Kingman’s Aviation History Port Kingman The Early 1930s

Kingman’s Aviation History

Port Kingman--The Early 1930s

August 29, 1930—Air Mail Contracts Con­tested, a front page article on the Mohave County Miner. “Washington – A bid from a newly formed aviation company, the United Avigation Company of Pittsburgh, today lay in the post office department, a silent chal­lenge to at least two policies on administra­tion of the Waters Air Mail Act, and to the Western Air Express and TAT. The United Avigation Company offer of 64 percent of the $1.25 per mile maximum was low bid for the new airmail route from New York City to Los Angeles via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Kan­sas City and Kingman. It was in competition with a 97 ½ per cent joint bid of Western Air Express and Transcontinental Air Transport. In committee hearings on the Waters bill, Postmaster General Brown was frank in urg­ing its provisions as a financial aid to the firms already in the air mail field, many of which offered testimony they had suffered losses under the old law. The legislation was referred to as being, in effect, a subsidy for the encouragement of air passenger service, so this country would forge to the front among nations in commercial aviation.The bid of United Avigation, charted August 18, a combination of three passenger-car­rying companies now operating along the proposed route, put the theory of the prece­dence of the pioneer concern squarely up the postmaster general for decision.” (mcm)

October 3, 1930—Kingman May get Air Mail; Should get Service Soon, Western Air and T. A. T. May Join Becoming Nation’s Great East – West Line, Fields to be con­solidated, according to reports, using TAT, eliminating present Western Air Express field., a front page article on the Mohave County Miner. “New York --- Award has been made of the new transcontinental air mail contract. It was seen as presaging the probable merger of the three aviation com­panies into what might become the largest passenger, mail and express airline in the country.” The contract is given to both Trans­continental Air Transport-Maddux Air Lines and Western Air Express. The officials at the Pittsburgh Aviation announced that they are affiliated to T. A. T. and would run the eastern leg of the air mail line. TAT-Maddux would go from west coast to Columbus, OH., and Western Air would go from the west coast to Kansas City, MO. So neither line comes all the way to the east. But Western Air Express was looking into the possibility have such an extension to the east. Negotia­tions have been underway for some time between TAT and Western Air. Now include the announcement of the Pittsburgh Aviation Company becoming an affiliate you may have the largest air carrier in the country. The TAT officials are keeping silent about this triple merger. “In a special telegram from the news bureau of the Western Air Ex­press to the Miner, it was stated that, “There was no official word as to Kingman getting air mail, however, it seems highly probable as it is a regular point on our schedule.” Kingman and Mohave County will have a stop if there is sufficient volume of air mail. Also TAT-Maddux and Western Air will start using Port Kingman as the main air terminal. Berry Field will be a secondary field. (mcm)

Airline Announces Excursion Rates, a page 6 article in the Miner. Eddie Wallace an­nounced that excursion fare from Kingman to Los Angeles will take effect on October 4. The ship will leave at 2:30 PM for LA. This rate is for 90 days. So you can fly to LA and come back in the time limit. (mcm)

October 10, 1930—Flyers Land Here Seek­ing Rain Shelter, front page article on the Mohave County Miner. Robert Buck a 16 year old junior transcontinental champion flyer stopped at Port Kingman on his way to the east. He left LA at 7:11 AM; he was mak­ing good time even with the severe storms in the area. He landed at 9:47 AM at the air terminal. He stayed the night because of the storms. Another flyer has to stop at Port Kingman, Miss Laura Ingalls. She was trying to shatter the transcontinental west to east air journey for women. Her time was over 2 ½ hours from LA this morning, also being good time with the nasty weather. She has to spend the night here and leave the next day. Along with these two planes, there are five other planes at Port Kingman. Every plane is tied down to weather the storm. Air travel is temporary suspended. (mcm)

October 17, 1930—Combine Air Lines, Move Local Field, Air Mail Starting about Oct. 1st Reported, front page article on the Mohave County Miner. “New York---Harris M. Hanshue, president of recently combined Transcontinental and Western Air Express, announced during the week the company’s transcontinental air mail service, sched­uled to be inaugurated on Oct. 15, had been postponed for about two weeks, to permit completion of the ground work between New York and Columbus.” With the two weeks postponement will help the com­munication line to be completed. The new service will cover the entire line from New York to Los Angeles. Now that the Pittsburgh Aviation Company is an affiliate this ensures air mail line to the optimal service. Equip­ment from the Berry Field is moved to Port Kingman, and the same for Holbrook, which is moved to Winslow. (mcm)

October 24, 1930—N. Y. – Los Angeles Air Mail via T. A. T. Opening, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. “Los Angeles --- Another chapter in western aviation is to be written Saturday when, at 5 AM, the first air mail and passenger plane of the Trans­continental and Western Air, Inc., will take off from the Alhambra terminal for the East via Kingman.” A group of postal and civic of­ficials are attending this event. It is headed by Postmaster P. P. O’Brien and other repre­sentatives from Los Angeles, Pasadena, Al­hambra and Glendale will be there to watch the flight take-off. This plane will carry a load of letters from school children that are written for children in the eastern cities. At 8 PM, another event will take place on an eastbound plane doing the same thing. (mcm)

October 31, 1930—Flying Class of Five Here, front page article of the Mohave Coun­ty Miner. From Needles, CA; William Randall of Needles’ Air Service will conducted the classes here in Kingman. He is expanding his instruction by two classes, one in King­man and the other in Las Vegas. He uses the Needles Municipal Airport to teach some of his classes. On Mondays, he will teach five trainees from Kingman at Port Kingman. His other class with be on Thursday in Las Ve­gas. (mcm)

