
when unexpectedly confronc<!d with
evidence that canr10t be covered up. Some­rimes
it is possible to get away with game
o ut of season but getti ng it out of the
state is still another proposition. So :my
of your fellows needing game in chc f ucure,
please keep in mind the above item~.
"Joseph Kasulaicis, passenger :tgent .1r
Winslow, attended the Elks convention in
Los Angeles, representing Winslow and re­placing
Cbncy's request for a b:tby elk.
" L. W. Goss, superintendent of the Pa­cific
division, of which Winslow is a pare,
visited us for two days in June and gave a
dinner at the Laposada hotel for chc 5-year
men at this s tation. The following at Wins­low
are 5-year men with T\'Q A: E. A.
Russell, station manager; Joseph Kasulairis
and H. A. Stancil , passenger agents."
ST. LOUIS
William Lamer, station manager at St.
Louis, and \'V'an·en Eric kson, station man­ager
at Chicago, have exchanged locations.
Although the St. Louis staff disliked losing
their former chief, a hearty welcome was
accorded Erickson when he arrived to be­gin
his duties as st :ltion manager at Lam­bert-
St. Louis airport.
Radio operator W. F. J ohnson from Long
Beach, California, has been added to the
TWA field personnel at chis st.ttion. He wa~
cr:tnsferred co Sr. Louis from K:tnsas City
ro succeed radio opemtor Rar Petine, who
i ~ on leave of :tbsence.
•
n ~
PHILADELPHIA
Turtle; may come .tnJ
tunics m.ty go, bur there am't
no curries in Philadclpht;l. The
;tir traffic race ( remember???)
wa~ .1 ple:tsure from the angle
cf chis station. T he shield of
victory i> exhibited on the
wall and ic has aided s:~lcs con~iderabh·.
[nquiring person~ :tre informed of the
re:tsons for it~ presence and believing thi'
station muse be good. they usua lly bu)
round trip rickets wi chout discussion be­cause
chey know they can't gee out \\ ith­out
'em.
In terviewed bv Barnacle Bill , John
Clemson bl u rbed: ·
"Oh yes, we j usc won another contest.
Those of vou who remember the b~t four
traffic rac~s must remember that the !etten
in the name Clemson st:tnd for 'Clemson
le:tds every movement srimul:t t ing on­ward-'
" A w, ncrt7!
Conlillltt•d 011 nnl j}(fgc
THEY ALWAYS FOLLOW THE
LEADER
"Horacr, boll' t~bonl burin' 1111' mu of
those r({{lio beam recrit•t•n fo,. Cbri.llm111!"
"Okay, Mllllll£' , 1/1/{1 in !be lll l't/11 11 hilt
n·c'/1 follow T\YI A!"
The Skyliner for Au gus/, 1 9l r,
TAKE IT FROM GOOD OLD PHILLY
"When we saw the bid of Los Angeles
in the last issue of T HE SKYLINER for real
window displays," writes John Clemson,
district traffic agent at Philadelphia, "we
compared it with the attached and con­cluded
those guys on t he West Coast a re
"Just put the check in ch:at dr:1wer over
Dick Henry, counter, c:1sh, chart and
contac ~ custodian, when :1dviscd of the
Phi ladelphia victory, ~aid:
there that I' ve reserved for prize checks­if
there's any room left."
Lou Marech:d, ~trect snooper supreme,
sez:
"Don 't quote me, but the month :~fter 1
lef t Chicago t hey got t he turtle and the
month after I got co Phi lly we got t he
shield and cash."
A. ( for Andy) Marrin Logan, General
Air E xpress's gift to the Quaker City, had
a smile on the f ron t of his hce and :1 frown
on top.
"I didn't get any check and, boy, am 1
mad? I get all t hose air express shippers t hat
arc hangin' up new records here and what
do I get???? Nothing but more air express!
