Delta: An Airline and Its Aircraft. The Illustrated History of a Major U.S. Airline and the People Who Made It

114 Pages·1990·0.68 MB·English

THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF A MAJOR U.S. AIRLINE AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE IT.
By R.E.G. DAVIES
D E L T A
An Airline And Its Aircraft
The Illustrated History ofA
Major U.S. Airline And The People
Who Made It
\
OTHER BOOKS BY R.E.G. DAVIES
AHistory ofthe World's Airlines
Airlines ofthe United States Since 1914
Airlines of Latin America Since 1919
Continental Airlines - the First Fifty Years
Rebels and Reformers ofthe Airways
Pan Am: An Airline and Its Aircraft
Lufthansa: An Airline and Its Aircraft
3t1. '"JocPs
D..2:i'7""-
An Airline And Its Aircraft
The Illustrated History of A Major U.S. Airline And The People Who Made It
By R.E.G. Davies
Illustrated by Mike Machat
DEDICATION
LikeOldKingCole, Icalledonmyfiddlersthreewhen
inneedofinspirationandencouragement.The
combinedexperienceandknowledgeofSteveCaisse,
PauletteO'Donnell,andPaulTalbottensuredthe
accuracyofthetext, thetablesofdata,themaps,and
theillustrationsinthisbook.Theircontributionhas
beenessentialtoitscompilation,andwiththeir
invaluablehelp, theauthor,withhisartistandeditor,
havebeeninspiredtoplayamerrytune.
Textandmapscopyright©1990byR.E.G. Davies
Artillustrationscopyright©1990byMikeMachat
All rightsreserved. Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinany
formorbyanymeans, electronicormechanical, includingphotocopy, recording, orany
informationstorageandretrievalsystem, withoutthewrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
PublishedbyPaladwrPress, P.O. Box521238, Miami, FL33152.
ManufacturedinHongKong.
DesignedbyR.E.G. Davies
ArtworkbyMikeMachat
Editedand ProducedbyJohnWegg
TypesettingbyFisher&Day
PrepressandPressManagementbyTheDrawingBoard
PrintedbyC &C OffsetPrintingCo., Lrd.
ISBN 0-9626483-0-2
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber90-91572
FirstEdition
CONTENTS
Prelude in Peru Huff-DalandDuster (Petrel) 8-9 Delta-C & S Lockheed 749 Constellation 58-59
DeltatotheNortheast DouglasDC-7 60-61
The First Delta
DeltaAirService Waronthe BollWeevil 10-11 GreatLakes-Southeast DouglasDC-7B 62-63
BriefEncounter TravelAirS-6000-B 12-13 AirFreightSpecialists LockheedL-100-20 Hercules 64-65
Western Moves On
Western Air Express
PreludeinCalifornia DouglasM-2 14-15 Western's PostwarStruggle DouglasDC-4 66-67
TheModelAirway FokkerF-10 16-17 Western Consolidates DouglasDC-6B 68-69
PacificMarineand Standardand WestCoast 18-19 TurbinePower Lockheed 188Electra 70-71
ColoradoAirways Delta and the JetAge
WesternAirExpressExpands FokkerF-32 20-21 TheJetAge- FirstofaDeltaTrio DouglasDC-8-11 72-73
TheShotgunMarriage Western Recovery 22-23 Firstwiththe Convair880 Convair880 74-75
GeneralMotors Control ImprovedPassengerComfort 24-25 SouthernTranscontinental DouglasDC-8-61 76-77
Delta Air Lines Firstwiththe DouglasDC-9 DouglasDC-9-14 78-79
DeltaAirLinesRecovers Delta'sEarlyAircraft 26-27 NortheastAirlines
Streamliningthe Image Lockheed 10Electra 28-29 Northeast'sPostwarStruggle DouglasDC-6B 80-81
TheFirstDeltaDouglases DouglasDC-2 30-31 NortheastBreakswithTradition VickersViscount 798D 82-83
Western Picks Up The Pieces NewEngland's Yellowbirds Boeing 727-95 84-85
WesternStartsAgain Boeing247D 32-33 DeltaWinsaMergerBattle The Yellowbirds 86-87
NationalParksAirways FokkerSuper-Universal 34-35 Western Gains Full Stature
InlandAir Lines Western'sEastwardStruggle 36-37 Western's FirstBoeingJets Boeing 720-047B 88-89
An Airline for New England PacificNorthernAirlines Boeing 720 90-91
