Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, February 29, 1924. Air assisted victory.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, February 29, 1924. Air assisted victory.:

Tuesday, February 29, 1924. Air assisted victory.

Mexican Federal forces took Esperanza in Puebla in a hard fought battle.

The counter-attack featured strafing runs by Mexican-born American pilot, Ralph O'Neill.

O'Neill had distinguished service with the US Army as a pilot in World War One and held three Distinguished Service Cross citations.  He lived until 1980, dying at age 83 in California.

Lex Anteinternet: Mid Week At Work. World Pilot Day

Lex Anteinternet: Mid Week At Work. World Pilot Day: 

Mid Week At Work. World Pilot Day

Today is World Pilot Day.

Pilot and observer at the start of the Transcontinental Reliability and Endurance Test, October 8, 1919.

Lex Anteinternet: May 8, 1920 Endings

Lex Anteinternet: May 8, 1920 Endings:

May 8, 1920 Endings

On this day in 1920, the Luftstreitkräfte, the World War One equivalent of the Luftwaffe, more or less, officially came to an end.

Disassembled German aircraft on display in London, 1918.

The organization, not surprisingly, had gone through several names and structures before achieving its final one in October 1916.  It did not include naval flyers, who remained in the navy, and its association with the German army was organizational such that it was part of the army.  It oddly did not include every German army pilot, however, as Bavaria retained an element of organizational control over men recruited from its territory, including at least theoretically its own air force.

After the German surrender it basically came to an end and its one and only commander, Ernst von Hoeppner, left his appointed position as its chief in January 1919 as part of the dissolution of the force in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles which prohibited the Germans from having military aircraft.  After that point it existed on paper until this day in 1920.

Ernst von Hoeppner, the commander of the Luftstreitkräfte from October 1916 until January 1919.  He returned to the cavalry branch from which he had come and retired in November 1919, dying from the flu at age 62 in 1922.

The German government did field aircraft as late as 1920 when it put down the Ruhr Rebellion, but those aircraft and their pilots were at least theoretically in the Freikorps.

On the German air arm and symbols, an interesting thing to note is how the stylized cross borrowed from the Teutonic Knights has evolved in the German air arm. From 1914 to 1915, it was the full cross pattée associated somewhat inaccurately with the Medieval crusading order that was painted on the sides and wings of German aircraft.  In reality, the Teutonic Knights only occasionally employed this style of cross, but it was heavil adopted by the German crown after unification of the country during the Franco Prussian War.

German cross pattée originally used on German aircraft.

In 1915, the cross pattée was slimmed down a bit for some reason.

Cross pattée used from 1915 until March 1918.

In March 1918, it was made a simple straight cross.

German aircraft symbol from March 1918 until the end of the war.

The revived Luftwaffe continued to use the simple cross throughout its existence from 1935 until 1945, in a modified form that added emphasis to the lines, but when the post war Luftwaffe was recreated, it went back, with the rest of the German military, to the cross pattée.

On the WASPs

Elizabeth Gardner, age 22, in the pilot's seat of a B-26, one of the most difficult to fly aircraft of the Second World War.  Gardner would live until age 90 and worked for a time after the war as a test pilot, a role that would require her to bail out from failed aircraft twice.

From Sarah's Blog

75 Years Ago—Dec. 20, 1944: US terminates WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) program—returning combat airmen will perform their ferrying services; 1037 women served, with 38 fatalities.

Among those who follow World War Two, the WASPs are well known.  But to be frank, I expect for the average person World War Two is at this point known in a general way, highly influenced by movies.  Indeed, at least one such movie, Saving Private Ryan, at least partially caused the boom in focus on World War Two by both the aging Baby Boomer generation and the following Millenials (and others).  That film, and the other popular portrayals that followed, such as The Pacific and Band of Brothers, do a good job of portraying slices of the war, but they're just slices, and the war was so vast that really detailed portrayals can only come through books, and a lot of them.  No one book could possibly do justice to anything but the narrower topics it deals with.

In terms of the air war, two really notable films were done early on, those being Twelve O'Clock High and The Best Years of Our Lives.  People no doubt don't think of that last one as an "air war" film, but the portrayal of returning psychologically distressed bombardier Cpt. Fred Derry to a life that's coming apart at home, certainly should qualify it as such.  More recent efforts, such as Memphis Belle, have been lacking.  Perhaps the best film involving aircraft is Tora! Tora! Tora!, on the attack on Pearl Harbor.  In an odd way, the best one as a tribute to air power might be Battleground, in which not a single airplane is ever seen. Those who have seen the film will know why I'm referencing it here. Those who haven't, should see it.