November 14, 1930—“Air Mail” Service East Available to City and County, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. Postmaster O. D. M. Gaddis has said that there will be faster service even with no air mail service. Kingman will have no direct air mail connection on both east and west. Western Air and TAT still use Port Kingman for refueling. “Air Mail dropped in the local post office by 5:30 PM will be dispatched as follows: East via trains 2 and 24, 24 ar­riving at Winslow making connection with the air mail plane leaving there as 5:50 AM. No western service is, of course, available.” (mcm)

December 19, 1930—Air Service for King­man is Suspended, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. As of December 11, air passenger service from Port King­man is suspended. The order has removed two of the four planes from service to Port Kingman. The Maddux lines had two planes landing at 12:30 and 1:30 PM using Ford Tri-motors. They have been transferred to the Pacific Coast until further notice. The other two planes from Western Air Express are airmail planes. So there is no passenger service from Kingman to the west. You have to go to Winslow to fly into Los Angeles. Port Kingman still has one of the best 24-hour ra­dio services on the line, with four personnel working the facility. The suspension looks to be temporary. (mcm)

Girl Flyer Rides to Record over Lindbergh, page 5 article of the Miner. Ruth Nichols has a new transcontinental record. She set a new Pacific to Atlantic record time to surpass Col. Lindbergh. She made a visit to King­man, recently. She is one of many famous or near famous people to visit Kingman, in past two years. With Port Kingman not buzzing with aviation activity, it is still useful for the tri-motor pilots to fly down low to see the field from the air to get their bearings. The town’s people are working on getting more work and use out of the air terminal. (mcm)

January 9, 1931—Two Planes Land Here During Storm, page 5 article in the Mohave County Miner. With stormy weather in and around Kingman, Transcontinental and Western Airline planes land at Port Kingman to ride out the terrific weather conditions. Port Kingman is an emergency airfield for TWA as they fly in this area of Arizona. There has been three days of bad weather. The two planes stayed at the airfield for the day and headed out today, because the weather is now clear. Along with the TWA planes were private planes using the airfield as refuge from the weather. (mcm)

January 23, 1931—Air Express Spans Na­tion in 36 Hours, front page article on the Mohave County Miner. “Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., has announced an im­mediate 36-hour coast to coast air express to be developed into worldwide propor­tions.” The need for speed has increased a need for faster air service for shippers and traffic men. There have been some experi­ments of California gardenias being flown to New York City daily. The flowers are such good condition, that the florists needing more flowers from California. Also, there will be connections with steamship lines and foreign to domestic airlines. (mcm)

February 27, 1931—Radio Range Airway Unit to be Built, on the front page of the Mohave County Miner. The U. S. Department of Commerce, the Airways Division has authorized a new radio station for Kingman. Ora Gruninger has won the contract for the construction. This new station location is at the Berry station near Route 66. The proper­ty is leased from Frank Kapp. The cost of the radio range will close to few thousand dol­lars, but no price tag has been published. The radio range is like the lighted beacon at night. The radio range will stay in constant contact with the planes crews and direct them on the proper flight path. There will be one built in Winslow and two more between Kingman and Los Angeles. (mcm)

March 6, 1931—Air Service is Resumed for Kingman Field, a front page article of the Mohave County Miner. Mr. Baker the manager for Port Kingman stated the regu­lar daily service from TWA is back in ser­vice, passenger service to all points along the TWA line from Kingman. Flights three and four (with the Fokker planes) will be in place. The eastbound flight is 7 AM and the westbound is 7 PM. Kingman had no air service for the past couple of weeks. Flights one and two (with the Ford planes) are still suspended. The town’s residents are happy the air service is functioning again. Also an auxiliary power unit was installed at the field. It is there in case of main power fail­ure. (mcm)

March 13, 1931—Kite Contest Holds Stage Here Sunday, front page article of the Mo­have County Miner. Kingman’s Second An­nual Kite Flying Contest will be held at the old airstrip, Wallapia Field. The Boys’ Work Committee of the Rotary Club is sponsor­ing the event on Sunday at 2 PM. Fred Ma­cAlpine is the chairman of the event and he made the announcement. All boys and girls of grammar school age of Kingman are invit­ed to complete. So far more than 90 children have signed up. There will be three age groups and two prizes for each group. Hop­ing for good winds for the day, that one day needed for the event. The grammar school pupils have been coached by Joe Smith the athletic instructor. For every evening doz­ens of boys and girls are busily practicing for the event in the strong March breezes. Transportation will be available at the drug store corner at 1 PM. (mcm)

Air Fighters May Base Here En Route East, another front page article of the Miner. The War Department has sent word that King­man will be one of two scores of cities to be visited by the Army Air Corps units. The Air Corps is holding exercises at Dayton, OH. So all the units in the country are fly­ing to Ohio, the exercises are being held from May 20 to 30. More than 670 planes will be involved. The exact time and date is not known and how many will stay in Kingman for the night. Some 335 observation planes, 205 pursuit, 51 attack, 36 bombardment and 56 heavy duty transport will attend the exer­cise and 740 officers and 631 enlisted men will be involved. This includes Air Corps and nation guard units. (mcm)

Aeronautics Bureau Bulletins Show King­man Landing, page 5 article in the Miner. “Washington, D. C. --- The Aeronautical Branch of the Department of Commerce has just issued an Airway Bulletin describing the Kingman Field at Kingman, Arizona.” The Airways Bulletins are sent on request to pi­lots, aircraft operators, and other concerned with air navigation facilities. It is published in a loose-leaf form, punched for binding and are issued to all airports. The front page of the Bulletin is divided into upper and lower halves. The upper has a general map of the city and vicinity showing the location of the airport with reference to the city, also including landmarks like highways, rivers, lakes, and principal railroad. The lower has a close-up sketch of the airport showing the dimensions of the usable landing area and positions of hangers and other build­ings, the locations and character of the night lighting installation, the location and nature of obstructions, airport markings, and any useful data about the airport. (mcm)

