The Airway To Everywhere

CHAPTER ONE

The information contained in this section has been largely supplied by Victor Yesulaites.  Vic was a man of principle.  He believed that a man should work when there was work to be done and he could loaf the rest of the time.  Vic was a lot of things to a lot of people, but to this scribe, Vic was a friend.  I give you this story many years after the death of my good friend. I know that he'd approve of how this is presented. The story was first published in the Captain's Log of the World Airline Hobby Club (now known as the World Airline Historical Society). Enjoy the site.

Dr. Lytle Schuyler Adams was born at Paint Lick, Kentucky January 31, 1883. He received his academic education at the public schools in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky, the Mt. Vernon Collegiate Institute and the University of Kentucky.  He was graduated D.D.S. from St. Louis University in 1905. During the four years following his graduation, Dr. Adams was an oral surgeon in Parsons, Kansas at the State Hospital. He was also employed by the Parsons Traction Company as an oral surgeon.  Dr. Adams was also the Great Great Grandson of John Adams, second President of the United States.

He soon became associated with one of the men who helped make the Wright brothers’ first flight a success.  It was Cyrus Mead of Dayton, Ohio who helped spark Dr. Adams’ interest in aviation. Dr. Adams was on vacation in California in 1909 when he met the famous Glenn L. Martin.  The two men became friends.  This friendship served to deepen Dr. Adams’ interest in aviation. Dr. Adams also became interested in real estate while in California.  There, he negotiated the sale of several large ranches and oil properties.  He purchased Pauma ranch at the foot of Palomar Mountain near San Diego.  It was because of this that he had to learn more about agriculture and its problems.

It was this necessity that prompted Dr. Adams to invent the spiral plow, a rotary plowing machine, a stump cutter and a tree saw.  He manufactured the spiral plow in East St. Louis, Illinois from 1914 until 1918.  He returned to dental surgery at Longview, Washington until 1923 and Seattle from 1923 through 1928.

Dr. Adams invented the Air Mail Pick-up system in 1927 and gave up his dental practice again in 1928 to devote full time to developing this latest invention.  The system was designed to permit the non-stop pick-up and delivery of air mail.  The original invention was a large metal pan that tapered on a slant to a slot.  The plane would swoop down trailing a cable weighted with a steel ball on the end.  The ball would hit the pan and travel up the slant where the slot trapped the ball causing it to pick up the objects and carry them away.

The system was patented under two patents; the first being August 11, 1931 and the second on May 10, 1932.  Dr. Adams won a medal at the World’s Fair in Chicago during 1934 for his work with the air mail pick-up system.  He had the only exhibition sponsored by the management.

Dr. Adams completed pick-up tests during the 1934-36 years and began operation of Tri-State Aviation Corporation in early 1937.  Home offices were at Wheeling, West Virginia.  The operation was really an air express system for department stores.  lt was planned for quick package delivery since messages could be delivered faster by telephone.

“Doc” Adams had proven experiments on land and on sea with the pick-up. He had demonstrated it all over the East. The only apparent problem was that the Post Office had to be sold on the idea; special legislation would have to be enacted for pick-up air mail service and capital had to be acquired.

Post Office support and proper legislation were taken care of by one of the greatest friends in Congress that aviation ever knew.  This support came from West Virginia’s Representative Jennings Randolph of Elkins.  The capital was located when “Doc” interviewed Felix and Richard DuPont of the Delaware family. The DuPonts had formed the Elton Investment Corporation to aid budding new business projects.  The DuPonts were very strongly in favor of any aviation projects.

Richard Chichester DuPont was a shy and quiet young man, but a champion of aviation in his own right.  He held many glider distance records.  Richard saw the potential immediately for the experimental mail pick-up system.  He envisioned it as a proving ground for flying equipment as well as air service to towns not fortunate enough to have airports.  On October 1, 1938, Richard paid all of the debts held against Tri-State Aviation and its All American Aviation division.  There was a stock agreement made with Dr. Adams as Dick DuPont and Arthur Davis became the lone financial backers of the new company.