Boston-Maine/CentralVermont Downeasttothe Capeand Beyond 38-39 Into the BigLeagues Boeing 727-247 92-93
An AirlineforNewEngland DouglasDC-3 40-41 Western Revolution McDonnellDouglas DC-10 94-95
NortheastShakesOffthe Past Pioneeringthe FrozenNorth 42-43 Big Fourto Big Five
Chicago &Southern DeltaWide-Bodies LockheedL-1011 TriStar 96-97
PacificSeaboardAirlines Bellanca CH-300Pacemaker 44-45 DeltainFullStride McDonnellDouglasDC-8-71 98-99
Chicago & Southern Lockheed 10Electra 46-47 WesternJoins Delta Boeing 737-347 100-101
On To The Next Century
Interlude
TheAirlinesGoTo War The AgeofTransition .48-49 TheNewDelta Delta'sTrustyBoeings 102-103
Short-Range Choice McDonnellDouglasMD-88 104-105
The First Great Merger
Long-Range Choice McDonnellDouglasMD-11 108-109
Across the Caribbean Lockheed649A Constellation 50-51
TheDelta Connection All Partofthe Family 106-107
Twins to Quads DouglasDC-4 52-53
Delta'sWorld The DeltaFamilyTree 110-111
DeltaSpreadsItsWings DouglasDC-6 54-55
UpgradingDC-3 Service Convair440 56-57 Index ................................................................112
-
No Silver Spoon Chicago&SoutherncouldaffordtobuyaDouglasDC-3from morethanadecade;TerriHanson,BruceHenryandCharles
the manufacturer. Thustheearlypartofthisbookfeatures BurcheratDelta'sphotographydepartment;KenKlatt,legal
During the evolution ofair transport in the United States, the smaller Lockheed Electra ortheStinson tri-motors and department;andGordonBarrington,publicaffairs:allthese
and especiallyin the embryo years when success orfailure even smaller aircraft that were sized to the modest traffic aregratefullyacknowledged.
depended upon favorable glances from the authorities and volumes of the early routes of the 1930s. The situation is Finally, Iwould like to thank Bill Berry, who gave this
agencies in Washington, D.C., a privileged few airlines differenttoday. SincetheDC-8andtheDC-9,Deltahasno book his blessing and ensured its production; and all the
emerged thatwereso much bigger, so much richer, and so longerfollowed thepack. Ithasledit. Withitscriticalrole employees, pastandpresent,oftheparentcompanyandits
muchthe betterendowedbygovernmentsubsidy, thatthe inthedevelopmentofMcDonnellDouglas'sMD-ll,oneof antecedents, without whom Delta Air Lines may not have
other airlines could only survive at all by picking up the thegreatairlinersthatwillwelcomethenextcentury,itwill become the great airline that it is and thereby qualify for
crumbs- specificallytheoccasionalrouteawardorrarePost maintainitsplaceasoneoftheworld'sgreatairlines. inclusionforthisseriesofbooks.
OfficecontractthattheBigFourdidnotwant. Delta maynothavebeenbornwithasilverspoonin its -R.E.G.D.
TheprivilegedwereUnitedAirLines, AmericanAirlines, mouthbut,inmakingitsownway,ithasbecomeitsownsil
Further Reading
TWA,andEasternAirLines,aswellastheChosenInstrument versmith.
foralloverseasroutes,PanAm. Amongtheunderprivileged
Thepurposeofthisseriesofbooksistoencourageinterestin
wereallthecomponentsofthepresent-dayDelta. Whatever Acknowledgments the fascinating historyoftheworld's airlines. Whileevery
Deltaistoday, itdiditself.
effort has beenmade to make this oneon Deltaas useful a
WhenC.E.WoolmanstartedthefirstDeltaAirServicein Outstandingamongthosewhocontributedtothisbookare
referencesourceasitisanattractiveportrayalofagreatstory,
1929,hewasforcedtoabandonthemodestroutefromFort twostalwartsofDeltaAirLines. PaulTalbottisoneofthose
somereadersmaywishtoconsultthefollOWing:
Worth to Atlanta simply because it did not fit into the raretypeswhocannotonlytakeairplanesapartandbutcan
Delta- TheHistoryofanAirline,byDavidLewisandW.P.