April 3, 1931—Inaugurate Nigth Mail by April 10, page 5 article in the Mohave County Miner. Night air mail will come thru Kingman on April 10. Transcontinental West­ern Air Company is using a new type of all metal, single engine, low wing Northup plane for this night time air mail route. Em­mett Baker the manager of Port Kingman, made the announcement of the air mail service. L. C. Elliott and Hugh S. Souther, of the US Department of Commerce, Airways Extension superintendents, and Charles R. Burnett, airplane mechanics, were travel­ing over the route for the past week. They were making a survey and location sites for new beacons. They fly over the site, pick the site they want and then drive out to the site for finalization. The new Northup airplane has great speed, by cutting time between Winslow to Los Angeles. (mcm)

April 17, 1931—Test Flight Plane Here, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. A veteran pilot of Transcontinental Western Air, Bill Coyle flew the Northup airplane to Kingman for a stop on the route on Wednes­day night. This is the first flight of air mail at night from Los Angeles to New York. The new air mail service will start on Monday the 20th. Port Kingman will be an occasional refueling stop. The Northup plane has a 600 hp Wasp engine, can cruise at 145 miles an hour, and top speed is 175 miles an hour. TWA has purchased 6 of these planes. With the Northup airplane, TWA can fly the mail in less than 24 hours coast to coast. (mcm)

May 8, 1931—Next Wednesday Kingman Host to Army Air Fleet, Community will be honored by fleet’s stopping and refueling. Caravan of cars to transport aviators to town for dinner. Interesting development of army air service told, front page of Mohave Coun­ty Miner. On May 13, U. S. Army Air Corps will stop off in Kingman at Port Kingman for a short stay. The Air Corps is on its way to exercises in Dayton, OH. The stop is in King­man is for the nice weather conditions and a great position on the national airways line. Every plane will be serviced at the airfield. It is the Army’s First Air Division flying thor­ough and being headed by Brigadier Gen­eral and Assistant Chief of Air Corps Benja­min D. Foulois. Under his command are 672 planes. (mcm)

Fokker Planes of Two Types are Grounded, another front page article of the Miner. The U. S. Department of Commerce issued an or­der to ground all Fokker trimotor airplanes. The two types are F-10 and F-10-A, built in the year of 1929. These are the types of air­planes used by Transcontinental and West­ern Airlines. The Fokkers will be placed into hangers at the main terminals. The Fokkers have been coming to Port Kingman the last two years. The Ford transports are still flight-ready. The order was placed by the Navy. Saying the plane was unstable. Because of last month’s Fokker accident, it killed Knute Rockne and seven others, when the wing fell off the tri-motor. Other air services use the tri-motor for freight and mail. (mcm)

May 15, 1931—Ten Airships Visit Monday, Army maneuvers land here two days ahead of original schedule, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. “Hundreds of pieces of fighting aircraft of the army, navy and marine corps of the United States, groomed for the greatest of air maneuvers ever spon­sored by the government, are today winging their way over various portions of the coun­try in search of an “unseen enemy”.” King­man played host for ten airplanes from Air Corps. The planes were ahead of schedule. They flew in formation over Kingman and landed at Port Kingman. There was a change in the schedule, first learned Friday night when three observation planes stayed the night in Kingman. All planes were serviced at Port Kingman. (mcm)

May 29, 1931—Air Bombing Group to be City’s Guests, Fleet of Thirty Army Plans to Stop off Here Friday, front page article on the Mohave County Miner. A week from today will be the 7th Bombardment Group of the U. S. Air Corps arrival. Major Joseph T. McNarney commands the group and sent out announcement to Mohave County Chamber of Commerce. The 7th BG consists of the 9th and the 31st Squadrons of March Field, Riverside, CA, the 11th from Rockwell Field, San Diego, CA, the 208th from Kelly Field, San Antonio, TX. The 208th are return­ing on a different route. Some 30 aircraft, 40 officers and 38 enlisted men will make a stay here for as long as the servicing will take. The group is returning from exercises back east. (mcm)

June 5, 1931—Army Air Fleet Visiting King­man Saturday Noon, Contingent of over thirty ships to arrive here at 11 o’clock tomorrow morning. Delayed at Wichita one day. En route to Pacific home port, the front page of the Mohave County Miner. The group was scheduled to be here at 11 AM on Friday, due to bad weather, they have been delayed for a day. The public has been officially invit­ed to be out at Port Kingman. LeRoy Root the secretary of the Mohave County Miner will head the group from town. The Standard Oil will supply the oil and fuel for the bombard­ment group. (mcm)

June 12, 1931—Big Fleet of Planes Visit Lo­cal Port, Nine bombers and eighteen ob­servation planes drop in sky harbor here for fuel and food, the front page of the Mohave County Miner. “A hearty welcome was extended by Kingman’s citizens on the last Saturday morning at 10:15 o’clock when the planes and personnel of the Seventh Bom­bardment Group, U. S. Air Corps, zoomed over the local airport in aircraft formation and landed here for a two-hour stay and lunch.” There was a huge crowd looking the aircraft over. The aviators were served a hot lunch at the TWA terminal. The 11th Bom­bardment Squadron won the distinction of the U. S. Air Corps’ demonstration squadron for the year while participating in aerial war games. (mcm)

Richfield Oil Quits Kingman, another front page article on the Miner. Richfield Oil will withdraw from its local plant here in King­man. Standard Oil has won the contract from TWA. Ed Hilty the manager of the Richfield Oil Kingman plant made the announcement. Richfield has had the contact with TAT from the start. Standard Oil has purchased the TAT-Maddux fuel truck for their new opera­tions. (mcm)

