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48:, when 'sporting' gentlemen, i.e. those both rich and with ample leisure time, could indulge in private flying. For the first time this regarded flight as a means of safe and reliable transport, not merely an achievement in itself. Right from the outset, the speed of flight and its ability to make long distances manageable was recognised as an advantage. The idea of seasonal commuting between
67:. Despite this, the time immediately after World War I was a recession in the aircraft industry, as the surplus market was flooded by ex-military machines and engines. Manufacturers sought any available market they could, including building a handful of specialised aircraft for the very rich. In a more buoyant climate, this minority market might have been less attractive.
105:. Both were flying boats, able to land on any expanse of open water, which was available to the rich at both New York and their seaside country homes. The journey to Newport could be made in around two hours, three times faster than by train and still twice as fast as the journey by car today. As public airfields developed in this decade, later aircraft became
17:
137:
Even after the start of the Great
Depression, these very-rich pilots were little affected and continued to order larger and larger custom-designed aircraft. Commercial land-based aircraft were also developing and many new owners, affluent but not super-rich, could afford a production-line aircraft
522:
One of the finest seaplanes in the country, a new Fokker air yacht, is being set up in the hangar of Harold S. Vanderbilt at Port
Washington, L.I Mr. Vanderbilt, who has long been a flying enthusiast and is a pilot himself, bought the plane for quick trips between this city, Southampton, Boston,
357:
RICH AIRMEN PLAN OUTINGS IN FLORIDA; Vincent Astor and Others Will
Establish a Flying Colony at Miami. Florida is to have a colony of sportsmen fliers, most of whom are New Yorkers, during the Winter, according to information that reached THE TIMES yesterday. Among these will be Vincent Astor G.
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and so had been converted with a passenger cabin and shipped to the US, meaning it was available to
Vanderbilt at short notice. A crash in March 1928, or possibly a further hangar fire, destroyed Vanderbilt's Fokker and this was replaced by NC7887, an example of Fokker's new
321:
Reports of the hangar fire are conflicting and it is not clear if there was one fire, which aircraft was involved, or two. Many reports claim that the
Kirkham burned in a fire and was replaced by the Fokker B.IIIc because this was available
133:
design, making it much more flexible for travel inland. Flight in this 'Golden Age' period of aviation was developing rapidly in the US, and better airfield facilities were becoming available throughout the country.
472:
A photo of the multi-engine Boeing aircraft that Frank
Phillips, president of Phillips Petroleum Company, used to commute between his home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and Madison was captioned Air Yacht of Oil
358:
Maurice
Heckscher, son of Commodore August Heckscher, Robert Glendinning, the banker of Philadelphia and this city; Clarke Tomson of Philadelphia and New York, Harry Payne Whitney, and a number of others.
141:
Air yachts were owned by rich businessmen and were also found to be useful for purely business travel. These were mostly landplanes by now, rather than seaplanes. Belgian financier
346:
513:
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86:, it included an enclosed passenger cabin for four with an open pilot's cockpit ahead. Both were of the most modern construction, as
406:
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registered as NC149,. This design had been developed by Fokker as the B.3 military patrol aircraft, but failed to sell to the
244:(1930), Ernest Guinness. Unhappy with the underpowered Supermarine Air Yacht, Guinness purchased a Saro Cloud instead.
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when they could not afford a custom design. 'Production' in this pre-war era often meant only a handful of aircraft.
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All aspects of aviation were spurred by World War I and there were many technical developments, particularly for
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Trimotor for this purpose, but fell to his death from it in 1928. In time they gave rise to the wider use of
78:. Vanderbilt intended it for transport between his business offices in New York and the family estate at
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262:(1941), an attempt to popularise the concept and make it more accessible to less wealthy purchasers
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276:(1928) was a 10-passenger small airliner, rather than an individual's 'air yacht' in this sense.
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On April 26 Sir Miles returned to
Shanghai in General Chiang Kai-shek's air yacht.
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reliability and the construction of larger, more robust aircraft, including
454:
Marilyn Grant (Summer 1983). "Oil on Trial: A Legal
Encounter in Madison".
268:(1946), a post-war development of the Air Car, with over a thousand built.
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fire and he replaced it with a larger, six-seater Fokker. First the
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whilst the
Kirkham had the latest, and more powerful, British
44:
The first aviation of this form developed immediately before
203:(1927), Harold Vanderbilt, as a replacement for his Kirkham
490:
Beyond the Spitfire: The Unseen Designs of R.J. Mitchell
41:
as a recreation and status symbol for rich businessmen.
97:. A difference was that the Loening used a war-surplus
109:, making them more flexible about their destinations.
235:(1930) Ernest Guinness, later Mrs J. J. James as
112:In 1927, Vanderbilt's Kirkham was destroyed in a
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294:is portrayed as wooing actress and fellow pilot
70:A typical air yacht of the early 1920s was the
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256:(1935), Harold Vanderbilt and Howard Hughes.
56:, previously done by train, was one goal.
514:"Harold Vanderbilt Gets a New Air Yacht"
250:(1931), Harold Vanderbilt, Armand Esders
376:"Mr. Harold Vanderbilt's New Air Yacht"
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311:
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347:"Rich Airmen Plan Outings in Florida"
7:
169:Early air yachts and their owners:
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492:. The History Press. p. 64.
456:The Wisconsin Magazine of History
411:Dutch flying boats and amphibians
33:is a private aircraft, usually a
555:"The Aviator: Photo Commentary"
1:
535:Stephen Joiner (March 2007).
174:Loening Type 23 Flying Yacht
209:(1928), Harold Vanderbilt,
595:
432:(9): 781. September 1932.
95:stressed-skin construction
523:Newport and other places.
541:Air & Space Magazine
537:"And Then There Was One"
82:. Like the contemporary
74:, built to the order of
488:Pegram, Ralph (2016).
272:Despite its name, the
222:, newspaper publisher
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355:. 30 September 1915.
233:Supermarine Air Yacht
165:Supermarine Air-Yacht
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80:Newport, Rhode Island
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298:with flights in his
129:design. This was an
84:Loening Flying Yacht
557:. 13 December 2004.
284:In the 2004 biopic
224:Robert R. McCormick
518:The New York Times
424:"Pacific Trends".
352:The New York Times
280:In popular culture
192:Supermarine Solent
167:
151:executive aircraft
143:Alfred Loewenstein
27:
579:Business aircraft
520:. 29 April 1927.
296:Katharine Hepburn
187:Harold Vanderbilt
183:Kirkham Air Yacht
76:Harold Vanderbilt
72:Kirkham Air Yacht
37:. They developed
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384:. 23 July 1925
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574:Flying boats
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407:"Fokker B.3"
386:. Retrieved
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331:later NC3996
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237:Windward III
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147:Fokker F.VII
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23:Flying Yacht
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21:Loening S-1
287:The Aviator
207:Fokker F.11
103:Napier Lion
46:World War I
35:flying boat
568:Categories
462:(4): 300.
306:References
242:Saro Cloud
157:Air yachts
122:Dutch Navy
107:amphibians
88:monoplanes
131:amphibian
92:duralumin
65:seaplanes
31:air yacht
322:quickly.
211:Gar Wood
194:(1928),
185:(1925),
176:(1921),
50:New York
468:4635767
438:2750382
218:(1928)
145:used a
54:Florida
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466:
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388:7 July
381:Flight
114:hangar
61:engine
464:JSTOR
434:JSTOR
90:with
494:ISBN
473:Man.
390:2016
127:F.11
52:and
29:An
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398:^
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365:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