PostmasterGeneral'sgrandplan. Onlyapoliticalscandalon also tell you the ancestryofeveryairplane in the fleet. In
Newton;TheDeltaFamilyHistorybyGeorgeW.Cearley; Ad
the scale of Watergate permitted Delta to get back into delVinginto the innermost recesses ofDelta'sextensivear
venturesofaYellowbird,byRobertW.Mudge;AirTransportat
business,andeventhenitwasawfullyslowgoing. Western chiveshehassavedmecountlessweeksofpainstakingwork.
War, by Reginald M. Cleveland; The Only Way To Fly by
AirExpresswasdeprivedofitsbirthrightinthedisreputable Also, he has been ofconsiderable help to Mike Machat to
RobertSerling;HighJoumeybyCarletonPutnam;andAirlines
Shotgun Marriage, out ofwhich emerged TWA but which decidewhichofmanyindividualaircraftorparticularcolor
oftheUnitedStatesSince1914,byR.E.G. Davies.
almostkilledWestern;anditssubsequenthistorywasaseries schemesshouldbeused.
ofrescueoperationsfromaseriesofcrises. Northeasthadthe Workingcloselywith Paul, Steve Caissehas assiduously
Machat's Law
cardsstackedagainstitfromthestart,withnoroutestospeak soughtandselectedmostofthephotographsthatappearin
of,andwithashort-sightedmanagement,atleastuntillong thisbook. Wehavetriedtoincludesomepicturesthatmay
InmypreviousairlinebookpartnershipswithRonDavies,I
afterWorldWarII, whosehorizonsdid notextendsouthof notbefamiliartosomereaders;buthavenotexcludedgood
have drawn attention to the bewildering complications
NewYork. EvenPacificNorthern,oneofthesmallerboughs pictures solely because they are well-known. Steve also
inherent in the accurate illustration of airliner markings,
oftheDeltafamilytree,wasthevictimofarouterealignment checkedallmymapstoensurethateverythingwascorrectly
and Ihave labeledthis phenomenonMachat's Law, which
policythatclearlyfavored itscompetitors. inplace. states:"Theonlyconsistencyinairlinecolorschemesistheir
Delta's steady progress, therefore, has been almost en Presiding over this industrious activity and acting as a
inconsistency."Thecorollarystates: "Inagiven numberof
tirely of its own making. To paraphrase the axiom about faithful communications channel was Paulette O'Donnell,
similaraircrafttypesfromthesameairline,therewillbealike
prominent people: thatsome areborn great, somebecome who coordinated the efforts, did a little progress-chasing
number of color scheme variations." One of my favorite
great, and some have greatness thrust upon them; Delta fromtimetotime,andaboveall,kepttheauthorgoingwhen
examplesofthisoccurrenceisafirst-generation jetlinerthat
madeitselfgreatbycarefulplanningandintuitivewisdom. attimeshewasfeelingalittlejadedandwonderingifitwas
appearedinnolessthatninemajorcolorschemevariations
ThemergerwithChicago&Southernin1953wasatextbook allworthwhile. initsfirst 18monthsofservicewithamajorairline!
exercise in how to amalgamate two good airlines into a Closer to home, Bob van der Linden has once again
The problem is more than academic, for it leads to the
potentiallygreatone. TheacquisitionofNortheastin1972 served as my technical conscience, ensuring that I do not suspicionthatmistakeshavebeenmade,oftenbecauseeye
notonlyconsolidatedDelta'spositionandgrowingstature, commitheinouserrorssuchasconfusingaLockheedModel witnesseswillswearthattheyhave photographsthatdon't
but it solved a long-term problem for the CAB. And the 10-Awitha10-BoraGECF6-80C2DlFfromyourcommon agreewiththeillustrationsdepictedherein, andthatsubse
additionofWesternin1986wasamasterstrokethatputDelta or-gardenCF6. quentlyprovetheartworktobeincorrect.
