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[[boxed]] The Cover Pictures Two decades of air line history - 20 fleeting years in which the once-faltering infant of commercial aviation has grown into an indispensable transportation medium and the men who pioneered its glamour and glory beginning are slipping into the ranks of "old timers"- are depicted by this month's cover pictures TOP: In sharp contrast, indicating the extent to which the fashion in planes has changed, the first really new post-war plane, the 300-mile-an-hour Constellation, and the plane that 20 years ago was the latest thing in speed in air line transports, the Ford Trimotor pictured is the actual plane that was used in TWA's (then Transcontinental Air Transport) first coast-to-coast flight. Today, the coast-to-coast time table is eleven hours; in 1929 the same time was scheduled for a flight from Clovis, New Mexico, to Los Angeles. BOTTOM: The never-say-die Douglas DC-3, acclaimed by many as the greatest and most dependable airplane ever built and indisputably the work horse plane that really put air travel on the map, returns after a face-lifting revamping ready again to challenge all comers for the place it held so long. Now called the "Super DC-3," it has been given the "new look" not only in appearance but in passenger-carrying capacity and performance as well. [[/boxed]] ANNIVERSARY TREAT [[image - photograph, -U.A.L Photo]] CAPT. DERBY AND FAMILY For the Kiddies, First Flight It's new and novel to the kiddies, but papa's been doing it for 18 years; ever since he made his first flight in a Ford "tin goose" in 1932. Papa is Captain E. A. Derby, of Local Council No. 27, UAL-Seattle; the kiddies are seven-years-old Diane, puckering up for a paternal kiss, and Marsha, 10; and sombreroed Arthur, 8. The occasion is Captain Derby's 18th anniversary flight which he celebrated by taking his children aloft on their first flight. At the time of the flight Captain Derby had logged 17,500 hours in the air. BEHIND THE PLANES, METICULOUS PLANS [[image - photograph]] Behind every plane that took off and landed in the Berlin airlift was meticulous and detailed planning that made the entire venture an orderly, efficient operation. Here reflecting this behind-the-scenes meticulousness a scale model reproducing every detail of the airlift is studied at General H. Tunner's Headquarters by airlift observers, including ALPA's first vice-president J. E. Wood (seventh from left) and treasurer R. G. Strait. At the time of Captain Wood's and Captain Strait's visit the airlift was utilizing a total of 348 planes, of which 225 were American C-54's and the balance eight different types of English and French planes. The airlift was supplying the 2,500,000 persons of the Allied occupation zone with a daily average of life's 7,800 tons of necessities, largely fuel and food, entirely by air. (See story on this page.) The Airlift: Not a Design for the Air Lines As an orderly, efficient, smooth-functioning military operation the world has never seen the likes of the patterned-to-a-purpose Berlin Airlift, but many of the factors which were directly accountable for its astonishing success could never be carried over to passenger-carrying commercial air lines because of the broad breach of dissimilarities separating the two. This was the positive and unanimous conclusion incorporated in the official reports of ALPA representatives - first vice-president J. E. Wood, EAL, and treasurer R. G. Strait, TWA- assigned as observers of the Berlin Airlift shortly prior to the lifting of the blockade. "Little in Common" - "As the purpose of our visit was to study procedures being used with a view toward possible adoption, of those applicable, to the airlines," Captain Wood reported, "it is with considerable regret that I am force to say that, in my personal opinion, the problems and objectives of the two types of operation are so completely dissimilar that there are not nearly would be workable in air line operation as I had hoped." This same opinion was shared closely by Captain Strait who declared: "The Berlin Airlift is a short machine-like operation with a heavy traffic density, has only three corridors or traffic lanes to contend with, and is entirely different from our complex network of airways. For this reason I feel there is very little in common with our air line operation." Differences Cited - The combined observations of Captain Wood and Captain Strait indicated that in the main the principal differences between the airlift and civilian operations are: • Because a full load is always available, the airlift's flow of traffic can be regulated at the same rate throughout a 24-hour period thus easily establishing the saturation point for their facilities and equipment, but the commercial air lines must set up peak scheduling periods at the times people want to fly and then curtail drastically during hours to avoid uneconomical operation. JOURNEY'S END [[image - photograph, - Acme Photo]] PAMELA DE STEFANO A Seasoned Traveler at 3 Pamela Ann DeStefano is a mighty tiny tot to hold a flight record of over 5,000 miles. The three-year-old is a seasoned traveler after her cross-continent flight from Philadelphia. Above, she gets acquainted with Pan American stewardess Patti Jordan before boarding the plane that will take her on the last lap of her journey to Honolulu. Pamela is the youngest girl to travel alone over PAA's Pacific routed. During the first half of her trip, American Airlines hostess, Betty Unstead, was responsible for the little tyke, and the Red Cross took over when she landed in San Francisco. Her father, Sgt. John DeStefano stationed at Fort Shafter, will be her official greeter when she reaches Hawaiian shores. AUGUST, 1949 PAGE 3
