This New Year’s Eve, St. Petersburg’s First Night Program had the World’s First Airline as its theme (“First Night/First Flight”) to celebrate the world’s first commercial airline flight.
At exactly 10 am on New Year’s Day, Kermit Weeks of Fantasy of Flight planned to pilot his reproduction of the original Benoist (pronounced Ben-wah) Airboat from the North Yacht Basin in downtown St. Petersburg to the Seaplane Basin at Peter O. Knight Airport in Tampa, recreating that historic first flight piloted by local aviation pioneer Tony Jannus. Technical difficulties prevented use of the replica, and Edward C. Hoffman Jr. piloted his father’s Hoffman X-4 “Mullet Hopper” instead.
First Night featured aviation-related activities for adults and children. Balsawood gliders were distributed to the first 500 youngsters; a Tony Jannus impersonator was on hand; local student aviation artwork was displayed; and a reproduction of the original Benoist Flying Boat was on display, with Weeks also speaking. There was also an auction for two roundtrip tickets courtesy of Southwest Airlines. (This parallels the auction held on the occasion of the first flight in 1914 for the honor of being the first passenger.)
On New Year’s Day, Weeks was only able to taxi his reproduction of the original Benoist Airboat in the Marina. Edward Hoffman, Jr. a well known architect from Tarpon Springs, flew his father’s X-4 “Mullet Hopper” on the Benoit’s original flight path. The x-4 has been used for commermorative flights since 1988. The Mayors of St. Petersburg and Tampa were on hand for the take-off and landing. The public was invited to view the event, with the program starting an before take-off. A special postal cancellation commemorating the event was arranged with the US Postal Service, and mail with the cancellation was carried on the flight.
Historic First Flight
On January 1, 1914, 100 years ago, precisely at 10 am,a small seaplane lifted from the water in St. Petersburg’s downtown with just one passenger, launching the world’s first regularly scheduled commercial airline flight. The idea of the airline was Percy Fansler’s, an engineer from Jacksonville. His vision convinced a dozen St. Petersburg business-men and the Board of Trade to invest in a commercial airline to fly from St. Petersburg to Tampa. Just 10 years after the Wright Brothers’ first controlled, powered flights at Kitty Hawk, NC, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was born.
The first passenger, former St. Petersburg Mayor Abe Pheil, paid $400 at an auction for the flight to Tampa. His pilot was the young aviation pioneer Tony Jannus. The airline operated two scheduled roundtrips daily across Tampa Bay, with two bi-wing seaplanes called “Benoist Airboats.” Regular one-way fare was $5.00. With average airspeeds of 60 mph, flight time between the Bay Cities was just 23 minutes – a fraction of the time required for the trip by car, rail or boat. That first New Year’s Day flight heralded what we have since come to know as “The Birth of The Global Airline Industry.”
At about 9:30 am New Year’s Day, after a rousing downtown parade that drew half the St. Petersburg population, the Italian Band of the Johnny Jones Shows struck up “Dixie” as 3,000 people jammed the pier and surrounding waterfront. Mr. Whitney opened the affair by telling what was proposed and then introduced Benoist, who modestly told of his airboat development. Then he said, “I formally declare the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line open.” Benoist then introduced Tony Jannus as the Chief Pilot.
Mr. F. C. Bannister began auctioning off the first rides. The bidding was lively and the immense crowd cheered the bidders. Whitney and Thornton Park started the bidding, each offering $100. Abe Pheil, ex-mayor of St. Petersburg and dredger by profession, jumped this to $150. After $325 had been reached, Park dropped out. Noel Mitchell ran the price up but Pheil bid $400 and he was awarded the honor of making the first flight. The $615 raised was donated by the Airline to the City for the purchase of two harbor channel lights, which are still in use. Among those in the crowd that day was a lanky cowboy who was traveling with a rodeo group; his name was Will Rogers.
Fansler’s speech before take-off read, “What was impossible yesterday is an accomplishment today, while tomorrow heralds the unbelievable.” He was right; St. Petersburg would have an airliner running just as promised, as regularly as railroad trains and as reliable as steamboats.