AirLinesintotheBigLeagues. Other contributions have been no less valuable. The Ican only assert that each illustration in this book was
Thislastcorporatemovecameafterairlinederegulation, WesternAirLinesarchiveswerepresidedoverbyLindaDoz carefullychosento represent a specificaircraftat aspecific
and after Western itself had rejected many suitors for its ierandtheirsafekeepinginAtlantatoday islargelythanksto momentinitshistorywitheitherDelta,oroneoftheairlines
hand. Butderegulation itself, which opened up preViously hersenseofhistoryinhandingthemovertoPauletteO'Don thatjoinedtheDeltafamily.Inmanycases,titles,logos,and
lockedwindowsofopportunity,didnotgotoDelta'shead,as nell. Theworksofvaliantresearchers,historians,andwriters subtle details of aircraft markings have been enlarged to
itdidinsomecases,leadingtomanyacynicaltakeoverand such as Rick Allen, Peter Bowers, Bill Larkins,John Stroud, enhance the artwork, and to deal with technical printing
manya bankruptcy. With a track record ofwise decision HarryGann,PeterBrooks,DonThomas,RogerBentley,Norm limitations.
making, Deltaisnowfirmlyinthedriver'sseat. Houle,andahostofothers;HarrietteParker,the"founder"of ManyoftheprofiledraWingsareaccompaniedby"Artist's
Time was when neither Delta, Western, Northeast, nor theDeltaarchives,andJackiePatewhotookoverthereinsfor Notes"toclarifyvariousaspectsofcolorschemesorstructural
6
details, and where appropriate, I have drawn attention to Ihaveattemptedtoconcentratealltheavailabledataona Editor
aircraftdesignfeaturesthatmaybeunusual,andwhichmay giventhemeintooneplace. Appendiceslistingaircraftfleets,
escapenoticeatfirstglance. forexample,areinsertedasfaraspossibleadjacenttothetext, ThisstoryofDeltaAirLinesandofitsaffiliatesandancestors
-MikeMachat photographs, and draWings of the subject aircraft. Where (thethirdintheseriesontheWorld'sGreatAirlines),brings
relevant, comparison tabulations or charts are inserted to together many diverse talents: the artistryand precision of
answer unspoken questions as to the difference between oneofthe bestcommercial aviationartists in the U. S., the
aircraft variants, such as a Douglas DC-7 or a DC-7B. The skilled cartography from Ron's own pen and his inspiring
Author main objective of this layout scheme has been to save the writingstyle,andaircraftlistingsthatfortheaficionadosare
reader the annoyance of constantly having to refer to the the lastword on thesubject, thanks to Delta's own faithful
To write a succinct but at the same time comprehensive backofthe book, orworse, at the end ofachapter, to seek (andunofficial) historians.
historyofDeltaAir Lines, followingthesameformula as in elucidation ofdetail. Cross-references to other pages have Foralthoughtheillustrationsareoftenthemostobvious
the previous books in the series (on Pan American and beenmadeonlytoavoid repetition, forexample,whenone featuresofthecomplementarydouble-pagespreads,theyare
Lufthansa) hasbeenquiteachallenge: topresentthe many aircrafttypeis theprimesubjectmorethanonce, becauseit onlypartofacompositewhole.Thetextsometimeshastolie
achievementsofdisparateelementsinaformthatpreserved servedmorethanoneoftheDeltaancestorairlines. intheshadowofaMachat"special"orasaperipheralcom
thecorrectchronologicalbalanceandcontinuity. Foursepa I hope that Delta: An Airline and Its Aircraft will have ment on a map or a set ofexcellent pictures. But all these
ratehistorieswouldhavebeentoosimplistic,toodisjointed. succeededin itsmainobjective:toofferareliableandaccu componentpartsareinterdependent.Agoodpictureormap
TheendofthestoriesofChicago&Southern,Northeast,and ratehistoryofagreatairlinethatisatthesametimeagood is worth a thousand words but the text is the mortar that
Western, would have implied a note of finality. But the referencesource,apleasuretoread,andadelighttotheeye. holds thebrickstogether. Conversely,withoutthesupport
presenceofsomanyChicagoans,NewEnglanders,andWest -REG.Davies ingmaterial,thetextwouldhavehadtobetentimesaslong
ernersintheDeltateamtodaybearwitnesstotheinsistency andonlyonetenthasinteresting.