All American Aviation was born with the idea that the pick-up would cover all of North and South America.  The system would connect all small towns with the trunk airline system.  Dick DuPont was up against some strong odds because Postmaster James Farley was of the opinion that experimenting with new air mail routes was needless.  DuPont was up to the task though, because the Air Mail “Act” had “authorized the Postmaster General to experiment with new and supplemental means of transporting mail by air”.  The youthful DuPont was now in possession of the only patented method for the aerial non-stop delivery and pick-up of mail.  It was the only such method approved by both the CAA (Civil Aeronautics Authority, now the Federal Aviation Administration – FAA) and the Post Office Department.

All American Aviation evoked the idea that the airline would encompass all of America, although the company had been known as Tri-State Aviation in the past.  Prior to the DuPont takeover, he and Dr. Adams had gotten into a violent argument about the name change. It was a trivial matter to be sure, but young Richard had acquired an unhappy partner in addition to a disinterested Postmaster General.

On the upside of things was the experience of four employees in the person of pilot, Norman Rintoul, Johnny Graham, Harry Stringer and last but not least mechanic, Victor Yesulaites.  Victor had been involved with enough adventures in aviation that someone should write his biography.

All American’s president and chief benefactor had a few irons in the fire of his own.  When Postmaster Farley failed to award any new routes, the young president decided he would demonstrate the pick-up at the Post-masters Convention in Washington during November 1938.  The timing would be perfect.  The plan was put in motion.

The demonstration was set up on the mall in front of the Capitol by Harry Stringer as he erected the two 28’ high poles.  Each pole had a 2’ by 5’ sheet metal marker and they were spaced 54’ apart.  Three inch hemp rope was strung between the poles hooked to the top of each by a spring dip forming a loop at the bottom to which the mail bag was fastened.

The demonstration had begun.  The Stinson SR10, NX21107 with pilot Norman Rintoul at the controls and flight mechanic Victor Yesulaites in the back began its run on the Capitol Mall.  The Stinson would glide down with a grapple hook extending on a cable reaching down and behind it.  The grapple hook would make connection with the loop set up on the ground by Harry Stringer and Vic would reel the mail bag into the bottom of the airplane.

The method was effective and convinced the Postmasters in attendance.  There was some danger in the method though because the grapple would sometimes begin gyrating round and round and from side to side. No matter how much Norm would center the airplane between the poles, there was the chance that the grapple would be off to one or the other of the two poles set up on the ground.  There were some instances where the grapple actually came back up and struck the airplane after making contact with the ground while gyrating intensively.

The problem was serious, but much research was to follow.  The answer was right in front of everyone.  The Washington demonstration had been productive in more ways than one because it brought out many of the major problems inherent in the pick-up as it existed at the time. Finally, it was Vic who came up with the solution.

It was very simple consisting of two pieces of wood which fit between the sides of a ring assembly.  As the airplane came down between the poles with the grapple catching the suspension line and sliding to the monkey fists which were at the nearest end, the jaws of Vic’s suspension mechanism were pulled slightly off center easing the shock of the connection as they tightened on their trip of 27 feet to the monkey fists opposite the connection.  An illustration which is part of the original patent is included herein.

Vic was known widely as a tippler as is evident in this story told about him in the March 1945 issue of “Pick-Up”, the house organ of All American Aviation:

“Vic Yesulaites, craftsman and air pick-up mechanic from the day of All American’s birth, couldn’t quite make up his mind to drive the several hundred odd miles home for turkey, only to return to Wilmington for one day before the weekend. Nailing sympathetic Al Tyson, Vic started at 4:00 in the afternoon to drown his sorrows, winding up with two hamburgers at the Toddle House at 4:00 in the morning.  Al’s mama no longer allows him to play with Vic”.

Copyright 2004-2006  M C Pyles