Benoist XIV
The Benoist XIV flying boat formed the basis of the first regular airline in the United States from Tampa to Saint Petersburg in Florida. In addition to the German DELAG it was the earliest airline in the world.
History
The American aviation pioneer Thomas Wesley Benoist had built in 1911 a flight school in Kinloch Field in St. Louis, Missouri. Here he began to develop his own aircraft. His first aircraft were biplanes, such as the Benoist XII. The aircraft were assembled at the factory by Benoist in St. Louis. To his flight school met Tony Jannus, who became his chief pilot.
On March 1, 1912 the Captain of the U.S. Army Albert Berry scored the first parachute jump from an airplane in the world. This aircraft, a Benoist biplane was controlled by Tony Jannus. For the new parachute Benoist and Jannus received U.S. Patent # 1,053,182.
In the fall of 1912 Benoist began the construction of a flying boat, the forerunner of the type XIV This aircraft reached great fame as Jannus 6 November and 15 December 1912 a seaplane scenic flight from Omaha to New Orleans over approximately 3000 km made . Capt. WI Chambers of the U.S. Navy headquarters was commissioned to test the possibilities of aircraft catapults it. This catapult launches were carried out several times and the system will be installed later in North Carolina.
St. Petersburg -Tampa Airboat Line
Benoist planned end of 1913 a regular flight line from St. Petersburg to Tampa in Florida. To this end, he built a new flying boat, the Benoist XIV She was a two-seat biplane with 75 hp six - cylinder in-line engine Roberts. The plane he led in August 1913 Creve Couer Lake in the west of St. Louis for flight tests. Pilot and passenger sat side by side. The fuel tanks were sitting on both sides of the engine.
Together with the Industrial Percival Elliot Fansler Benoist brought the first airline contract of the United States concluded on 17 December 1913. The route between Tampa and St. Petersburg was 35 km. Fansler was the general manager of the airline, the St. Petersburg -Tampa Airboat name Line received.
A flight took 22 minutes and cost $ 5. A passenger must not weigh more than 90 kg. There were 6 flights per day six days a week.
On January 1, 1914 Benoist started his airline. First passenger for the pilot Tony Jannus was the former mayor of Tampa Abraham C. Pheil. In addition to scheduled flights could also book sightseeing flights.
However, the airline did not exist long, as the machine was damaged during a landing. Although she was quickly repaired, but the people within it was now unsafe. Finally Jannus left the company Benoist and the aircraft was sold. It now made sightseeing flights at Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. On a flight with a passenger in serious the machine was destroyed a few months later.
Benoist built an even bigger Benoist flying boat, the Model C with two 100 hp engines Roberts for five passengers, but that only resulted in test flights.
Tony Jannus died on October 12, 1916 during a test flight in a Curtiss H- flying boat for the Russian army. The aircraft crashed into the Black Sea. His body was never found. Thomas Wesley Benoist died in a car accident 1917.
Museum aircraft
A replica of the Benoist XIV No. 43 in 1984 to mark the 70th anniversary of the airline built, this did some demonstration flights. Today he is in Benoist Pavilion in St. Petersburg Historical and Museum Flight One.