June 26, 1931—Paul Miller and Buck Kel­ley Avoid Crash in Airplane, page 8 article in the Mohave County Miner. Paul F. Miller, the editor of the Needles Nugget, and Rus­sell “Buck” Kelley, both of California, took off from Searchlight, NV. While in flight, Mr. Kelley got a feeling about something wrong with the airplane. Mr. Kelley is at the controls of the plane. Mr. Miller, the passenger, crawled out on the wing and found that they have lost the wheel of the landing gear. Instead of bailing out, they decided to fly on to Nee­dles. Ambulances and fire fighting equip­ment from Kingman went to the Needles airfield. Mr. Kelley landed the plane without causing any major damages except for the lost landing gear. The plane also had the same problem, which leads to a crash just a few weeks ago near Tucson. Mr. Miller and Dr. D. E. Buckley were on board. (mcm)

Air Mail, 2nd section, Chamber of Com­merce of the Mohave County Miner. “The chamber directors have been active in the endeavor to procure air mail service for Kingman at an early date. Likewise the chamber was instrumental in cooperation with the Board of Supervisors in obtaining the local landing field.” The chamber acted as host for the latest of flights of the Army

Air Corps at Port Kingman. The chamber has received many commendations from the officers in charge and War Department. (mcm)

July 3, 1931—Famed Flyer’s Wife Visitor Here Tuesday, a front-page article of the Mohave County Miner. Mrs. Harold Gatty, the wife of well-known aviator, landed at Port Kingman on Tuesday morning, heading to New York to meet up with her husband. Mr. Gatty is flying around the world. They are meeting in New York City, he will fin­ish his trip there and she left Los Angeles and will arrive Wednesday morning. They have kept in touch by United Press and As­sociated Press dispatches and by cables from her husband. The last time they had contact while he was in Siberia, he used the radio broadcast to talk to her. She was interviewed by a Miner reporter for United Press. She also talked about her flight, so far pleasant and wonderful people on board. (mcm)

July 17, 1931—Will Rogers Meets World Aviators at Home Reception, page 5 article in the Mohave County Miner. Last Monday, Will Rogers flew through here on an east­bound Transcontinental and Western Air plane. He was heading home to Claremore, OK. from Beverly Hills, CA. He will be at­tending a reception for Wiley Post and Harold Gatty. The reception is on Tuesday. (mcm)

July 24, 1931—Many Fokkers Again Flying, page 5 in the Mohave County Miner. The U. S. Department of Commerce, Airways Divi­sion ordered all Fokkers to be grounded and undergo a rigid inspection, that had been several months now. Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. has several of these aircraft and was affected by the grounding. The grounding was showing no leniency, until a week ago. So far, most of the Fokkers are passing the inspections and tests. They will be cruising back to Port Kingman in no time. The announcement was made by the Port Kingman Manager at noon today. (mcm)

North Arizona Airfields are Being Graded, another page 5 article of the Miner. “Flag­staff, Ariz., July 24 --- Construction of the three government airplane landing field in Northern Arizona is well under way and is expected to be completed in about 60 days, Frank C. Summers, government engineer, said here today.” After the construction of the airfields, beacon lights will be erected along the route of Albuquerque to Los An­geles. The cost of the three airfields is about $18,000. The locations of the fields are at Garland, 26 miles southeast of Flagstaff, at Holbrook and eight miles west of Winona, between Winslow and here. (mcm)

August 7, 1931—Radio Station gets Praised, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. Lt. Charles H. Howard, commander of the 11th Bombardment Squadron of Rock­well Field at Coronado, CA., sent at letter to Harry Finklestein the manager of the gov­ernment radio station here, this week. His letter was giving high praise to the radio system. “As the outstanding contact of the 11th Bombardment Squadron during the return from the 1931 Air Corps Maneuvers, I want to pay your station a great compliment, both for your unusual clarity of transmission of valuable information to us.” (mcm)

October, 30, 1931—Kingman Named Key Town Stop Air-Bus Lines, page 8 of the Mo­have County Miner. Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc. and Greyhound Bus Lines have inaugurated a new service on Octo­ber 29. Kingman was selected for a division point for the transfer of passengers. H. W. Beck, the traffic manager of TWA, stated, “This new service should develop a big

increase in air traffic out of this city for the reason that Greyhound buses operating here on frequent schedules will act as feed­ers to our airline and in turn radiating out of here in many directions will add to the flex­ibility of the service by making it possible to reach scores of cities and towns in the territory around Kingman.” Mr. Beck added, “Kingman is one of the most important ter­minal points of both the T&WA system and Greyhound Lines.” He added more, “T&WA operates two flights daily out of here west­bound to Los Angeles and San Francisco and two flights daily eastward to Kansas City and New York. All of these flights will be coordinated with one or more Greyhound bus arrivals or departures at Kingman.” A. N. Brion, the traffic manager for Pickwick-Greyhound Lines, made his statement, “that his company is coordinating its schedules with those of T&WA so as to facilitate trans­fers to and from the planes and avoid all unnecessary delays. He added, “All Grey­hound bus depots and ticket agents will automatically become representatives of the T&WA and the popularity of travel by plane should be greatly increased thru this widespread broadcasting of information on the advantages, comfort and low cost of air travel.” (mcm)

January 1, 1932—New Air Mail Cross Na­tion Thru Kingman, the front page of the Mohave County Miner. Richard W. Robbins, president of Transcontinental and Western Air, a­nounced that starting January 1st, transcon­tinental mail from New York to Los Angeles will be handled in one day. This is faster by one day than in the past. The new route will consist of Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pitts­burgh, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Winslow, and Kingman. There is also a route from Chicago to Salt Lake City. Mr. Robbins stated, “The change is in line with the post office department’s program to improve ser­vice and still reduce expenses. The mail will be flown at a net savings of 10 percent to the post office department.” He also added, by flying the new route from Los Angeles, the mail will be in New York in less than twenty-four hours and vice versa. (mcm)