No prize! No nothing! But I'm st ill will­ing."
lJhiladelphia is ready for another traffic
contest and there isn't any room in its
troph)' cases for turtles. But we must admit
first place for us wouldn 't have been pos­sible
had it nor been for the real work and
co-operation of the gang at Camden headed
by Carl Flournoy.
INDIANAPOLIS
The indianapolis personnel is deserving
an introduction in its activity in pushing
up the load factors of that station and for
its smooth operations. More " spades'' have
seen Indianapolis at leisure because of t he
aggressiveness of this personnel chan at any
previous time. R. G. Petit tc is distric t traf­fic
agent . He is assisted by Howard Good­rich,
Jr., city ticket agent. The oper:uions
no better in gerring good show windows
than they are in winntng t raffic comests.
H ere's :1 picture of a T\ XT A window in
Gimbel Brothers here in Phi ladelphia.
\Vould you please show it ro rhat mob in
L. A. with our complimenrs?"
personnel includes, L. H. Smi th, Hation
manager; J. S. Mitchell, Worch johnson,
D. A. Blccncr and J. S. Cohick, passenger
agcn rs; P. Simonson, W. E. Davis and C. H.
Sessions, radio operators, and George
Tayrien, mechanic.
T he Indianapolis personnel is taking :-tn
active part in a local golf tournament re­sult
ing in good coars of t:1 n, at least.
Stat:on manager L H. Smi th recei ved
his ~ h are of chose little s l ip~ of paper that
Uncle Sam sent out recentl y. Boys at In­dianapolis
say char no time was lost on the
part of Smith co sign on the right line.
The sun shines br ight :-tt ln d i :~napo l is bu t
not with the glare t h:-tt would necessitate
continual weari11g of dark glasses. A closer
inspection proved that Percy Simonson had
reason to wear them but was permitted to
slide through on the alibi that a spider bit
him on the eye. T he explanation wa ~ so
different than the expected one about nm­ning
intO a door in t he dark, that Simonson
is stil l wearing the glasses.
\'<le are very happ)' to invite all co visit
our new city ticket office here in Indian­apolis,
which is located at I 08 \X! es c Wash­ington
Street, in rhc Hotel Claypool build ­mg.
I n our est i m:~tion this office is the finest
of any on the whole system and is decorated
in t he same color scheme as t he other new
offices. T he official opening was held J une
25 th :1nd we were very fortunate in ha ving
with us at th:at time Mr. C. E. Fleming,
Mr. Milton Van Slyck and Miss Anna Lines,
our local air hostess. Floral donations from
local supporters were in great abundance. A
number of state and city officials, as well
as v:mous civic .leaders, visited us and were
very high in their praise of our office. Mr.
fleming and Miss Lines :1ppeared on a 10-
minutc radio program in connection with
the opening, and we understand that the)
arc now burning the midnight oil .tnswer­ing
all of their fan-mail.
\XTe hope that every TWA employee pass­ing
through Indianapolis wi ll find time to
stop and pay us a visit in our new home.
LOS ANGELES
"How to Pur an Airplane Together"
might well have been the ti tle of the 56-
pound book of blueprints which left here
yesterday by TWA's General Air Express
for London, where it will be placed on the
next plane bound fo r Melbourne, Australia.
Three months ago che Austra lian gov­ernment
lifted a ban on the importation of
American bui lt aircraft , and shortly there­after
Lockheed Airc raft Corp., Los An­geles
plane manufacturers, received an order
f rom Guinea Airways, Ltd. , for an "Elec­tra"
plane.
The dismantled plane, in charge of rest
pilot Vernon Durrel l, left here two week ~
ago by steamship, bur being the factory' :.
fi rst export shipment of this type plane,
no extra ~et of assembly blueprints was
:wail able.
Working day and night, a special set of
blueprints was made up and completed,
and today while t he plane i~ aboard ~hip
on the Pacific Ocean westbound for Aus­rr:
t lia, the assembly instructions arc cast­bound
b)' air for rhe same destination.
