The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-01-28
JAMES STAPLES & co.
 BANKERS f8g STATE ST. Bridgeport. Conn.
THE .AIRBoAT LINE.''

Special to the F'armer.)
 St Petersburg, Fla, Jan 28t-The St- Petersburg Tampa aAirboat I4ine,S the first of it's kind in thelworld, has ls- consistency of operation. The line was inaugurated on New Years day when ex-Mayor A. c. PheI, of St- Petersburg, paid $400 at auction for the first ride. Since that time, the single Benoist airboat has maintained it's schedule under adverse conditions with such regularity that it has brought letters of congra tuIations from the foremost aviators of this coun- try. <
 Barring fabrication trouble, on the second day, the remaining runs have been made on an average of 23.S min utes for the 21 miles carrying a pass enger on every trip. The fastest trip was made in Is minutes and the slow. est in 50 minutes when spark plug trouble caused Eliot Jannus to come down to the water for adjustment. All told, the boat has been forced to de- scend four tines; once for lubrications trouble; twice for spark plug trouble and once to pick up some ducks shot by a passenger while en-ronte-
 The consistency soh operatip4 Is shown by the fact that on January 18th, the four runs were made in the following times-22 21, 22 1-2 and N minutes, and the speed capabilities of the boat were shown on January 1zfil when the craft averaged 86 miles, per hour for the entire trip. The sea- wort thiness was shown when on Ja an uary End, the boat was forced to a1ight in the middle of Tampa Bay during one. Of the worst blows Of the winter After riding the seas out for twenty minutes, Aviator Jannus started A1s motor and. flew on in to St. Peters burg to the anazement Of hundreds of people who had gathered on the beach, docks and piers expecting to see him lowed in with his craft in a. badly crippled condition
 The. regular operation of the line is attracting a great deal of attention throughout the country and all the trips np to the middle of February have been booked. Two more boats have just been shipped from the Be- hoist Aircraft Company, St. Louis, Ter this service, and a third, which w9fi be the largest airboat in the Bnited States. will be shipped about Februz ary 10th.
 The fare for the. 21 miles is s$5 with an excess of five cents per pound for passengers weighing over 200 lbs. Express is carried on nearly every trip, and on one occasion, a sFlip- ment of bacon weighing over forty pounds. was made by a Tampa Job Der. a5s ssssss Contrary to erroneous reports, the
 
 Ter aeroplane, hydro-aerop1ane nor hydroplane, but a real motor boat hull, B feet long, containing a spe- cial type of Roberts motor sur- mounted by bi-p1ane wings which lift the boat clear of the Fwater when sufficient speed has been reached- hence, the name Of ss.Airboat.'ss The placing of the motor low in the hull of the boat, greatly increases the sta- bflity and seaworthiness of the craft, although this practice has not yet been adopted by other build CTS.
 The span Of the wings is. S4 feet, and while the single boat has a lift ing capacity of 500 pounds of pas senger weight, seating capacity is provided for only one. passenger rbe- side the driver.
 f Tony. Jannus, the Chief Pilot of the Line, is well known throughout Ithe aviation world, for a wonderful record aof over 5000 flights On more than 5000 of these flights, pas- Isengers were carried without injury
 Thel sole purpose Of the Benoist l.Company in establishing this Line, IS to demonstrate that the airb oat is now a commercial product, safe, econom- ica1 to maintain, and operate. and available for both sportsnnen who
 desire to fly for the pleasure of it, and those who can use the boat for com 1 tnercia1 purposes. MT. Vim. F. Jones of Duluth, Min
 nesota. has been flying a Benoist Air boat since last spring. and he has ex-
 pended less than $1O for its mainten- lance. His boat has given wonder Eful service showing a speed Of 80 miles per hour in calm weather, with an 80 H. P. motor.
 l It is stated that other aviators, be- side those who have already come here since the opening Of this Line,
 and other aerial craft will soon gath
 CT in St. Petersburg and make the
 sunshine, City, the Mecca of the flying game.