Plymouth May Become Pick-Up Point for Air Mail
Town Is Included on Proposed
New Feeder Line from Norfolk
To Greensboro: Detail of Plan
-o
Is Not Necessary
For Plane to Land
To Pick Up Mail
-O
Two Routes Now in Daily
Operation in Middle
Atlantic States
-o-—
Plymouth would be included as one
of the pick-up points on a new air
mail route under a tentative plan for
the establishment of several pick-up
feeder lines in the Norfolk area, simi
lar to those now operating in Penn
sylvania. West Virginia. Ohio and
Delaware.
The plan has been developed by
Richard C. du Point, of Wilmington.
Del., in connection with a program
for tire creation of a national air feed
er system which he recently submit
ted to the Post Office Department
and the Civil Aeronautics Society.
The proposal that Plymouth be in
cluded as one of the pick-up points
is now being studied by Postmaster
George W. Hardison here, and it is
likely that his recommendation will
largely determine whether or not the
service is to be established here.
Pick-up points on the proposed
Greensboro to Norfolk, Va., route
would be as follows, under the plan
submitted: Burlington, Durham.
Henderson, Rocky Mount, Tarboro
Wilson. Greenville. Washington. Bel
liaven. Plymouth, Edenton, Eliza
beth City and Suffolk.
du Pont is president of All Ameri
can Aviation, Inc., the company that
operates the present air pick-up
routes over which the merit of the
unique method of collecting and de
livering mail in flight lias been dem
onstrated in scheduled operations. He
also is president of the Soaring So
ciety of America and formerly held
the world's distance and altitude re
cords for sailplanes.
Establishment of a national feeder
system to meet the growing demand
throughout the country for direct air
service will be the next big step in
commercial aviation, du Pont said,
adding:
“Beyond the orbit of the present
airways in what might be called the
I r
! v.
!
HOW AIR MAIL COULD EE HANDLED HERE
This picture snows an airplane making a pick-up and delivery in front
of the U. S. Capitol in a demonstration of new service at the recent
national convention of postmasters in Washington, D. C. Two routes
using this system are now in daily operation in 58 cities in Pennsylvania,
West Virginia, Ohio and Delaware.
twilight zone of our air transporta
tion system, for thousands of impor
tant and progressive cities which are
anxiously seeking direct air service
and are entitled to it. Tire next great
expansion of commercial aviation lies
beyond this frontier.
"The development of an adequate
air feeder system to tap this rich ter
1 ritoi-y does not simply mean the cre
ation of new air lines that will serve
only the more populous centers. It
means a conprehensive system where
by every community in the country
regardless of size, geography, proxi
mity to one another or airport facili
ties, may have the opportunity of
being on an airway. This can now be
r
AREA TO BE SERVED BY AIR PICK-UP FEEDER LINES
GREENSBORO, N.C. AREA
PROPOSED AIR PICK UP FEEDER LINES
The above map shows the proposed air-mail pick-up points on the feeder line now under consideration
between Norfolk, Va.. and Greensboro, N. C. Proponents of the plan believe it will serve to bring the advan
tages of rapid air-mail service home to the thousands of people who live in smaller towns not served by the
established air-mail routes. As will be seen on this map. Plymouth is one of the proposed pick-up points
being considered.
I
\ effectively accomplished through the
I air pick-up, which has been aptly
| described as the ‘Airway to Every
• where.'
“Everyone, regardless of where they
live or whether they use the airmail,
is making a contribution to its sup
port and now that a practical and
economical means of providing this
service is available depriving them of
its full advantage is manifestly un
fair.'’
The du Pont air feeder program
contemplates the establishment of
air pick-up lines around the country's
principal air terminals through which
they would be integrated with the
national air transportation system.
Citing the benefits of such a sys
tem,he said:
“Over a feeder network of this
kind that was properly coordinated
with the trunk lines, mail and ex
press could move to and from any
point in the United States in less
than 24 hours. Such a system pro
viding such a service would stimulate
the use of the airmail to such a tre
mendous extent that there is little
doubt that it would be sulf-sustain
ing within a short time."
Since the program w-as submitted
to the government, inquiries have
been received from communities
throughout the country as to how
they would fit into such a system,
and requesting information on the es
tablishment of air pick-up lines in
their localities, with the result that
an effort has been made to demon
strate how the system would func
tion by mapping out sample feeder
lines around different air terminals,
and this area was among those se
lected for this purpose.
"This work has been undertaken,"
du Pont explained, "simply to show
how the prospective cities and towns
in these areas could be connected
through the Air Pick-up national ail
transportation system giving them
the advantages that are now reserv
ed chiefly to larger communities.
“The routes that have been laid
out should not be considered as af
fording the best plan for serving the
communities on it, or that the ser
vice should be limited to these com
munities.
"In setting up routes for permanent
operations a number of factors must
be considered to ensure maximum
service to each community such as
the normal flow of business between '
communities on the route and to
nearby metropolitan cities, local sen
timent for direct air service and whe- :
ther or not the prospective patronage
would justify the serivce economical
ly.
"It is realized that many commun
j ities have been selected for these pro
jected routes which do not want air
service or have no need for it be
cause present transportation facili
ties may be adequate Undoubtedly,
there have been omitted many in
termediate communities which want
j a service and have a genuine need for
ijt
These details can be worked out
I properly only through a careful sur
vey of local needs and conditions.
The point is that the air pick-up sys
; tern is so flexible that is can easily be
adapted to meet the air transporta
tion requirements of any area."
ciu Pont said that his company is
not planning to establish air-pick-up
routes in this area. Its policy he
stated .is to encourage their develop
ment through existing air lines or
through local enterprise in the area
where the service is desired.
Discussing the air feeder problem,
du Pont said:
Air transportation in this coun
try has been developed almost exclus
ively as a utility for our large metro
politan centers. This program has
given us the finest planes and the
best air transport system in the world,
and the tremendous and constantly
increasing traffic is a vindication of
Its economic soundness.
A notorious weakness, however
base been its almost complete neglect
of the development of supplemental
or feeder lines which are an essential
adjunct of an efficient transporta
tion system.
"From the standpoint of serving
the public, these facts alone empha
size the deficiency of our air trans
portation system.
"If this effort’is delayed, discour
agement will prevail among these ci
ties, their airport investments will be
lost, the runways will go back to
weeds, and the prestige will suffer
imeasurably.”
The important relationship of the
feeder program to the Government
pilot training program, was empha
sized by du Point. The establish
ment of a national feeder system, he
said, would make it possible to em
ploy hundreds of Government-train
?d pilots each year
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