Ac tually , the blueprints through travel­ing
twice the distance tO the far side of
rhe world, will arri ve b::forc the plane, '<>
chat on docking at Melbourne, Australian
mecha nics will be able imm edi:~cely to re ­a~
se mbl e the plane.
This Los Angeles built .1irc raft .tnd ochers
co fol low shortly will be operated between
Sydney, Aust ral ia, and Poin t Moresby, lew
Guinea, :1nd from there into t he Bulolo
gold fi eld\ in rhc inte rior of t he Guinc;\s.
COLUMBUS
lt seems that J ack Stephens, radio oper­ator
at our Columbus s tation, has taken to
consulting other means of meteorological
indicarors besides the scientific apparatu!>
provided at the s tation. He has acquired a
pee, which through naturalness aided b)
persistent training on the part of Jack in
his spare time, has become a ceiling indi ­c:
nor of no small abiLi ty.
The animal of unknown gender and
lineage is known only as an Australian
Sludge Soggy. The beast is :~ bout the size
of a small dog and has soft silky brown fur
and a very heavy c url y f ur on irs head
and neck. A large tuft of fur at the rip
of its tail forms a pointer.
The Sludge Soggy tells the height of the
ceiling by placing its ta il between its hind
legs. White rings of f ur around the legs
indicate various ceiling elevations and the
Coulilll/1'(1 0 11 futgt• 13
11
"hom 9 lO I 0 flying above douds. The
world 1\ covered wirh 'snow.' white and
clean. In the d1H.1ncc to the right the ~now
has been dnftcd by the wind and drift.
arc app..rentl) 30 or -+0 feet high. They
look a little hkc icebergs in places. Some
gap) bet ween the drift> and some places arc
only 5 or 6 feet deep. Perhaps the waves
of the ocean h.we \wcpc some of the snow
and icc away in places. By the way, it is
much easier to write on the airliner than
on an)' mov•ng train.
"To rhc left rhc drifts arc much farther
aWa)'· App.1rently 10 miles or so. The
snow is smoother co the left. However,
now ( 10:10 ''· m.) in the distance to the
front I sec foothi lls of snow-mountains
;~lmosc-complercly snow-capped and the
brilliant wnlighr make~ it a little difficult
to gaze \tcadily .lt them. Back to the right
now are wll higher hills of snow, and
much do\cr. lr looks like we are low
enough almo\t to fly into them. No, we
arc gomg to the left of the highest one.
(In reaht) we .uc t1ying 11 '2 miles above
the ground. )
"Between U\ ;~nd the snow-capped peaks
i; now a beauuful lake, the waters having
a purpli;h tint. Some of the peaks have a
c:Hhedral-like fornution. To the left now
the snow •• d.1rkcr. Perhaps the sky fac­roric\
have been !cuing out a lot of smoke.
"This whole panorama beggars descrip­tion,
at lea\t by .1 dub like me. Each pass­ing
moment there i~ some gorgeous forma­tion
which 1n\pircs me to try to write
something about it.
"To be pros:.ic we .1re co :.rrive in Chi­cago
in 40 minutes which means we will
h:.ve nlJde the trip from Kans:.s City to
Chicago in 2 hours .1nd 5 minutes. A tail­wind
is giving u• a speed of 250 miles an
hour. I or the fi r\t time in ne:ul y an hour
I can sec the l.1nd below. I h:tve traveled
.1 little 111 my time, by tr:1in, by sea, and
by ;ur, but nc\·er have I ~een a more gor­geous
panorama than chis morning and
only an hour and a half out of K:tnsas
City."
(E. F. Am1ck, president of the Tele­phone
& Ut1hty Investment Corporation,
Kansa~ City.)
EIGHTY HOURS; GERMANY TO
CALIFORNIA!