Anyhow, one of the stories that isn't all that well known by people today is that of the WASPs.  Indeed, the role of women in the service in World War Two isn't that well known in general.

The WASPs were not technically in the service, but rather were civilians employed by the service. This has always occurred, contrary to some more modern commentary.  I.e., there have always been civilian "contractors" in contract to the military.  During the American Revolution heavy transport was normally done by temporary contractors by both sides of the conflict, some of whom had little choice in the matter.  I.e, when artillery, for example, was moved in a country that was surprisingly short of horses, freighters and farmers were called to do it, or sometimes just compelled to do it.  Later on, during the post Civil War frontier era, transportation of all sorts, both freighting and packing, was very often done by military contractors.  Civilian mule packers remained a feature of Army life all the way through the Punitive Expedition.  So its not surprising that civilians were used to ferry aircraft from North America to Europe.

More surprising is that they were women, however.

WASP pilots in front of the notoriously difficult to fly B-26 Marauder.

When women precisely entered established roles in the military is surprisingly difficult to determine.  By and large, however, most historians point to World War One as the conflict that brought that about. The degree of female employment during the Great War was enormous in general, and indeed it was so vast that the entire Rosey The Riveter story of World War Two is really a myth when the full story is considered as the World War Two role of women in industry repeated the experience of the prior war.  Female employment during the First World War would rival that of the Second and in some sectors of the various warring nation's economies, female labor was more important in World War One than it was in World War Two.  Given the near absolute demand for fighting age males to serve in the military during World War One, and the more primitive and less mechanized nature of the economy in the 1910s as compared to the 1930s and 1940s, when machine labor was already accomplishing more, it's not too surprising that women not only entered large numbers of normally male dominated industries but that they further were allowed into some roles in the military more or less for the first time.

Cornelia Fort, who became famous for encountering Japanese aircraft while flying as a flight instructor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.  She was the first WASP to be killed in service a year later.

Those roles were largely clerical and and near clerical at the time.  Women as clerks in general, including secretaries, was a new and somewhat controversial thing in the 1910s.  By the 1920s, however, it was fully established.  But wasn't established was the presence of women in the service. Following the Great War women were discharged from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and their roles once again filled by men.

When this began to change on a more permanent basis I really can't say.  I.e., I don't know, and haven't studied for the purpose of this entry, women women clerks and nurses reappeared in military service, and therefore I don't know if it was in the 20s, 30s, or 40s.  If it was as late as the 1940s, it certainly changed nearly overnight and women once again were recruited for those roles.  Contrary, however, to the common recollection of the period, it wasn't as easy to recruit women to military service as commonly thought, and there remained a quite strong societal prejudice in the United States against female servicemen.  During the war the service studied it and found that a strong deterrent to filling those positions was that there was a common belief in society that female servicemen were "easy" and came from the same class that might otherwise be populating bars and offering favors easily.  This was completely unfair and the service worked hard to combat the myth but it was never really overcome.  Operating against it, however, was that female nurses had been a common and vital feature of the Allied efforts during the Great War and therefore there was a well established female military nursing role already, one that had its origins as far back as the Crimean War.  Perhaps worth noting here, however, is that female nurses in World War One were not in the service but rather usually in the Red Cross, an organization that was highly involved in World War One and whose male members, in the case of the US, had the option of being enrolled in the Army upon the US entering the war.  Female members, who remained critical to its operations, were not enrolled in the service.

Gertrude Tompkins Silver who disappeared in 1944 ferrying a P51 from California to New Jersey.  She and her plane have never been found.

With that being the background, perhaps its not too surprising that women pilots would be contracted with to ferry aircraft in World War Two.  Military age male pilots were in the service, and weren't available, although older pilots who were not of military age were not.  On coastal areas, quite a few of the latter entered Civilian Air Patrol units, however.

Women were not new to aviation in World War Two.  Indeed, aviation, which entered its youth in the Great War, was one of the new things that came about in which women had a rapid appearance in.  There were female aviators prior to the war and at least one notable female pilot attempted to enroll in American military service during World War One, going so far as to purchase her own uniform to be used in what amounted to a publicity campaign in aid of that effort.  It went nowhere, but the point is that aviation wasn't new to women in the Second World War.

Indeed, the early female appearance in aviation continued on after the Great War, and even during it, with some notable female pilots achieving headlines during the 1920s and into the 1930s.  Today best remembered is Amelia Earhart, but she is far from the first and may be best remembered today simply due to her tragic and mysterious disappearance, but she was far from being the only notable pilot.

Bessie Coleman, African American and Native American who held an early pilot's license and who died in a an aviation accident in 1926.

