St. PetersburgTampa Airboat Line: World’s First Scheduled Airline Using Winged Aircraft

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The St. Petersburg Times announced that it had signed a contract with the airboat line to fly papers daily to Tampa, which would make it ‘the first newspaper in the world to use flying machines for delivery purposes.’ The announcement added, ‘This will be the most unusual carrier system in all the world and Tampa readers, when they receive their copy… will read a newspaper delivered as no other.’

The Tampa Tribune noted that the first flight had been made ‘without mishap’ and gave the event a banner headline in its January 2 edition–’The First Commercial Air Ship Line Inaugurated.’ The article stated: ‘When the airboat arrived yesterday morning, a crowd of 2,000 was waiting near the temporary landing [site], another 1,000 saw what they could from the Lafayette Street bridge, and 500 more were across the river. When the dock was reached, an enthusiastic cheer went up, and there was a clapping and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. A moment later, there was a rush down the three narrow planks connecting the platform with the shore; men, women and children [were] fighting to get down to the boat and its two occupants.’

There was amused reaction from other state newspapers. The Jacksonville Metropolis editorialized that ‘St. Petersburg is now a city of pelicans, porpoises & planes.’ Its rival, the Jacksonville News, advised: ‘St. Petersburg papers might secure an obituary sketch of all aeroplane passengers at the same time they take the passenger manifests. It might save time.’ The Estero Eagle asked, ‘Is Tampa such a tough and wicked old city that its residents are preparing to fly from it?’

The Tampa Tribune responded to that question a few days later: ‘All airboat passengers have been from St. Petersburg and are apparently eager to get to Tampa.’ The St. Petersburg Independent replied: ‘It is noticeable that the time from Tampa is always faster than the time to Tampa. Once having reached Tampa, no matter how anxious to get there, the passengers are always in a hurry to get away.’

Jannus’ flight records show that an additional five short flights of about 10 minutes each were made that epic day. He noted that the engine was burning 13 gallons of fuel and about a gallon of lubricating oil per hour of flight.

The airline service had to sort out a few administrative problems. The Tampa Port Inspector required that the airline get a license for all its pilots and planes, so Jannus immediately applied for one, which was issued on February 17, 1914, by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Some historians claim it was the first airline pilot’s license in the United States. According to Edward C. Hoffman, president of the Florida Aviation Historical Society, the license they have on hand has the word’steamboat’ crossed out and ‘Aeroplane’ typed in. (Another license was granted on August 10, 1914, at Cleveland, Ohio, which states that it is issued for ‘Operator Motor’ and appears to be for operation of motorboats.)

Local merchants took advantage of the airline’s sudden renown to advertise that their wares were being transported by air. A Tampa florist filled orders to St. Petersburg for as much as $50 worth of cut flowers a day. The Hefner Grocery Co. in St. Petersburg ran an ad touting Swift premium smoked hams and bacon that had been delivered by ‘Airboat Express.’ The ad said, ‘Although they came high, the price is low.’ Some mail was carried but not on government contract.

The other two airboats, one a Model 13 and the other a 14, arrived on January 31. Roger Jannus was to be the backup pilot. Heinrich Evers, a German, and Byrd Latham enrolled as students, and both soloed at St. Petersburg. Evers wrecked the Model 13 on its second flight.

The airline operated successfully for the three-month period. A total of 172 regular trips were made, and 1,205 passengers were carried (some two at a time) for an estimated 7,000 air miles. Of the 50 days scheduled for flying, only seven days were lost because of weather or maintenance problems. On one flight, however, Jannus had to land in choppy water when the engine ran rough because of dirt in the carburetor. One pontoon and a portion of one lower wing were damaged. Fansler reported that Jannus fixed the carburetor, ‘got the boat into the air again with skill and flew on in with a portion of the wing hanging like the broken wing of a bird.’

Tags: Aircraft, Aviation History, Flight Technology

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