New-York tribune., 1919-03-14
Air Service to
Los Angelesto
Start August |
Contract Let for Four Twin
Engined PLANES That Will
Carry 48 Passengers
Tickets Are $4,000 Each
Three Have Booked Passage.
Says Lieut.. Wesley A. Hill,
Head of New Company

The first transcontinental passenger
carrying aerial service will be inaugu-
rated about August |. when four twin
engined airplanes will attempt the
flight with forty-eight passengers
from New York City to Los Angeles,
Cal.
This fact was announced yesterday,
Immediately after the Apache Aerial
transportation Company signed the
contract with the Glenn l.. Martin
Company for the delivery of the air
planes.
The deal also disclosed for the first
time the incorporation of the Aerial
Transportation Company by Lieutenant
Wesley A. Hill, of Phoenix, Ariz. The
operating establishment of the COM
pany involves an outlay of S652,0OO
The contract for delivery of the afr
planes was signed yesterday at the
Aeronautical Exposition by Lieuten-
ant Hill and Glenn L. Martin. The
former is an old Rough Rider, and
was a close friend of Colonel Theo-
dore Roosevelt.
Three Passengers Booked
Lieutenant Hill has just received his
discharge from the United States
Tank Corps. The lieutenant, discuss
ing the plan, said:
I'VE have already booked three pas
sengers, who are paying $4,000 each
for the trip, and l have received ap-
splications from several others.
STOPS will be made at Cleveland,
Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, and
also cities along the Southern route.
Army landing fields will be used in
all these cities.
"On arrival at Los Angeles we pro-
pose to establish regular aerial pas
senger service between that city and
San Diego, and another service between
Los Angeles and Riverside, Cal.
In the last two months we have
made exhaustive studies of the cost of
operations, and we have formulated
a schedule of times and rates which
we feel will give US a handsome return
upon the capital invested.
AS soon as we have convinced the
public of the dependability and safety
of air travel, we will open another
scheduled aerial passenger service be-
tween Los Angeles, Cal. and Ell Paso,
Tex, over distance of 1900 miles.
which will be done in the air in nine
hours, as against twenty-five hours by
train.
Will Sell Through Tickets
This will be the first leg in the
proposed permanent transcontinental
air passenger service. Another COM
pany will be organized to transfer the
passenger to the Middle West, and still
another to carry them to New York, but
through ticket will be sold for the
entire trip"
The planes being built for the Apache
AERIAL transportation Company are
exactly the same as the famous Martin
"All-American bomber" built for the
United States Government They have
two 4OO-h horsepower Liberty motors.
They hold several worlds records. The
planes have wing spread of 72 feet
and an overall length of 45 feet.
Mg. Martin, the designer, said:
The government is watching the
plan with interest, because we have
found 1T possible TO adapt the "bomber"
70 passenger service without interfering
with its military design.
How They VIII Sit
"Wc have found it possible to use
the same fusclngc by building in two
seats in the nose of the machine,
where the aerial gunners are now es-
iabhshcd. The pilot and mcchanician
viii sit side by side. In the rear Of
the fuselage eight seats will bo fittcd
IN Tor the remaining passengers.
I'm place of the military load of
bombs, the planes will carry load of
4,o0O pounds, or, taking into account
the fuel, they will be capable of carry
ing useful load of $500 pounds, pas
sengers and freight"
In the Los Angeles-San Diego and
Riverside service the company purposes
10 carry 100 pounds of mail each trip
in addition to the passengers and their
baggage.
The passenger seats will be inclosed
IN limousine body, which will be built
IN such manner as not to interfere
with their view of the country