Indeed, there were women barnstormers in the 1920s and women figured well in air racing, a sport that was popular following World War One and prior to World War Two,and which had a role in the development of fighter aircraft.  There were also some women stunt pilots early on.  What was generally absent, however, were female commercial pilots and there were no female military pilots.

Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes.

Given this history, perhaps it isn't surprising that the government turned to women flyers to fill certain roles that didn't have to be filled by Army Air Corps pilots, and that is the way it was viewed. The WASPs weren't commissioned, enlisted or enrolled in the military. They were part of more than one civil service organization that came to be under the overall umbrella organization of the WASPs and had varied flying duties. The irony, right from the onset, is that in actuality the aircraft of the late 1930s and the 1940s actually had become in some instances much more physically demanding to fly so, even while women flew every type of aircraft in the American air fleet, some of them were very physically demanding aircraft.

WASP pilot in cockpit of P-51 Mustang.

The WASPs are best remembered for ferrying aircraft, and indeed one of the entities that came into the WASPs was the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, which was formed specifically for that purpose.  In addition to that role, however, they also flew target towing missions and other service flying roles within the United States.  Quite a few of the pilots were from well to do backgrounds which had allowed them to take up flying prior to the war.

WASP pilots and the B-17 Pistol Packin Momma.

The program was disbanded in December 1944 as male Army Air Corps pilots returning from overseas became available for the same roles.  At that time some of them attempted to volunteer for service in the Chinese Nationalist air force but were unsuccessful in that effort. Some, such as Elizabeth Gardner, were able to keep flying.  In 1949 they were offered commissions in the United States Air Force in non flying roles, with 121 taking the offer.  They were accorded veteran status in 1977.

There were 1,074 women who went through WASP training during the war, all of whom were pilots prior to entering the program.  Over 600 applicants failed to make it through that training.  A total of 25,000 women volunteered for the program.  38 women were killed in air accidents while part of the program.  The largest plane flown by WASP crews was the B-29.

Lex Anteinternet: December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day

Lex Anteinternet: December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day:

December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day

The prize posted by the Australian government of 10,000 Australian pounds (then the unit of currency in Australia) for the first aircraft piloted by Australians to fly from England to the Australia was claimed by the crew of a Vickers Vimy bomber, entered into the contest by Vickers.



The plane was crewed by pilots Cpt. Ross Macpherson Smith and his brother Lt. Keith Macpherson Smith, with mechanics Sgt. W. H. Shiers and J.M. Bennett.  The plane made the trip from Hounslow Heath to Australian starting on November 12, 1919.



Cpt. Smith was killed test piloting a Vickers Viking seaplane in 1922.  Lt. Smith became a Vickers executive and an airline industry figure, dying of natural causes in 1955 at age 64.



Elsewhere, questions began to come up about the nature of diplomatic officer Jenkin's kidnapping even as Republicans continued to press for action of some sort against Mexico.  And as the mine strike ended, kids in Casper were let out of school due to lack of coal for heat.

Blog Mirror: This Day In Aviation History: 10 December 1919

10 December 1919

Lex Anteinternet: November 10, 1919. First flights, births and obse...

Lex Anteinternet: November 10, 1919. First flights, births and obse...:

November 10, 1919. First flights, births and observances.

"Henry Lee Milledge, the 16 month old son of Maj. John Milledge, Air Service, is believed to be the youngest passenger every carried in an Aeroplane. The flight was made at Bolling field in the Curtis "Eagle." The baby was carried in the arms of Maj. Milledge"

It isn't the intent of this blog to be the "100 Years Ago Today Blog", or something like that, but as we close in on the last year that's the central focus of this site, 1920, we continue to note some interesting items that occurred a century ago, as they occurred.  Some are just things that are interesting, like little Henry Lee Milledge's first flight. 

He's crying, and I don't blame him.

Lex Anteinternet: November 9, 1919. Edgar S. Paxson died. (Air Mail Item)

Lex Anteinternet: November 9, 1919. Edgar S. Paxson died.:

November 9, 1919. Edgar S. Paxson died.

And the Army Air Corps, which was responsible for air mail, had acquired a new twin engine aircraft for that purpose, shown here at Bolling Field outside of Washington, D. C.

Lex Anteinternet: "October 21, 1919" The Great Air Race Commences. ...

Lex Anteinternet: "October 21, 1919" The Great Air Race Commences. ...:

"October 21, 1919" The Great Air Race Commences. At 11.44 a.m. the first of the six aircraft took off from Hounslow, England.

They were bound for Australia, which made sense as the race was sponsored by the Australian Prime Minister and one of the rules of the race was that all the crewmen had to be Australian.