Lou•~ A. Anieres, buyer for O'Connor &
Moffatt, .1rrin:J :tt Los Angeles on a T\Xf A
Skyliner only 80 hours from Frankfort,
Germany, followi ng a trip across the Ar­lancic
on the dirigible Hindenburg, :tnd
then :1cross the United States on TWI A. He
is shown here checking off the days on the
calendar which were required for him ro
12
com piNe the long-short trip. StJnd111g \\ 1th
him i~ ~lis~ Katherine hou,, .1ir ho\tc\,
for T\'<f A. A, .1 m.ltter of f.1ct, ~lr. Ar­tiere~\
trip re.1lly \l.lrtcd .ll P.m, when he
Lour\ A. AltiJI'IU~ ANI> MM Ssro1n
boarded :.n Air France plane for Frankfort.
He carried with him throughout a brief
case cont:.in ing four chic hn~ nunufac­rured
for him in Pari~ on ly the d.1y before
he dep.1rccd. They were ro be u\ed by
O'Connor & Moff.ut .1s models for wom­en's
fall styles.
"ON THE OLD SKY TRAIL"
Upon completing :1 recent run into Kan­sas
City from New York, Capt:un john
Cable was handed, by a p:ts~cngcr, ,1 cop}
of TWA's public:nion "On Time," the Sky
Chief booklet, which is pl.1ced Jt all p.n­senger
se:trs in the company's Skyliners.
The following was written on one of th..:
pages:
Now 1 ride the Sky-way highw.1ys
In those Argo~ie• that sail
Through the he.IVens, now rhe by -w;1ys
Of the ships that never fail.
Never more will I e'er try \\ .1ys
That may prove of le~s av.1il
Than T\'<f A-now my way~-
And your w.1y~ on the old Sky Tr.1 il.
V. E. MIL IER, l lol l>•wood
(\'(lith lljmlogit•, lo Tt'll/1)11111)
?.lr. I· . G. \X1ihon
f\Xf A, Inc.
K.1ns." City, ..\lo.
De:tr ,\lr. \'<fil,on:
I want to cxpres~ w your good c.:omp.ln)
Ill)' extreme ple;hurc in my rl'C.:C:IIL u' c of
T\'<f A rransporr:ttion.
The time s:tving benefit " .llmo'>t unbl·
licv:~ble, even after experiencing it, .1\ I
had dinner at home in Californi.1 5und.\\
night, spent a complete bu)inc~' d.1y l n>1;1
8:30:1.111. to4:16 p.m. in Kam.lsCit} on
Monda)'• arriving home in Caltforni.1 be
fore midnight and in ri_me for .1 full night'b
sleep Monday night.
The only rime away from my own desk
was the one bu~iness dJ}, .Ill of "hich "~s
.1vailable to usc in Kans.1s City.
Your hostesses are cert;linlv ju,t that,
:ts [ did nor re:tlize th.n there ,~·ere so nun\
courtesies rhar could be cxtcnJcd .1 tr:l\
eler.
\'<fichin .l few minutes after de p.1rtu r~· on
:1 hot, sulrrv summer da\, \\e were in the
clean, cool ;nd comfon.;ble atmo, pherc of
the higher altitude~, which seem so remote
from rhe discomfort of hot summer prc­,
·ailing in surface rran<;portation.
Your; very trul }',
(Signed) HoM I R r. <,l l\ 11
(Mr. Sc:1le ib the operator of the Allum
br.1 airporr located .n 820 E.l\t V 1l \•)
Boulev:~rd, Alhambra, C.1liforn1.1. )
OH MISTER MOLITOR!
"Sir, my dan,~bln IL'IIIJ!s /o ajljll)' /m
IIIII' of )Our ,tir hmlt·'~ juNiiom!"
The Sky liner for t\u .~/111 , I IJ lf,
F AGILITIES UNSURPASSED IN AIR TRANSPORT
It ha~ been ~aid by man)' chat the ~hops
of Tramconttnenral & \Xfestern Air, Inc.,
located in the company\ headquarters
base <1l Kansas City, are unsurpassed in
world air transporr. This corner of the
engine overhaul deparrment-and it is
merely ;t corner-discloses even tO the
l.tyman the qualiry of shop equipment liSed
in maintain:ng TWA's flight equipment.