January 8, 1932—Capt. Frank Hawks to Vis­it Airport, on page 10 of the Mohave County Miner. Captain Frank M. Hawks and J. D. “Duke” Jernigin will landed at Port Kingman sometime next week. Both men are making a lubrication survey of Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. The manager of Port King­man, Mr. Baker made the statement yester­day of the men, who are officials and work for a Texas Company. The survey has begun yesterday at Newark, NJ. They will stop at twenty prominent airports which include Philadelphia, Chicago, Kansas City, Winslow, Kingman, Los Angeles and San Francisco. (mcm)

January 22, 1932—Hawks’ Dash to L. A. in 70 Min., front page of the Mohave County Miner. On Wednesday afternoon, Capt. Frank Hawks left Port Kingman and made it into Los Angeles in hour and ten minutes sharp. His previous time was hour and 5 minutes, but that was some time ago. Capt. Hawks and his group are visiting airports of Transcontinental and Western Air, checking out the lubrication department at each. His group consisted of three planes, so he sent the other two ahead of him by one hour. He caught them and stayed with them in record time. They landed the same time in Los An­geles. Capt. Hawks is a well-known aviator and a frequent guest of Kingman. (mcm)

January 29, 1932—Army Bombers Fly over Indian Camps Isolated from Civilization by Recent Heavy Snowfalls near Winslow, Ari­zona, page 2 article of the Mohave County Miner. In the winter of 32, the Navajo Nation was isolated by a terrific snow storm. There was no way into the reservation except by air. Army Air Corps bombers were use to supply the Navajos. The bombers came from March Field, Ca. They were stationed at Winslow for a short time. The bombers dropped beans, flour and other food. (mcm)

February 12, 1932—Air, Wire and Bus Sys­tems Rush Service, page 6 article of the Mohave County Miner. Starting on Monday, February 8, the Transcontinental and West­ern Air, Inc. and Greyhound Bus System are covering an area approximately 400 miles in width and extending from coast to coast. There are about 200 key cities included in the arrangement, in each of which the Postal Telegraph Company provides additional pickup and delivery facilities. The triple combination will offer the fastest and most extensive house to house express service in the world, and Kingman is served by this line. H. W. Beck the traffic manager of the airline made this statement, “for several months, T. W. A. has been flying express from coast to coast on a through the twenty-four-hour schedule. Unfortunately, this service operated only in and out of our regular airport stops.” He added more to the state­ment, “The new arrangements offer equal facilities in every important city within 200 miles of any of our airports. There are no additional charges for shipments to or from any bus line station in any of these non-airport key cities.” Mr. Beck added more, “Practically every Postal Telegraph office within 200 miles of any T. W. A. airport is a pickup or delivery feeder agency for the nearest Greyhound Bus Line Station. The buses, in turn, are direct feeders for the air transports---bus and air transport schedules coordinating in all directions.” (mcm)

February 19, 1932—New Airway to Serve Kingman and Las Vegas, front page of the Mohave County Miner. Verde Valley Air Lines, Ltd. announced in this week of the Mohave County Miner thru a legal notice of the application for certificate of conve­nience and necessity authorizing the op­eration of aircraft vehicles. The proposed airline will operate between Douglas, AZ and Las Vegas, NV, cutting a route which will serve Arizona diagonally from southeast to northwest. Kingman will be served by this new airline. It is the first of its kind to tra­verse the state, only transcontinental lines run thru Kingman and Arizona. The inau­guration of Verde Valley Air Line, Ltd. will provide people of Kingman, Mohave County and Arizona with an air service to Las Vegas over the great Hoover Dam. With this ser­vice it will place Kingman on another rung of the ladder of aviation success. (mcm)

February 26, 1932—Kite Contest to be Staged Sunday Noon, Over 140 Kiddies to Compete Then, a front page article of the Mohave County Miner. The Third Annual Kite Flying Contest is scheduled for the first Sunday in March; it has been moved up a week. The location is Wallapia Field at noon. Fred C. MacAlpine of the Boys’ Work Committee of the Kingman Rotary Club, made the statement of the annual contest. Mr. MacAlpine said yesterday, that there are 124 entrants in the flying meet and makes it the largest. Transportation will be sup­plied by Rotarians, leaving Kingman Drug at noon. The judges are Dr. Walter Brazie, Dr. Harry B. Moir and Supt. John Girdler. Points in the judging are (1) flying ability—50%, (2) construction—25% and (3) originality of design—25%. There are three classifications for the boys, a girls group and a kindergar­ten group. Joe Smith is still supervising the construction of the kites. (mcm)

March 4, 1932—Kite Contest Last Sunday Huge Success, front page article of the Mo­have County Miner. The Rotary Club’s Third Annual Kite Flying Contest was a huge suc­cess. Only 75 kites of nearly 140 children were flying. There were 100 to 150 cars lined up and down Wallapia Field. The grand prize went to Gordon “Skinny” Leonard. The winner from the kindergarten group was Donnie Nielson. The first group of boys is Kirk Neilson. The second group of boys is Billy Casson. The third group of boys is Jack Sullivan. The girl’s group winner is Miss Wilma Locke. Honorable Mention: Bill Fauth, Donnie Fauth, James Ray, Frank Esqui­bel, Ramon Zozaya, Young Davenport, Roy Carson, Lawrence Martin, Kenneth May, John Cunningham, Jr., Ira Hart, Jr., Billy Day, and Jack Lund. Girls’ honorable mention: Mary Lou Peggs, the Leonard Sisters, Kathleen Blodgett, and little Margy Jones. (mcm)

