Wings for Rural Mail

Direct daily airmail service for 1,400-odd communities, large and small, is in the cards by mid-1942--a five-fold increase over today's total of 288. Reason: business is increasing so fast for All American Aviation Inc. that profits are at last in sight for the only airmail "milk route" now operating. March volume was 20% over February. April will be up almost as much more to about 15,000 lb.; and when volume reaches 20,000 lb. the company expects to break even.

Smelling profits, All American has applied to add eight more lines to its present five, increase its service from 108 pickups to 345. Simultaneously, other applications have poured into Civil Aeronautics Board from nine other companies, to reach 1,231 more communities in some 25 States from New England to Texas and Minnesota. All ten, if granted, would boost airmail lines from 39,000 to 64,000 miles.

For this expansion, bouquets go to 31-year-old millionaire-socialite Richard Chichester du Pont, onetime champion glider pilot. Talked about since a piano-wired Bleriot monoplane officially hauled the first sack of mail in 1911, rural air mail was just talk until handsome young Du Pont got the bright idea that overcame the two big obstacles to small-town air mail: expense of landing fields, loss of time and money making stops. Du Font's idea: land only when necessary, otherwise swoop low over clearings at 100 m.p.h., simultaneously drop incoming mail, pick up outgoing letters and packages by snagging a pouch hung on a 50-foot cable between two 40-foot poles.

With this idea, Du Pont formed A.A.A. and in May 1939 landed the first Post Office contract for pick-up airmail service. He has been snagging pouches ever since. His A.A.A. has flown more than 900,000 revenue miles, completed 91.6% of its schedules, had only one minor mishap (a plane nosed over in a snow-covered field). He serves towns as small as Glenville, West Va., pop. 588, as large as Wilmington, Del., pop. 112,504.

Washington expects CAB to okay all ten of the pending present airmail feeder applications before year's end, also expects Congress to appropriate the needed $4,000,000-$5,000,000 to pay for the service at 30 to 40-c- a mile.

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