We have already read about the US 1919 Air Derby, which was still ongoing on  this date as following aircraft continued to land. . . and crash (quite frequently with fatal results), and we posted on the 1919 Round the Rim flight, which was still going on, showing the level of air mania in the United States.  But air mania wasn't limited to the United States.  On this day six British Empire aircraft took off in a race of even more epic proportions.



The six aircraft were not all of one type, making this a technological test in addition to being an air race (the aircraft in the Air Derby weren't all of one type either).  These planes were sometimes a heavier, being bombers in part.  They included a Sopwith Wallaby, a Vickers Vimy, an Alliance P.2. A Blackburn Kangaroo, a Martinsyde Type A and an Airco DH.9. Both single engine and twin engine aircraft were in the race.

Lex Anteinternet: October 18, 1919. Maynard completes round trip an...

Lex Anteinternet: October 18, 1919. Maynard completes round trip an...:

October 18, 1919. Maynard completes round trip and wins the complete Air Derby. O'Day and Trudeau born. De Valera visits

On this day Eamon de Valera, who was in the United States seeking support from the American people for the cause of Irish independence, visited a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin and was made an  honorary chief.  He posted with the headdress he'd been given.

The final leg of the Air Derby was won by the same pilot that won the first leg, thereby taking the entire race.

Lt. Maynard, who was not a "parson", but who had been a seminarian before the war, was the complete victor.

Another life would be claimed in the race on this day, it should be noted, in an event that had a stunningly high casualty rate.

Riga Latvia was the subject of a photographer on this day in 1919. Just a few days it had been the scene of combat, including a British effort to expel German forces.

That effort had seen the use of naval artillery, although the center of the town appeared in good shape.

Crossing the river was another matter.

On this day the great Anita O'Day, one of the best female jazz singers of all time was born.  O'Day, whose actual last name was Colton, was a musical force whose career started in 1934 and lasted until her death in 2006.  A career that long would be remarkable in and of itself, but it was all the more so for O'Day who lived a jazz artists life and flirted with drugs and alcohol for years.  In spite of that, she always presented as a fresh talent

Also born on this day was Pierre Trudeau, Canada's first French Canadian Prime Minister and father of the current, less substantial, PM.  Trudeau was deservedly controversial and was a transformative Prime Minister, not necessarily in a uniformly good way.

The Gasoline Alley gang was debating alterations to vehicles in order to save gas.

While this might seem surprising, the cost of gasoline was actually higher, in practical terms, then than now.

Lex Anteinternet: October 17, 1919 Airborne visitors to Casper and ...

Lex Anteinternet: October 17, 1919 Airborne visitors to Casper and ...: .

October 17, 1919 Airborne visitors to Casper and more crashes.

Mishaps continued to take a toll on aviators and their planes participating in the 1919 Air Derby.  Included in the mishaps were a directional one, that took an airplane all the way to Casper.

At the time, Casper's air strip was near Evansville.  Portions of it can still be seen there, but you have to know what you are looking at in order to appreciate what it was.

With the ongoing toll on American military aircraft its quite frankly surprising that the race continued, but perhaps at this point it would have been embarrassing to stop it.

One of the features of the aircraft in question is their short engine life.  No doubt more than one engine was replaced on more than one craft during the race.

In other news, it looked at the time as if the Reds were about to fall in Russia.

In the U.S., some worried about homegrown Reds.

New York Herald Cartoon, "To Make America Safe For Democracy", October 17, 1919

Lex Anteinternet: October 16, 1919. The Air Derby's Toll

Lex Anteinternet: October 16, 1919. The Air Derby's Toll:

October 16, 1919. The Air Derby's Toll

Air racers continued to pass through Cheyenne, but not all of them were making it out of the state alive.

This demonstrates the different calculations of risk in different eras.  In the current era, any event with this sort of mortality rate would be shut down..  In 1919, even the government, which was losing flyers right and left in the Air Derby, wasn't inclined to do that.

Meanwhile, the Reds in Russia were reported to be on the edge of collapse, and in the U.S., there were fears of a Red uprising.  Neither would prove to be correct.

Lex Anteinternet: October 15, 1919. Airplane Mania

Lex Anteinternet: October 15, 1919. Airplane Mania:

October 15, 1919. Airplane Mania

The 1919 Air Derby was still on and Lt. Maynard, who had one the transcontinental one way contest, was flying back across the United States to the east to hero's accolades.

And, as has been seen from other recent issues of these century old papers, the flying mania was spreading.  Just a few days ago a couple of papers were making deliveries to their outlying subscribers by airplane.  Today the Mrs. Mildred Chaplin, nee Harris, was in the news concerning an airborne event.