Pheil, dressed in a raincoat, then stepped gingerly into the airboat, which had been pulled down until it was just awash. Jannus pulled down on the starting bar, and the Roberts motor sprang to life after a few false starts. Tony tested the controls and then asked Fansler for the time — one minute to 10:00. Jannus speeded up the engine and with a wave of his hand, gave it the gun and the boat taxied out over the lagoon to the inshore side. Turning, Tony drove her straight for the harbor entrance, and before reaching it, had pulled #43 clear of the water. The first scheduled airline had begun. It had cleared the water in 200 feet and was soaring on its way to Tampa, a bare 15 feet above the harbor.
That historic flight lasted a total of 23 minutes. Mae Peabody, the airline’s first commercial, and first woman passenger, booked a charter flight with Jannus on January 2. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line demonstrated that commercial airlines could be successful, greatly reduce travel time and create a potential market for air travel and transport.
Kermit Weeks – A Dedicated Aviator
For Kermit Weeks, founder of Polk County’s popular Fantasy of Flight attraction,
the project was a labor of love. As noted in a recent Tampa Bay Times article, he had to commission a built-from-scratch engine that matched the original Benoit Airboat. At an early December display of the six-cylinder, two-stroke, 300-pound, 478-cubic inch engine at Fantasy of Flight where the plane was being built, he had to issue ear plugs to help mute the ear-splitting reverberations. “I think when I start in St. Pete, they will know I’m coming in Tampa,” he joked.
Attendees were very impressed with the demonstration of the Ohio-made engine, as well as the handcrafted wood, fabric and wire-braced Benoit reproduction emerging onsite. With the event rapidly approaching, Weeks had a contingency plan to use a Hoffman X-4 mullet skiff amphibious flying boat, flown in 2000 to commemorate the 86th anniversary of the Jannus flight.
Fellow members of the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society, which recently honored Weeks with a special award, were counting on the man they believe personifies the spirit of Jannus. They praised him for his commitment to research, fund, recreate and fly the Benoist reproduction. Weeks said the whole project will cost several hundred thousand dollars, about $35,000 on materials alone, excluding the engine.
Flight 2014 President Al Michaels said, “Kermit and Fantasy of Flight, they are doing a tremendous public service to the Tampa Bay area. He’s helping to put Tampa Bay on the map as the avante garde of commercial aviation.”
Six Years-Plus Planning
The Florida Aviation Historical Society started planning for the Flight 2014
Centennial of Air Service project in 2007. It is promoting this historic aviation milestone at many aviation- related events during the next four years and is sharing the Tony Jannus story with local groups, educators, museums, and the airlines of the world. Jannus was designated “A Great Floridian” by the State of Florida in 2010, and the American Institute of Aeronautics (AIAA) designated the Central Yacht Basin in St. Petersburg as a Historic Aerospace Site – site of the world’s first commercial airline flight.
Among the first FAHS aviation-related events are a new portable exhibit telling the First Airline story, initially from December 31 at the History Museum in St. Petersburg. Educational forums will be held and student “Aviation Art” will be on display.
In case you missed the excitement on New Years Eve and New Years Day, 2014, don’t fret. There is still a chance to get in on the celebration and see the Benoist Airboat in the air. On January 8, the “Florida Conversations” Series at the Tampa Bay History Center will kick off at 6pm with “Celebrating the First Airline” by Will Michaels, President of Flight 2014 and author “The Making of St. Petersburg.”
This April, the annual Sun n Fun Fly-in – 2nd biggest Fly-in in the world, will celebrate the First Airline Centennial and its chief pilot Tony Jannus in nearby Lakeland.
All celebration events are being planned by the Flight 2014, Inc. Planning Board and volunteers. Sponsorship opportunities are available, and more information is available online at www.airlinecentennial.org.
FAHS officers are – President: Will Michaels, Vice Preasident & Secretary: David McLay; Treasurer: John Bowman; Communications & Marketing Chair: Bob Carter; Events Chair: Al Michejda; Fund Raising Chair: Joan Karins; and Government & Industry Relations Chair: H. Britt Bochiardy.
The Flight 2014 Planning Board was a joint effort of the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society, the St. Petersburg Museum of History and the Florida Aviation Historical Society (FAHS), together with the Cities of Tampa & St. Petersburg, the respective Chambers of Commerce, Edwards Group and other sponsors.
Visit www.airlinecentennial.org for more details about the exciting centennial celebrations.