At the left is a drill press; at the right, a
milling m.tchine.
ALONG THE LINE
Coufinued from /Jflge II
lower rhe tail droops. the lower dw ceiling.
The tuft on the rail corresponding with
the hind leg rings indicates the ceiling with
startling accuracy. When it rains Soggy
pulls out handsful! of hair from il\ head
and the back of its neck.
The animal ears only orJngc peel except­tng
in unusually good weather when it .\leal,
some of Jack's kraut or spaghetti. It~ ap­petite
is enormous for so small an animal
but its practical worth to Jack in determin­ing
the ceiling compensates for rhc expen­sive
upkeep of this pet.
(John A. Collings please note.)
The shops of this company, from end
to end, are equipped with the same high
quality m:tchincry a) th:lt which the pho­tographer
h.t~ pictured so effectively here.
Tr is machinery of this sort which enables
the line's shop workers to take full advan­tage
of their skill, developed through tech­nical
training, in maintaining T\'Q A's fly­ing
equipment at the constanc high stand­ard
for which it is known.
ro expense is ~pared where quality is
ON AND OFF
V. L. Gunn of the TWA office in Mil­waukee
writes: " \X!hy not give us fellow\
at off-line cities a break in the SKYLINt.R?
Such :t column devoted ro off-line offices
would include San Francisco, Oetrott,
Washington and Bo~ron in addition to chi'
office in ;\lilw.tukcc."
\Xfe, on the on-line st.nions think tim t\
a splendid thought and wi~h to encourag~
the idea. So get busy, rou off-line office\
and send in you r contriburions to the
SKYLINER. We know you're al l busy and
producing but we'll have co have the in­formation
about you from you.
concerned in providing \hop or .my other
form of equipment for TWA. It i, re­flected
not alone within the organi/ation,
but in its work before the public. It devel­ops
.t confidence upon the p:trt of employee
and rhe man, woman or child outside who
uses T\Xf A service. In effect, n t\ a recip
rocal idea which is constructive .tnd which
long since has placed TWA tn th:tt envt­able
c.uegory which m,tke\ of it the .tic­line
srandard of the world.
RE-DECORATE AT LOS ANGELES
The Los Angeles traffic office h.ts been
redecorated and the traffic per~onnel h.t~
resumed activities in the new quarters. The
office is at the same location, 540 \\esc 6th
~erect, but is a much more attr.tctl ve ticket
office. being remodeled in accordance with
the plan incorporated in the redecoration
of all traffic offices along the TWA sptem.
During the remodeling procc\s, the traf­fic
personnel operated in tcmpor.1ry quarters
next door to the permanent loc.nion of chts
comp:tn>r's downrown headquJrtcrs located
on "airlines' row."
13
TWA Now "Looks," Through Use of a New System.
Within Its Engine Parts
&·r lllusfraliom on Pagt• 15
THL INSPECTION of aircr.tft engine
parts during overhaul no longer is
being left to the n.1kcd eye or even co micro­scopic
ampcctaon. Transcontinental &
Western Atr, Inc., ha~ resorted to a new
type of impection through the usc of a
machine which detects cracks and imper­fection
in pare~ beneath the surface pre­viously
undetected by former inspection
>ystcms.
This .tdV;\nccd inspection method is
known .1s the Magn:aflux syHem. It pro­vides
an .Kcur.He method of inspecting be­neath
rhc wrf.1cc of metal engine parrs
and docs its uncanny detecting of imper­fection
through magnetizing the part and
setting up a polarity around the defect
which is apparent to the naked eye by usc
of an tron paste solution. T he paste our­lines
on the \urfJcc of the parr rhe crack
or fault beneath the surface.