Harris in 1919

Harris was a Cheyenne native and at this point, one year into her marriage with Chaplin, was already separated from him or about to be, in spite of Harris' determination to save the marriage.



The marriage would end in 1920.  The whole affair provides an interesting insight into how certain news regarding celebrities varies from era to era, as the entire matter was really fairly scandalous.  Harris and Chaplin met when Harris was only 16 years old and at the time of their marriage she was just 17 and likely thought to be pregnant or she believed she was.  They would subsequently have a baby in 1919 who died after only three days of life and the marriage fell rapidly apart.  Harris had, overall, a tragic life, dying at age 42.



The entire event has the taint of scandal attached to it.  Chaplin was 35 yeas old, twenty years older than Harris, when the affair commenced with the teenage actress he'd met at a party.  The clearly involved a relationship that would have constituted statutory rape and which today would result in the end of Chaplin's career. At the time, and for decades thereafter, the marriage of couples in that situation precluded prosecution as married couples may not testify against each other, but perhaps the more significant aspect of the story to us in 2019 is that the marriage didn't result in an outcry, which it most definitely would now.  Instead it was celebrated and in Cheyenne it was certainly such.



The taint of scandal, or the presumption that there would have been one, is all the more the case as Chaplin's next wife, Lillita McMurry, was 16 years old when he started dating her at age 36.  That marriage would not last, and he'd next marry Paulette Goddard when he was in her early 20s. Goddard was the only one of Chaplin's four wives who was legally an adult at the time they started their relationship. That marriage didn't last, and he next met, romanced and married Oona O'Neil, who was 17 years old at the time. They married when she was 18 and he was 54, and remained married until his death at age 73.  With all that, Chaplin is still celebrated as a comedic genius (I really don't see it myself) and is widely admired, which would certainly note be the case today.



All of that, however, may simply be evidence how people are seemingly willing to allow teenage girls in particular to be exposed to creepy stuff on the presumption that it'll advance their careers.  In the 20th Century this continued on with actresses for ever, even featuring as a side story in the novel The Godfather (and briefly alluded to in the film).  It likely continued on until the modern "Me Too" movement, and can be argued to have spread into sports.

At the same time, hope that the Reds might fall in Russia was rising.

While in the US, fears over coal supplies, which were critical to industry and for that matter home heating, were rising.

Lex Anteinternet: October 14, 1919. Missing the Mark and Other Dangers

Lex Anteinternet: October 14, 1919. Missing the Mark and Other Dang...:

October 14, 1919. Missing the Mark and Other Dangers

There was already a winner, but the 1919 Air Derby, which saw plans stationed in the east fly west, and planes stationed in the west, continued on and continued to make news inWyoming.

Two of those planes that arrived over Cheyenne in the dark had to come down, with one missing the field.

In other news, things in Gary Indiana were getting out of hand, in terms of labor strikes. And two members of the Arapaho Tribe were recounting their experiences at the Battle of the Little Big Horn to interviewers.



And an interesting observation was made about not owning a car.

The Convention relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation. October 13, 1919.

On this day in 1919 an international commission arrived upon the first international agreement addressing and regulating aircraft usage.

The treaty read:

CONVENTION RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF AERIAL NAVIGATION SIGNED AT PARIS, OCTOBER 13, 1919

 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, THE BRITISH EMPIRE, CHINA, CUBA, ECUADOR, FRANCE, GREECE, GUATEMALA, HAITI, THE HEDJAZ, HONDURAS, ITALY, JAPAN, LIBERIA, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, PERU, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROUMANIA, THE SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE, SIAM, CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND URUGUAY, 

           Recognising the progress of aerial navigation, and that the establishment of regulations of universal application will be to the interest of all; 

            Appreciating the necessity of an early agreement upon certain principles and rules calculated to prevent controversy;

           Desiring to encourage the peaceful intercourse of nations by means of aerial communications;

           Have determined for these purposes to conclude a convention, and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries the following, reserving the right of substituting others to sign the same convention:

           Who have agreed as follows :


CHAPTER I.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
 
Article 1.
            The High Contracting Parties recognise that every Power has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the air space above its territory.

            For the purpose of the present Convention, the territory of a State shall be understood as including the national territory, both that of the mother country and of the colonies, and the territorial waters adjacent thereto.
Article 2.
            Each contracting State undertakes in time of peace to accord freedom of innocent passage above its territory to the aircraft of the other contracting States, provided that the conditions laid down in the present Convention are observed.