ofthefamilyspiritthatispartofthecompanypolicy. Carle Artist For that has been the main objective: to produce an
ton Putnam, Paul Collins, and Harris Hanshue have never attractive book that is a joy to peruse at leisure, with each
Depicting the 46 featured aircraft presented special chal
beencondemnedtohistoricalanonymity. double-pagespreadaself-containedessayinitsownright;at
lenges, and many design decisions had to be made with
Equally,tohavetoldthestoryofallthefourelements,and thesametimetocompileatotallyreliablesourceofreference.
regard tospecificcolorschemes used, the historical signifi
including other ancestors such as Art Woodley's Pacific Every fact and figure in the book has been rigorously
canceofcertainaircraft,andtechnicalproductionconsidera
orthern, Al Frank's ational Parks Airways, or DickLefer scrutinized. Whereverpossible,exactdatesaregiven,inthe
tionsaswell.AddingtothiswasthespecterofMachat'sLaw
ink'sWyomingAirServiceinchronologicalorderwouldhave text, the tables, and the maps. These are the essential
(see previous page), creating a plethora of possible color
beenhopelesslyconfusing. signposts and milestones of history. The specifications
schemeanddesignvariationsoneverythingfromtheWest
Ihaveattempted,therefore,toweavethepiecestogether, included in the aircraft tables and information band with
ern Indian head to Delta's famous widget. Thankfully, the
carefullyidentifyingerasofevolution,andtracingthedevel each profiledrawing feature Delta's weights and passenger
comprehensive Delta historical archives, together with the
opmentofthemainairlinegroupsbetweenwatershedevents seating capacities at delivery; performance figures are rep
resourcesofPaladwrPress,savedtheday.
thatcan readilyberecognized bythereaderas logicalbreak resentative. Photographs, exceptwhereotherwisecredited,
The scale comparisons of each aircraft were made with
points in the individual stories, to be picked up later after arefrom Delta'sextensivearchives.
Delta's upcoming flagship of the 1990s, the McDonnell
pausing,asitwere,toobservewhatwasgoingonelsewherein Thefleetlistshavebeencloselycheckedagainstcorporate
DouglasMD-11,ratherthantheBoeing747,usedinprevious
a"meanwhile,backattheranch..."approach. records and, in manycases, are published here for the first
booksinthisseries.Deltaoperatedonlyfive747sforalimited
Once again, I have started by writing a prelude - for time.Abbreviationshavebeenkepttoaminimumandmost
periodoftime.
airlinesdonotjusthappen. Thereisinvariablysomespecial willbefamiliar.Themanufacturer'sserialnumber-thatall
Tome,TheSpiritofDeltaisnotjustthenameoftheBoeing
motivation that leads to their existence. Backin the 1920s, importantaircraftidentification numberthat remainswith
767 thatgraces the coverofthis book, but rather astate of
C.E.Woolman'sflyingexperiencewasthekeytothecreation anaircraftforitswholelife- isabbreviatedto"MSN"rather
mind.Delta'smotto"WeLoveToFlyAndItShows"isalmost
ofaerialcrop-dusting,andwastheinspirationthatledtothe that the industry's commonly-used "s/n", and avoids the
an understatement,and [trustthisbookcapturestheebbu
formation ofthe DeltaAirService. Suchqualitiesofexperi ambiguousterm"c/n"(constructor'snumber).
lientspirit.