Each P•lrt 1s pbced individually in rhe
magnet11ing nuchine and magneti.red br :1
current of 6 ,·olt> at 2,500 amperes. The
length of t1me required to magnetize each
part depends upon its si~.:e. The average
length of ume for ,1ll steel engine parrs is
less than on~ second. At the end of this
second the complctel y magnetized part is
dipped into a unk of kerosene and iron
paste for .tpproximately 2 minutes. By mag­netizing
th~.: part before dipping it in the
solurion, a polarity is set up around any de­fect~
or cr.tcks in the part whether on top
or beneath the surface. The iron paste ac­cumulnes
at the location of the defect in
:1 direction following the magnetic polarity
established through magnetism.
After bcsng dipped, and prior to the final
inspection, the \tecl part is dipped into an­ocher
t.111k contaming a ~olution of gasoline
and oil which removes all surplus iron pasre
excepnng rh:n which i~ :accumulated
.~round the defect in the metal part. The
final 111Spcct10n then reveals at a glance
the pre\cnce of any imperfection in the
metal. Defective p.1rt~ are disc:1rded :1nd
replaced by ne\\ p:1ns.
Pan\ rh.u arc not defective :arc de-mag­ncri.
red aml U\ed. B) placing the pare in a
'pcci.1l cabinet, .1 current of 220 voles is
:1pplied which de-magnetizes the part in
less th.ln I 0 seconds. The part then is ready
for inspection for wear. Pares showing more
than \tipul:~ted c le.u-.1ncc wc.tr arc dis­carded.
The magnetizing and de-m:tgne­tizi
ng process h.1s no effect upon the ten­sile
strength of the metal.
An altcrn•Hing current and a direct cur-
14
renr of 220 ''olrs is required to opcr.ttc the
apparatus. These currents alwan uc on
when the machine is being used. The .tltcr­nating
current is received from the gcner.tl
power line while the direct current 1~ pro­duced
by a 3 kilowact gencr.Hor. Upon
completion of inspection, a 220 volt .tltcr­ll:
lting current is used tO de- ma~ncri.rc the
engine parts.
Propel ler hubs and other steel pan' used
on airplanes and component part~ Jre given
the Magnaflux inspection also at periodic
intervals of overhaul. \'V'h ilc this type of
inspection docs nor produce .1 transp.1rent
effect on the parr inspected it serve' the
same purpose by bringing the defect to th::
surface, revealing the si.re, direction .111d
shape of the crack or imperfection w~thin
the interior of the metal part.
WE SAVE THR.EE HOURS PER
ENGINE
Mr. G. F. Van Skike, engine o,·erhaul
forem:tn, announces tltlt since the anstalla­rion
of the new de-greasing \)'Stem in the
engine tear-down department, he h.ts cut
approximately three hours time off the
cle:~ning operation of each engine.
This is due main ly to the efficiency of
rhe system in quickly removing .11! traces
of gre:tse from the metal parts of the
engine being cleaned. T he syStem consists
of a rather compac t steam :tncl condens­ing
tank using a solution of Perm-a-dor
which vaporizes highly :tt 180 ° Fahren­heit
and immediately dissolves :any grease
on rhe parts placed in the tank.
A VISITOR FROM PA.RKS
Mr. E. R. Horn, foreman and imtructor
of the sheer metal deparcment, Parks Air
College, Ease St. Louis, Missouri, attended
the TWA maintenance school during the
week of June 22, 1936.
Mr. Horn w:1s interested primarily in get­ring
some advanced inform.Hion on metal
work, this information to be conveyed later
by lectures ro students at Parks. Of course,
in these many lectures, TW J\ ''ill be men­tioned
numerous times :1s the lectures will
be based on our maintenance W\tem.
AS WE FIGURE IT
J. B. W:~lker, vice-president in charge of
traffic, receives more incoming mail th.tn
.tn )' other individual in the TWA organi­zation.