            Regulations made by a contracting State as to the admission over its territory of the aircraft of the other contracting States shall be applied without distinction of nationality.
Article 3.
            Each contracting State is entitled for military reasons or in the interest of public safety to prohibit the aircraft of the other contracting States, under the penalties provided by its legislation and subject to no distinction being made in this respect between its private aircraft and those of the other contracting States from flying over certain areas of its territory.

            In that case the locality and the extent of the prohibited areas shall be published and notified beforehand to the other contracting States.
 
Article 4.
            Every aircraft which finds itself above a prohibited area shall, as soon as aware of the fact, give the signal of distress provided in paragraph 17 of Annex D and land as soon as possible outside the prohibited area at one of the nearest aerodromes of the State unlawfully flown over.
 
CHAPTER II. 

Nationality of Aircraft.
Article 5.
            No contracting State shall, except by a special and temporary authorisation, permit the flight above its territory of an aircraft which does not possess the nationality of a contracting State.
 
Article 6.
            Aircraft possess the nationality of the State on the register of which they are entered, in accordance with the provisions of Section I (c) of Annex A.
 
Article 7.
            No aircraft shall be entered on the register of one of the contracting States unless it belongs wholly to nationals of such State.

            No incorporated company can be registered as the owner of an aircraft unless it possess the nationality of the State in which the aircraft is registered, unless the president or chairman of the company and at least two-thirds of the directors possess such nationality, and unless the company fulfills all other conditions which may be prescribed by the laws of the said State.
 
Article 8.
            An aircraft cannot be validly registered in more than one State.
 
Article 9.
            The contracting States shall exchange every month among themselves and transmit to the International Commission for Air Navigation referred to in Article 34 copies of registrations and of cancellations of registration which shall have been entered on their official registers during the preceding month.
Article 10.
            All aircraft engaged in international navigation shall bear their nationalily and registration marks as well as the name and residence of the owner in accordance with Annex A.
 
CHAPTER III.
CERTIFICATES OF AIRWORTHINESS
AND COMPETENCY.
 
Article 11.
            Every aircraft engaged in international navigation shall, in accordance with the conditions laid down in Annex B, be provided with a certificate of airworthiness issued or rendered valid by the State whose nationality it possesses.
 
Article 12.
            The commanding officer, pilots, engineers and other members of the operating crew of every aircraft shall, in accordance with the conditions laid down in Annex E, be provided with certificates of competency and licences issued or rendered valid by the State whose nationality the aircraft possesses.
Article 13.
            Certificates of airworthiness and of competency and licences issued or rendered valid by the State whose  nationality  the  aircraft  possesses,  in accordance with the regulations established by Annex B and Annex E and hereafter by the International Commission for Air Navigation, shall be recognised as valid by the other States.

            Each State has the right to refuse to recognise for the purpose of flights within the limits of and above its own territory certificates of competency and licences granted to one of its nationals by another contracting State.
 
Article 14.
            No wireless apparatus shall be carried without a special licence issued by the State whose nationality the aircraft possesses. Such apparatus shall not be used except by members of the crew provided with a special licence for the purpose.

            Every aircraft used in public transport and capable of carrying ten or more persons shall be equipped with sending and receiving wireless apparatus when the methods of employing such apparatus shall have been determined by the International Commission for Air Navigation.

            The Commission may later extend the obligation of carrying wireless apparatus to all other classes of aircraft in the conditions and according to the methods which it may determine.
 
CHAPTER IV.
ADMISSION TO AIR NAVIGATION
ABOVE FOREIGN TERRITORY.
 
Article 15.
            Every aircraft of a contracting State has the right to cross the air space of another State without landing. In this case it shall follow the route fixed by the State over which the flight takes place. However, for reasons of general security, it will be obliged to land if ordered to do so by means of the signals provided in Annex D.

            Every aircraft which passes from one State into another shall, if the regulations of the latter State require it, land in one of the aerodromes fixed by the latter. Notification of these aerodromes shall be given by the contracting States to the International Commission for Air Navigation and by it transmitted to all the contracting States.

            The establishment of international airways shall be subject to the consent of the States flown over.
Article 16.
            Each contracting State shall have the right to establish reservations and restrictions in favour of its national aircraft in connection with the carriage of persons and goods for hire between two points on its territory.

            Such reservations and restrictions shall be immediately published, and shall be communicated to the International Commission for Air Navigation, which shall notify them to the other contracting States.
Article 17.
            The aircraft of a contracting State which establishes reservations and restrictions in accordance with Article 16, may be subjected to the same reservations and restrictions in any other contracting State, even the latter State does not itself impose the reservations and restrictions on other foreign aircraft.
Article 18.
            Every aircraft passing through the territory of a contracting State including landing and stoppages reasonably necessary for the purpose of such transit, shall be exempt from any seizure on the ground of infringement of patent, design or model, subject to the deposit of security the amount of which is default of amicable agreement shall be fixed with the least possible delay by the competent authority of the place of seizure.
 