ence, vision, and inspiration are still to be found, 60 years Production has been made that much easier bythesup
Onapersonalnote, myfirstexperienceaboardDeltawas
later,intheDeltaoftoday. Historyisstillunraveling, justas portofthetalentedeffortsofBrianDayandKimberleyFisher,
in 1968when, as ayoungserviceman, Iwas returningfrom
itdidindaysgoneby. ScottPiazza,andtheDeltatriumviratetowhomthisbookis
overseas on special leave to attend my Father's funeral. In
Thesameformat isfollowed as in previous books. Mike dedicated.
thatdifficulttime, thecourteousandunderstandingpeople
Machat'sprecisiondraWingsaretheeye-catchingattractions WhenIwrotemyfirstfull-lengthbook,MikeMachatand
ofDelta went out oftheir way to get me home swiftlyand
oftheright-handpages,whilemymaps,ifnotcontainingas Ron Davieswerevaluedconsultantsandcontributors.Tobe
safely, making a challenging experience that much more
muchvisualimpact,areaimedtobeatleastasinformativeon with the same team ofclose friends again, is to work with
comfortable. Ihaveneverforgottenthattrip, andtodayitis
the left. The right-hand pages are usually about aircraft, acknowledgedspecialists. Fashioningwith themthehistory
withconsiderableprideandenthusiasmthatIundertakethis
whilethoseontheleftareusuallyaboutsegmentsofairline of one of today's trend-setting airlines, with roots in such
excitingendeavortoillustratethemanysignificantandhis
historyrelatedtotheaircraft. Thecause-and-effectrelation diversifiedtraditions, hasbeenaprivilegeindeed.
toricaircraftofDeltaAirLines.
shipworksin bothdirections.
-MikeMachat -JohnWegg
7
Prelude in Peru C.E. Woolmall (left, holdillg
hat),withthePresidelltofPeru
(right, hallds folded) ill 1928,
011theoccasiollpicturedbelow.
Dr. B.R. (Bert) (oad and (.E. Woolman
Dr.B.R.CoadwasappointedbytheU.S.DepartmentofAg
riculture in the early 1920sto establish afield laboratoryat
Tallulah, Louisiana. An experienced entomologist, he
Dr.B.R.(Bert)Coad(farleft),a1I0tedento
launched a waragainst the boll weevil, the tiny insectthat
mologist, directed the field laboratory at
annually destroyed whole swathes of the precious cotton
Tallulah,La.,intheearly1930stodevelop
cropin thesouthernstates. Inthiseffort, hewasassistedby
insecticidestocombatthescourgeoftheboll
anAgriculturalExtensionAgent,C.E.Woolman. Together
weevil.
they experimented with two dry powder insecticides, lead
arsenateandcalciumarsenate,andtospeeduptheprocessof CollettEverman(C.E.) Woolman wasBert
applyingthepowder,deadlytobollweevils,theyrealizedthe eoad'sassistantatTallulah.
valueofaerialcrop-dusting. Andsoanewindustrywasborn.
Seasonal Dusting
The Huff-Daland Dusters, Inc., crop-dusting company had theterms ofthe Huff-Daland operatingcertifiCatefrom the The Fairchild FC-2
quickly established itself in 1924, first at Macon, Georgia, PeruvianGovernment.
One of the pioneer passenger aircraft produced in North
andtheninMonroe,Louisiana. Itwasmoderatelysuccessful, Thisorganization,headedbytheambitiousandvisionary
America,thissturdylittlefour-seaterbeganthefirstairserv
laying the foundations of what has become a world-wide JuanTrippe,wasobligedtomakeapactwithW.R.Grace
industry. Theonlyinterruptionsin itsstoryofsuccesswas &:Company,thedominanttradingorganizationalongthe ice in Peru, on 13 September 1928. It was operated by the
theannualfalloffinbusinessafterthecropwaspicked;andit westcoastofSouthAmerica,andtheoutcomewastheforma HuffDaland Dusters Air Navigation Company, just
two days before another pioneer from the U.S.A., Elmer
soughttoputidleairplanestousebytransferringthemtothe tionofPanAmerican-GraceAirways(PANAGRA),on
Faucett,beganaparallelairservicealongthePeruviancoast
southern hemisphere where the seasons are reversed from 25 January 1929, on which date Peruvian Airways was
withStinson Detroiters. PeruvianAirways hadextendedits
thosein theUnitedStates. absorbed. Theinspirationforthisbranch ofafuture world
Huff-Dalandselected first Mexico, then Peru, for itssea widesystemmaybetraced backto Huff-Dalandand to c.E. Lima- Talararoutetoreachthenorthernandsouthernfron
tiers of Peru just a day before PA AGRA was incorporated.
