THE MONEY MAKER
In 1927 a Bill Boeing single engine 40A with its new Pratt & Whitney 400 HP radial engine, could carry twice the payload of any other air mail plane, started flying the air mail routes along the West Coasts. It could carry two passengers inside the fuselage behind its engine. The pilot rode outside, suffered in the elements but Boeing Air Transport was a winner on it's first flight. This led to twin engine and the trimotored planes in those early days of air transportation..
Bill Boeing's operation proved so successful, BAT took over Pacific, Varner and National Air Transport companies and incorporated them, becoming United Aircraft and & Transport Corporation.
In 1930 the US Government caused UATC to split up. UAL was under Pat Patterson. Bill Boeing continued to make airplanes in Seattle. Chance Vought with Hamilton Standard and Pratt Whitney became United Aircraft in Hartford.
Soon afterwards the government gave TWA, UAL and American airlines all the CAM airmail contracts. The 3 made money and the airmail letters were cheap to mail.
Sandwiches were served by nurses as stewardesses.
Then in 1934 the US lawyers rescinded the juicy CAM contracts and put the US Army Air Corps in the air mail flying business. This proved disastrous and 12 Army pilots were killed in 78 days in 66 accidents in the spring of 1934. The government was forced to give the air mail contracts back to the airlines.
Although the law makers set up the monopolistic practices of the airlines that forced the Army to fail flying the CAM routes, good things happened. Better pilot training, cockpit instruments, radio communications, airway beaconlighting and navigational aids like fan markers, came about.
But it all started when an air cooled radial single engine machine with just two passengers, some air mail bags and one pilot, made money on its first US Commercial Air Mail flight in 1927.
On the side of the B40A