CHAPTER V.
RULES TO BE OBSERVED ON DEPARTURE
WHEN UNDER WAY AND ON LANDING.
 
Article 19.
            Every aircraft engaged in international navigation shall be provided with :
            (a) A certificate of registration in accordance with Annex A ;
            (b) A certificate of airworthiness in accordance with Annex B ;
            (c) Certificates and licences of the commanding officer, pilots and crew in accordance with Annex E ;
            (d) If it carries passengers, a list of their names ;
            (e) if it carries freight, bills of lading and manifest ;
            (f) Log books in accordance with Annex C ;
            (g) If equipped with wireless, the special licences prescribed by Article 14.
 
Article 20.
            The log books shall be kept for two years after the last entry.\
 
Article 21.
            Upon the departure or landing of an aircraft, the authorities of the country shall have, in all cases, the right to visit the aircraft and to verify all the documents with which it must be provided.
 
Article 22.
            Aircraft of the contracting States shall be entitled to the same measures of assistance for landing, particularly in case of distress, as national aircraft.
Article 23.
            With regard to the salvage of aircraft wrecked at sea the principles of maritime law will apply, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary.
Article 24.
            Every aerodrome in a contracting State, which upon payment of charges is open to public use by its national aircraft, shall likewise be open to the aircraft of all the other contracting States.
            In every such aerodrome there shall be a single tariff or charges for landing and length of stay applicable alike to national and foreign aircraft.
 
Article 25.
            Each contracting State undertakes to adopt measures to ensure that every aircraft flying above the limits of its territory and that every aircraft wherever it may be, carrying its nationality mark, shall comply with the regulations contained in Annex D.

            Each of the contracting States undertakes to ensure the prosecution and punishment of all persons contravening these regulations.
 
CHAPTER VI.
PROHIBITED TRANSPORT.
 
Article 26.
            The carriage by aircraft of explosives and of arms and munitions of war is forbidden in international navigation. No foreign aircraft shall be permitted to carry such articles between any two points in the same contracting State.
 
Article 27.
            Each State may, in aerial navigation, prohibit or regulate the carriage or use of photographic apparatus. Any such regulations shall be at once notified to the International Commission for Air Navigation, which shall communicate this information to the other contracting States.
 
Article 28.
            As a measure of public safety, the carriage of objects other than those mentioned in Articles 26 and 27 may be subjected to restrictions by any contracting State. Any such regulations shall be at once notified to the International Commission for Air Navigation, which shall communicate this information to the other contracting States.
 
Article 29.
            All restrictions mentioned in Article 28 shall be applied equally to national and foreign aircraft.
CHAPTER VII.
STATE AIRCRAFT.

Article 30.
            The following shall be deemed to be State aircraft :
            (a) Military aircraft.
            (b) Aircraft exclusively employed in State service, such as Posts, Customs, Police.
            Every other aircraft shall be deemed to be private aircraft.
            All State aircraft other than military, customs and police aircraft shall be treated as private aircraft and as such shall be subject to all the provisions of the present Convention.
 
Article 31.
            Every aircraft commanded by a person in military service detailed for the purpose shall be deemed to be a military aircraft.
 
Article 32.
            No military aircraft of a contracting State shall fly over the territory of another contracting State nor land thereon without special authorisation. In case of such authorisation the military aircraft shall enjoy, in principle, in the absence of special stipulation, the privileges which are customarily accorded to foreign ships of war.

            A military aircraft which is forced to land or which is requested or summoned to land shall by reason thereof acquire no right to the privileges referred to in the above paragraph.
 
Article 33.             Special arrangements between the States concerned will determine in what cases police and customs aircraft may be authorised to cross the frontier. They shall in no case be entitled to the privileges referred to in Article 32.
 
CHAPTER VIII.
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION
FOR AIR NAVIGATION.

Article 34.
            There shall be instituted, under the name of the International Commission for Air Navigation, a permanent Commission placed under the direction of the League of Nations and composed of: 

            Two Representatives of each of the following States : The United States of America, France, Italy and Japan;

            One Representative of Great Britain and one of each of the British Dominions and of India;

            One Representative of each of the other contracting States.

            Each of the five States first-named (Great Britain, the British Dominions and India counting for this purpose as one State) shall have the least whole number of votes which, exceeding by at least one vote the total number when multiplied by five, will give a product of the votes of all the other contracting States.

            All the States other than the five first-named shall each have one vote.