Plan to Build 19 Beacons on Kingman Route, another article on the front page of the Miner. William C. Schmidt of Portland, Ore­gon was over the route few days ago. He has the contract for 19 beacons on the Trans­continental and Western Air route between Winslow and Kingman. He also expects to start construction in the next ten or fifteen days. His company replaces the McCormick Construction Company, they had problems and reverted back to the government. These are newer type of beacon being installed at the original site or built in a new site. The 19 beacons are between Kingman and Albu­querque. (mcm)

April 1, 1932—Autogiro Here Yesterday; Was Town Thriller, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. Yesterday afternoon sometime around 3 PM, an autogiro made an unannounced landing at the TWA field. The aircraft was piloted by Claude A. Ow­ens. He performed aeronautical antics of this world’s most famous autogiro. He was flying in from Clemenceau Airport. He did some stunts over town, which led to about hundred town’s folk to go out to the Port Kingman and watch him land the aircraft. He flew the aircraft out the next day to the unknown airport to show off the skills. This is the same autogiro that landed on the front lawn of the White House on April 14 of last year. It was received by President Hoover and members of Congress and honored by a Presidential Award, the Collier’s Trophy to H. C. Pitcairn, manufacturer and builder. The autogiro has been in development for the past nine years. The trophy represents the greatest single advancement in aviation, including safety. Amelia Earhart used the aircraft to set a new world’s altitude record. This aircraft was used by Governor Rolph of California to officially open the state fair in Sacramento on September 5, 1931. C. E. Haines of Coeur d’Alene, Id. is the owner of the aircraft. The take-off speed is 15 to 25 mph, climbing at 45 degrees to 1000 feet in the first minute. (mcm)

June 17, 1932—Air Squadron is Due Here Today, page 5 article of the Mohave County Miner. Emmett Baker, the field manager of Port Kingman, received word that 20 planes from the Navy would land at the field sometime today. The planes are leaving the San Diego, Ca. naval base and heading to Phoe­nix then turn north to the Grand Canyon for a flyover and turn west towards Kingman. In the squadron will be eighteen single seat planes, one two-seater, and a Ford Tri-motor. He said they should arrive sometime in the afternoon. (mcm)

July 1, 1932—Bombing Squadron Visited Airport, page 5 article of the Mohave Coun­ty Miner. Nine Army Air Corps bombers made a surprise visit on early Wednesday morning. They refueled at Port Kingman because they were running low on fuel. There was not enough fuel to handle all the bombers, so they used some regular gas to make up the difference and then headed out towards to the Grand Canyon. They are testing the air currents of the huge natural masterpiece. Capt. Harold D. Smith, the operations officer in charge of the squadron, is stationed at El Tovar Hotel at the Canyon. On Thursday morning about 11:15, eight more Air Corps bombers landed for fuel and then headed for the Canyon. They will land at the Winslow airport and refuel and head back to March Field, Riverside, CA. (mcm)

Kingman Seeks Mail Route to Boulder City, another page 5 article of the Miner. Two members of the Mohave County Chamber of Commerce met with Boulder City Mer­chants Association, last week. The discus­sion was about a proposed mail route be­tween Kingman and Boulder City. Boulder City would get their mail via by air mail from Kingman. But more investigation was needed to make any decision. (mcm)

August 12, 1932—Interline Air Express to Serve Kingman and County; Commences New Era in U. S., Uniform Bills of Lading Will Permit Free Exchange Between Lines; Offers 23 hour Coast to Coast Express Ser­vice!, page 8 article of the Mohave County Miner. General George S. Gibbs, the presi­dent of Postal Telegraph Cable Company, made an announcement after a conference with seven representatives from the lead­ing airlines. His announcement was that arrangements were completed by July 19, for the inauguration of service on August 1st of a nationwide interline air express sys­tem. The new service would be connecting Canada, Mexico, and South America to the system. The name of the new express net­work will be known as General Air Express. The interline system includes: American Airways, Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., Eastern Air Transport, Inc., Transameri­can Airlines Corp., United States Airways, Inc., Pennsylvania Airline, Inc., and Luding­ton Airlines. Two more will join the group shortly; they are Northwest Airways, Inc. and Pan-American Airways. This new venture is new to some of the airlines and for others, it will expand some of their services. Postal Telegraph will do the special door to door pickup and delivery service. It is also the first time to have a uniform bill of lading for shipping. General Gibbs statement, “The chief revenue of the transportation industry has always been derived from the haul­ing of commodities. This new air shipping movement, therefore, offers to the airlines the largest potential source of revenue.” He added, “It is my opinion that this is poten­tially the most important step forward by the air transport industry in many years, the airlines which have made this aggressive move are to be highly commended for their ini­tiative, for I see a new impetus to aviation in this country as well as a new service to the public. The speed and facility of shipping and distributing commodities by air should be a new stimulus to business in the open­ing of new merchandise markets heretofore not available.” (mcm)

August 19, 1932—Miner Tells of Airplane Fall He Saw, But Earnest Search Finds Noth­ing, the front page of the Mohave County Miner. Tom Deane, a watchman for the Century Mine in the Wallapai Mountains came into town to the Miner office to talk about a plane crash. This was last Saturday he wit­nessed the crash on August 10th. Mr. Deane saw the plane flying near the Century camp. He noticed that it was in some kind of distress. He followed the plane over the mountains and saw the plane in the valley towards Antares and Hackberry. He saw a buck in the plane, then noticed a parachute opening and fall the ground easily. The plane went down immediately, causing a large puff of black smoke in the sky. He was not able to make into town that day, he had visitors. When he got to town, he found out no one knew about the plane crash. He was taken to Port Kingman and talked to Emmett Baker, the manager of the airport. Mr. Baker listened to Mr. Deane account. Mr. Baker started a search and found nothing. Then Sunday morning, another search was begun, this time around the Wallapai Mountains. Still nothing was found. Maybe Mr. Deane saw something else. (mcm)

