Abstract
The year 1925 marked the beginning of air transportation as an industry. Since then it has advanced through successive stages of growth and development until to-day, as the author believes, air transport is in the state of transition between the pioneering period and that of mature growth. Airway mileage by scheduled air transports in the United States has increased from a total of 2,000,000 miles flown in 1926 to 90,000,000 in 1939. Air passenger-miles in 1938 aggregated 600,000,000. In this paper the author reviews the technical developments in aircraft and improvements in airway operation which have made possible this phenomenal growth. Every phase of this development which has played a part in the successful and safe operation of the airway systems of the present day is treated comprehensively in order that an understanding may be gained of the future possibilities of air transport and the lines along which it will advance.
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