SEE CAM 25 for this airway's route. These were day flights. This is very confusing to me and will take sometime to figure out. Have patience with this one. It was very short lived and Florida Airways went bankrupt
The Florida Airways Corporation was awarded Contract Air
Mail Route No. 10, from Miami, Fla., to Jacksonville. Fla. Commencing
operations on April rst. 1926, it was one of the first contract
air mail services to get under \vay. From the very outset the
service aroused great interest and during the first sixty days an
efficiency of operation of 98 per cent was established. J\'lajor Reed
::vr. Chambers is president of the company; V. E. Chenea, vice-president
in charge of traffic; John Harding, Jr., formerly of the Air
Service and a member of the Round-the-\Vorld Flight, is vice-president
in charge of maintenance; and J. H. Johnson, secretary-treasurer.
Among the pilots are: H. ]. Brady, formerly of Langley
Field; Carl B. Eielson, chief pilot of the Detroit Arctic Expedition
and the first pilot to carry mail in Alaska by air; L. S. Flo. formerly
of Selfridge Field; and J. N. Kelly.
The route extended from Miami to Fort Myers, Tampa, and on
to Jacksonville, with intermediate landing fields clotted every few
miles between. On Sept. 15th, according to contract with the Post
Of-fice Department, the service was extended to Atlanta, Ga., and
on Sept. 27th the city of Macon was included as a regulat· stop on
the schedule.
The flying equipment consists of the following machines: one
Stinson Detroiter (Wright "Whirlwind" engine), one Curtiss Lark
(Wright "Whirlwind"), two Travel Airs (Curtiss OXX-6) and one
Ford-Stout all-metal monoplane (Liberty). \Vith this equipment,
the total mileage for 1926 (nine months) was 259,924 miles.
Florida Airways service set up an average efficiency of operation
of 90 per cent, and this in spite of the fact that the months of
November and December offered unusually thick fogs in the vicinity
of Atlanta. Furthermore, during September, the high efficiency
of 94 per cent was maintained despite the hurricane which caused
so much havoc in Florida. It will be recalled. in fact, that Florida
:\irwavs service was one of the few transportation systems in this
region. not put out of action by the hurricane. The mail planes were
the first to establish communication with the storm area, carrying
doctors, medical supplies, food, water. and at one time, actually
transporting ~2.000,000 in currency, probably the largest monetary
shipment ever made by air in the Vnited States.
The total scheduled mileage for 1926 was 2894-J.O miles of which,
as alreadv mentioned, 259.924 miles were actually flown. In addition.
22.984 miles were covered in special flying, such as that at the
time of the hurricane. making a grand total of 282,go8 miles without
an accident of any kind. .-\pproximately 13,200 pounds of mail
matter were carried during this period. \Vith passenger transportation
starting on June 1st, 939 passengers were carried, exclusive of
the company's employees, during the seven-months period to December
31st. \Yhile not actually solicited, express matter was carried
during the last five months of the 1926 operations. The loads in this
class approximated 50 pounds per month. the rate being $1 .oo per
pound for the entire route. except between 1\·Iiami and Fort Myers
( 100 miles). the rate for which distance was jO cents per pound.
This flying record is all the more significant when it is recorded
that there was not a single accident on the Florida Airways line
during the entire nine months period of operation last year. The
company actually did sustain the loss of one plane but this was in
no way connected with its flying operations. On Sept. 18th, when
the hurricane swept over 11iami airport, one of the company's FordStout
monoplanes, after withstanding the storm for seven hours.
finally was torn from its cement anchorage by the 120 mile gal~
and rolled about soo yards across the field and clashed against some
poles and :vas wreck~d. Furth~rmore, but twelve forced landings
were expenenced dunng the entire operations eight of , .. ]11· h
I . , . .. c 'vere
due to mec 1amcal trouble and four to had weather conditions.
That the Florida Airways service proved a marked success may
in part be judged by the fact that during the nine months of flying,
the cost of operation was reduced by 5 r .8 per cent. However, not
being connected by air with the Trans-Continental route the service
always lacked much business that might otherwise have come to it
had it been able to supply direct air connection with all other parts
of the United States as can the other air mail feeder lines. Accordingly,
at the instigation of the l'ost Off1ce Department. the Florida
:\irways suspended its operations on December 3rst, awaiting the
installation of lighting hy the Department of Comme1-ce for night
flying and the opening of the ?\ ew York to Atlanta air mail scnice
during the summer of 1<)2/. \Yhich will. in conjunction with the
operations of the Florida Airways, proYide direct air transportation
between Florida and N e11v York and thence to all other parts oi the
country. 1927 aircraft yearbook page 42-43
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