October 7, 1932—Airway Beacon System, Fields Now Completed, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. W. C. Schmitt, of the Schmitt Construction Co. of Portland, OR, made a statement that the 19 beacons are official operating, today. These 19 bea­cons are from Winslow to Kingman. There are also four emergency landing fields with full night landing facilities. The fields are located at Seligman, Ash Fork, Maine (near Williams), and Winona (near Flagstaff). Ev­ery ten miles is a beacon across the country. Every 50 miles is an emergency field with lighting and with a watchman/caretaker. Mr. Schmitt is leaving Kingman once the con­struction is accepted by the government agent of the Airways Division. Mr. Schmitt got the contract; due to the former contrac­tor had his work delayed. (mcm)

December 2, 1932—Kingman Will Have New Air Express Line, page 8 article of the Mohave County Miner. New facilities are be­ing constructed in Albuquerque, NM. They started building on Wednesday; the compa­ny building is the Air Express Corporation. Which route is from New York to Los Ange­les and will come thru Kingman. Fourteen planes will be used for the route. (mcm)

December 14, 1932—Kingman Beacon Be­ing Improved, page 3 article of the Mohave County Miner. Some forty-five radio range beacons are to be equipped with transmis­sion line antennae of the Federal Airways System. Kingman is one of 27 stations to have the installation work which has started. The transmission line antennae have been developed jointly by the research division and the airways division. This is to eliminate night variations which occurred at some radio beacons operating in mountainous terrain. They are also arranging the location of each station so that one of four courses of the beacons will cross the airport near the beacon is located. This will add assistance to the pilot during poor flying conditions. Winslow is the airport that will have this done. (mcm)

February 10, 1933—Rotarians are Told Pro­posed Legislation Means Loss of TWA, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. The Rotary Club had their usual Wednes­day lunch meeting. The main concern of the meeting was about a House Bill No. 79. Ben Golding addressed the House bill, which would impose a 5 cent tax on gasoline used in airplanes. “He stressed the T. W. A. invest­ment in Northern Arizona which brings about $32,000 annually in taxes, payroll and supplies, as against the proposed tax which would amount to at least $12,000 per year. The probable result would be that T. W. A. would not refuel in Arizona but would estab­lish a field at Needles or some other point in California and then fly over Arizona without stopping.” He was urging everyone at the meeting that the proposed tax by defeated. (mcm)

March 3, 1933—Permission for Taxi to Airport, a small front page article of the Mohave County Miner. On Tuesday, there was an announcement that a permit was is­sued to Emmett Baker at Port Kingman. The Arizona Corporation Commission granted that a bus line would operate from Kingman to Transcontinental and Western Air airport. The service in not a regular schedule but an on call service, it is for the benefit of the air passenger desiring transportation to or from the field. (mcm)

April 28, 1933—Lindberghs are Grounded Here, front page bulletin on the Mohave County Miner. Colonel and Mrs. Charles Lindbergh made a stopover. Because of the adverse conditions of the weather to the west is stretching to the coast. They arrived at 6:40 PM at Port Kingman. They spent the night at Beale Hotel and checked out at 9:01 AM next morning. Port Kingman reports that the two left at 10:30 AM for the west coast. It is their first trip since their great trouble. (mcm)

April 28--Giragi, Irish Found; Crash Near Winslow, Find Charred Bodies in Wrecked Plane, another front page article of the Min­er. “Winslow, Apr. 23 --- The charred bodies of Carmel Giragi, Winslow Mail publisher and Jack Irish, the pilot were found at 9:30 o’clock this morning, 18 miles southwest of here, in the burned wreckage of the plane in which they started for Phoenix early last Monday morning.” The plane crashed at lev­el ground near the foot of Sunset Mountain on the north side of Sunset Pass. The search went on for about six days, from the air, Richard Riodan of Flagstaff was flying over the crash site when Winslow Police Chief R. L. Neill and Charles Osborn of the Highway Patrol found the site by land search and they were on the old Fuller Road. The watch of Mr. Giragi stopped at 8:04. Both men left Winslow at 7:30 AM on Monday morning. (mcm)

May 5, 1933—Rotarians Visit Airway Sta­tion, page 5 article of the Mohave County Miner. The Rotary Club made a visit to Port Kingman after finishing their lunch and business on their Wednesday meeting. Ben Golding led the visitors on the tour. They were met by Harry Finkelstein, he is the op­erator for the government. He explained the operation of the equipment and the services rendered and visitors were able to see the station in operation. This included a weather map being received and the flights being informed of the weather conditions. (mcm)

June 30, 1933—Kingman Placed on Over­night Flight to Coast, the front page of the Mo­have County Miner. Starting July 1st, King­man will be placed on an overnight or day flight to Los Angeles and San Francisco. This is the inauguration of a night air pas­senger and express schedule by the Trans­continental and Western Air, in the western region which is from Kansas City to the Pa­cific Coast. The westbound route from Kan­sas City leaves at 9:45 PM and will arrive in Kingman at 8 AM. The eastbound route from Los Angeles leaves at 7:30 PM and arrives at Kingman at 9 PM. Also after July 1st, there will be six arrivals and departures sched­uled for Port Kingman. TWA planes will be carrying mail, passengers, and express. With this expansion, it brings more mileage flown higher for a month and adds to the total to lead to highest in the company’s history. With this new schedule, Kingman business people can spend a day in Los Angeles. (mcm)

February 2, 1934—Kingman-Boulder City Air Service is Being Planned, an article in the Mohave County Miner. Two men from Boulder City, Nv. were flying in a bright red plane. Their names are R. K. Russell and Marden M. Munn. They flew down on Tues­day. They announced plans for starting an air service the two cities. They and their associates plan to run the call (charter) service. The trips are depending on the de­mand. (mcm)

