Abstract
From May 1939 through June 1949, All American Aviation employed a unique nonstop airmail pickup and delivery system, invented by Lytle S. Adams and modified for commercial use by company engineers after Richard C. du Pont acquired Adams's patent rights. Used to deliver airmail to small communities scattered throughout rugged terrain in western Pennsylvania and West Virgina, the system was also exploited in World War II to tow gliders aloft, and to rescue personnel trapped behind enemy lines. After the war, it lost its economic viability because of the use of mobile postal vehicles on improved highway systems, and also because federal officials would not permit its combination with passenger operations. It was therefore abandoned in 1949, but furnished the basis for still further important military applications. Though a `failed innovation' in a commercial sense, it nevertheless did have a considerable impact upon future developments, suggesting that `failure' and `success' are relative terms.
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