sonal migration. Late in 1926 it moved five aircraft, disas Woolman, whose innovation in bringing crop dusting to
This aircraft passed to that airline and eventually found a
sembled and crated, by ship to Lima, where the idea was Perualsosowedtheseedsofairtransport inthatcountry.
homeatthe ationalAirandSpaceMuseuminWashington.
promoted and soon accepted by the local cotton growers.
Having established a base, the company sought additional
workand on 28May 1928 received permission to establish
passenger, mail, andfreightserviceswithin Peruand to for
eign destinations from an appreciative Peruvian govern
ment. In this enterprise, the initiative had been taken by
HaroldR.Harris,Huff-Daland'soperationsmanager,and
C.E.Woolman,itschiefentomologist,whoalsohappenedto
beanatural-bornsalesman.
A Peruvian Airline
Atthistime,powerfulfinancialandindustrial,evenpolitical
forces were jockeying for position in Latin America. In air
transport, the Haydon Stone banking group formed the
Peruvian Airways Corporation in New Yorkon 4Sep
tember1928withaFairchildFC-2,possiblywithaviewof
fendingoffGermanincursionsfromColombiaandEcuador.
Anagreementwas madebetweenHuff-Dalandand Haydon
Stone, with the result that when regular air service started ThisFairchildFC-2waspicturedatLimain1928attheinauguratiollofthePeruvianAirwaysselvice.ThisaircraftpassedtoPANAGRA
fromLimatoTalaraon13September1928,itwasmadeunder forwhom italsoinauguratedthefirstservice. Itnowresides intheNationalAir&SpaceMuseum, Jlvashington, D.C.
..
8
Huff-Daland Duster (Petrel 31)
106 mph (max)
HUFF,DALAND
DUSTERS
INC.
MONROE LA.
Liberty 12 (400hp) • 5,250 lb. max. gross take-off weight. Length 38 feet. Span 50 feet. Height 14 feet
OlleoftheHuff-Dalalldsil1Peru. HaroldHarris, OperatiollsMal1agerofHuff-DalalldDusters is011 AHuff-DalalldDusterill Peru withtheLa Llama Voladorlogo.
theright.
FoundedbyThomasH.HuffandElliottDalandin1921,theHuff,Daland&Co.,Ltd.,changed whole ten feet, fitted with a 400hp Libertyengine to replace the 200hp Wright Whirlwind
itsnametoHuff-DalandAirplanes,Inc.,in1925andmovedfromOgdensburg,NewYork, radial, andthegrossweightdoubled- toproduceaquitedifferentairplane,the Petrel31,or
toanextensiveplantatBristol,Pennsylvania. Knownasabuilderoflightbombers,suchasthe morefamiliarly, theHuff-DalandDuster,abletocarryupto 1,5001bofcalciumarsenate.
Pegasus,italsoproducedathree-seatcommercialaircraft,thePetrel,amongothersmalltypes. On8March 1927, Huff-DalandAirplanesbecamethe KeystoneAircraftCorporation,and
The Model 5version ofthe Petrel was used to conductexperiments in crop-dusting (see wentontobuildheavyaircraft,includingthe10-seattri-motor,thePathfinder.ThePetrel31
oppositepageand overleaf)andsuccessfullyproveditsqualitiesoflowflyingspeed, maneu becamethe Keystone"Puffer,"adrollreference, presumably,toitsmannerofdisposingofits
verability,goodfield ofvision,and lowmaintenancecosts.The PetrelSwas lengthened bya payload.
9