February 16, 1934—Luxurious Air Liner Visits Kingman Port, 12 Passenger Sky Palace Has All Conveniences, Post is Pas­senger, T. W. A. Has Order in for Forty More Crafts, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. Last Saturday morning, a new 12 place, 3800-pound capacity load Douglas airliner landed at Port Kingman. The plane is constructed in Los Angeles for Transcontinental and Western Air. It is making its initial run from LA to New York. The plane has 1420 horsepower and travels a speed of 220 miles an hour. Also known as the most luxurious airliner in the world. The plane will fly from LA to Kansas City, Mo. without fueling. Jack Frye, vice-president of TWA and one of the passengers of the flight, explained that airline has ordered 40 air­planes from Douglas. With the cancellation of the air mail contracts would undoubtedly mean that cancellation ruins the company and possibility of closing the airline. Mr. Frye also stated, “All we ask is a chance to give our side of the story.” This is to reply to President Roosevelt’s’ charges of collusion in the air mail contracts. Along with Mr. Frye are Wiley Post, Lew Goss and W. A. Hamilton (officer of the company), Paul Richer, the pilot, A. Allen, test pilot, and Lt. Tom Tomil­son, co-pilot. Dr. Paul Long, Charles Dutton, J. J. Cunningham, Jack Hicks, A. A. Leader, Ed Gillespie, Sheriff Ernest Graham and Port Kingman attaches were taken for a ride before the airplane headed to the east to Kansas City. (mcm)

March 2, 1934—Auxiliary Landing Fields are Assured, page 8 article of the Mohave County Miner. C. E. Griggs, the federal airport engineer, sent a letter to Stewart Thompson about the establishment of the auxiliary field in Arizona, especially Northern Arizona. As for the County of Mohave, the airfields should be at Chloride, Kingman, Wikieup, Peach Springs and Cedar, including the possibility of one on the big plateau north of the Colo­rado River. The Arizona Republic published the sites of 35 auxiliary fields in the state. (mcm)

March 9, 1934—Air Mail Reverts to Private Carriers, the front page of the Mohave County Miner. On Wednesday night, President Roosevelt has issued a pronouncement of policy and called for new contracts in the airmail service with commercial carriers. His letter points out future dealings and appealed for new legislature to a speedy reform of the air mail service. “In order to 

“avoid the evils of the past, and at the same time encourage the sound development of the aviation industry” the President urges the following points in his new policy:

1. Contract not exceeding 3 years with full, open and fair competitive bidding.

2. Six months’ period to allow successful bid­der to qualify.

3. Prohibition of the award of contracts to compa­nies affiliated with competitive routes or with aircraft manufacturers.

4. Prohibition of the award of contracts to compa­nies whose officers were parties to obtaining former contracts.

5. Supervision by interstate commerce com­mission.”

(mcm)

March 16, 1934—Kites Take Air in 5th An­nual Contest, a page 4 article of the Mohave County Miner. Last Sunday afternoon with stiff breezes, the fifth annual kite flying con­test furnished a great view for the people that attended. The event was held at the old Walapai Field. Close to 400 hundred peo­ple came to watch this great contest in the Kingman wind because previous Sunday 

the event was canceled for the lack of prop­er wind. Some 65 kites made it into the sky, some had beautiful colors, some had odd shapes, and others had their size. The King­man Rotary Club had sponsored the event. The judges were Mr. Grossman, Mr. Schaffer, Mr. Barlow, and Mr. Voorhees. Winners in the girl section: Marilyn Phillips, Bertha Torres, and Jeffy Duke. The winners in the boy's sec­tions:

7th and 8th grades---Jack Walker and Bill Klein

5th and 6th grades---Don Fauth and Mike Zozaya

3rd and 4th grades---Billy Richards and Billie Carr

1st and 2nd grades---L. Zozaya and John Levas

(mcm)

June 29, 1934—Hoovers are on New TWA Plane Delivered Here, front page article of the Mohave County Miner. At 2:45 PM last Tuesday, the new Douglas airplane landed at Port Kingman. On board were Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Jr., Harry Chandler of the Los Angeles Times, several members of TWA and Douglas Aircraft Company, a newsreel man and a newspaper cameraman. The plane was a full load of passen­gers. This trip is the final test for Douglas airplane. TWA will accept the delivery of the plane. The plane took off at 3:30 PM for Los Angeles. Most Kingman people will remember that Mr. Hoover has spent some time here in Kingman when the Western Air Express field was being used. It was located four miles from town. Mr. Hoover installed radio and broadcast and receiving a set, which is still used today. Kingman is a stop for testing of the Douglas airplane. Two to three planes have been accepted into the airline. Mrs. Hoover was impress of the time it takes to make the trip, one hour and a half. (mcm)

July 6, 1934—T. W. A. Takes Delivery of New Plane Tuesday, the front page of the Mohave County Miner. On Tuesday, T. W. A. took delivery of another Douglas airplane. The seventh plane landed at Port Kingman with Paul Rector piloting. Again the trip took an hour and a half. The plane arrived at 1:30 PM. Last week on Tuesday, a flight from Los An­geles to Albuquerque took 3 hours and 15 minutes. It was accepted in Kingman before the flight. (mcm)

August 10, 1934—TWA Installs New Fast Schedule, page 4 article of the Mohave County Miner. “TWA is trying out a new mail schedule, where the passenger eats supper in Los Angeles and breakfast in Newark, the trip being made in sixteen hours. The first tryout was a success, the big plane coming down fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Contracts have been let for a fleet of the big planes, these to have a cruising speed of better than 200 miles per hour. The speed of the westbound plane was 163 miles per hour.” TWA has ordered 41 planes from Douglas, so far 18 have been delivered. The new schedule indicates the route in this part of the state is the shortest of any of the routes. The new plane will speed up passen­ger service. (mcm)

you can email me at portkingman@gmail.com
 

© 2004-17 Rob Chilcoat, All Rights Reserved.