The accounting department \ends out
more mail than .111) other dep.uuncnt in
TWA. *
Ruby 11cCully, cuHod1.111 oi the'" it~h
board at the T\'V' A headquarters in K.1n,,1s
Ciq, completes between 800 and I 11110 in
ter-office and outside telephone c.tlls d.1il)
* The mail room .u T\~' A hc.tdqu.lrtl!rs in
K.tnsas City requires the full time of 'C' en
boys ro recei,·e, distribute, and di,p.Hch
all of the company\ correspondence .1rri'­ing
and departing tim company'~ base
station. *
Fred Betts, purchasing .1gem for '1'\X'A,
reporrs that his depanmcm purch.tse' .tp
proximately 25,000 different .u·ud~.:' nc~·lbl
in the oper:ttion of this ;JirlinL
* It required nearly 7,000 g.1llon' uf p.unL
last year to keep up the appearance of tit~·
"Lindbergh Line." A tor.tl of I 32 diller
ent colors and shades of paint arc used b,
rhis company.
PROMOTED IN POSTAL SERVICE
James \VI. Cole, the new deptH\ \c.:cond
.t~sistant postmaster general, "'·" .tpp<>ina·d
to the postal service in 1898 ,1\ .1 r.tsl" .1
post.tl clerk between Arl.tnr.1 .tnd '\~
Orleans. He larer served 111 the ofh<.~
the clerk, Rail" a\ ~tail Servsce, .It J\t
l.tnta, following w.hich he '' ,1\ .tppointed 1
post office inspector. He h.l\ 'en ed ·'' in
spector in charge of both the ,\ tl.uu.t .tnd
JAMES\\, COLr
Ch.nt.tnooga divisions and in addauon h.1,
h:1d special assignments in Cub.1, Pono
Rico and various European countncs. JJ,·
is an expert on poHal tran\port.llaon m.u
Lcrs, al l of which come under the jurisdll
tion of the bureau of the second .1\\1\l.llll
postmaster general.
The Sky liner for August, /9l t,
\I \C,NI T l71NG A \II,TAL E"-GINE PART
IH.MAGNFTIZING THE METAL
I>IPPJ:-o.G TI IL I'ARl IN SOLUTION
\II(RO~tOPit IN~PI {liON AS AX ,\OOLll
I'RI <:AUTIO~'.
On tbt• oppmilt• pagt• of THt: SK'LI'LR
toll bt• found a sloq of tbr m·r~ proa"
IIH'd h) TW' \ for !be msflcdion of 1/1
mr!td t'n,l!,lll<' J;t.rfs. Knou 11 a.1 I be Magna­flu\
proa.1.1, tbr syslrm is one ubicb
rt'tt•ail flau .\ uitbin !be mdalt•u•n tbon,l(b
lbt·y Ill«) no/ br obsrrLI't! on tbl' wrfaa
11 itb tbt aid of fl microscope.
15
One of lbr world's mml r£11111rkablr sju·clllcll'~-lbt' Grand Canyon of J\n:111111-i•
on !be T\VA cons/ lo coast system. Certain of !bt• com/11111) 's scbeduled /rips /J..tu·c•t•n
I be Atla1tfic a/1(1 I be Pacific pttH abot'e if in order !bat T\'(1 II 's air lrat·elcrs may ll't' il 11.'
il is lo be sren in no olbrr way. Mile after milr of Ibis majrslir ll.iOnder of J\mrrtca\
grMt \Vestern country unfoltl before tbe eyrs of lb1• 1111111, tvonwn or cbild settled 111 a
T\V A Skylincr. Tbr gmt/ can)'On is different for l'IW)' moment of tbe day and lbt• lon,l!,
sbadows in tiYis pbotogmJib i/1(/icnle an ea,-1;• mornin,l!, Jliclt/1'1', sincr I be camrra was Jmmlrtl
west from 11et1r Hopi J>oinl.