           The International Commission for Air Navigation shall determine the rules of its own procedure and the place of its permanent seat, but it shall be free to meet in such places as it may deem convenient. Its first meeting shall take place at Paris. This meeting shall be convened by the French Government, as soon as a majority of the signatory States shall have notified to it their ratification of the present Convention.

            The duties of this Commission shall be:

            (a) To receive proposals from or to make proposals to any of the contracting States for the modification or amendment of the provisions of the present Convention, and to notify changes adopted;

            (b) To carry out the duties imposed upon it by the present Article and by Articles 9, 13, 14, 15, 17, 27, 28, 36 and 37 of the present Convention ;
            (c) To amend the provisions of the Annexes A—G ;
            (d) To  collect  and  communicate  to  the contracting States information of every kind  concerning  international  air navigation ;
            (e) To collect  and  communicate to the contracting States all information relating to wireless telegraphy, meteorology and medical science which may be of interest to air navigation ;
            (f) To ensure the publication of maps for air navigation in accordance with the provisions of Annex F ;
            (g) To give its opinion on questions which the States may submit for examination.

            Any modification of the provisions of any one of the Annexes may be made by the International Commission for Air Navigation when such modification shall have been approved by three-fourths of the total possible votes which could be cast if all the States were represented and shall become effective from the time when it shall have been notified by the International Commission for Air Navigation to all the contracting States.

            Any proposed modification of the Articles of the present Convention shall be examined by the International Commission for Air Navigation, whether it originates with one of the contracting States or with the Commission itself. No such modification shall be proposed for adoption by the contracting States, unless it shall have been approved by at least two-thirds of the total possible votes.

            All such modifications of the Articles of the Convention (but not of the provisions of the Annexes) must be formally adopted by the contracting States before they become effective.

            The expenses of organisation and operation of the International Commission for Air Navigation shall be borne by the contracting States in proportion to the number of votes at their disposal.

            The expenses occasioned by the sending of technical delegations will be borne  by  their respective States.
 
CHAPTER IX.
FINAL PROVISIONS.

Article 35
            The High Contracting Parties undertake as far as they are respectively concerned to cooperate as far as possible in international measures concerning:

            (a) The collection and dissemination of statistical, current, and special meteorological information,  in  accordance  with  the provisions of Annex G ;
            (b) The publication of standard aeronautical maps, and the establishment of a uniform system of ground marks for flying, in accordance with the provisions of Annex F ;
            (c) The use of wireless telegraphy in air navigation, the establishment of the necessary wireless stations, and the observance of international wireless regulations.
 
Article 36.
            General provisions relative to customs in connection with international air navigation are the subject of a special agreement contained in Annex H to the present Convention.

            Nothing in the present Convention shall be construed as preventing the contracting States from concluding, in conformity with its principles, special protocols as between State and State in respect of customs, police, posts and other matters of common interest in connection with air navigation. Any such protocols shall be at once notified to the International Commission for Air Navigation, which shall communicate this information to the other contracting States.
 
Article 37.
            In the case of a disagreement between two or more States relating to the interpretation of the present Convention, the question in dispute shall be determined by the Permanent Court of International Justice to be established by the League of Nations, and, until its establishment, by arbitration.

If the parties do not agree on the choice of the arbitrators, they shall proceed as follows:

            Each of the parties shall name an arbitrator, and the arbitrators shall meet to name an umpire. If the arbitrators cannot agree, the parties shall each name a third State, and the third State so named shall proceed to designate the umpire, by agreement or by each proposing a name and then determining the choice by lot.

            Disagreement relating to the technical regulations annexed to the present Convention, shall be settled by the decision of the International Commission for Air Navigation by a majority of votes.

            In case the difference involves the question whether the interpretation of the Convention or that of a regulation is concerned final decision shall be made by arbitration as provided in the first paragraph of this Article.

Article 38.

            In case of war, the provisions of the present Convention shall not affect the freedom of action of the contracting States either as belligerents or as neutrals.

Article 39.
            The provisions of the present Convention are completed by the Annexs A to H, which, subject to Article 34 (c), shall have the same effect and shall come into force at the same time as the Convention itself.

Article 40.
            The British Dominions and India shall be deemed to be States for the purposes of the present Convention.

            The territories and nationals of Protectorates or of territories administered in the name of the League of Nations shall, for the purposes of the present Convention, be assimilated to the territory and nationals of the Protecting or Mandatory States.

Article 41.
            States which have not taken part in the war of 1914-1919 shall be permitted to adhere to the present Convention.
            This adhesion shall be notified through the diplomatic channel to the Government of the French Republic, and by it to all the signatory or adhering States.
Article 42.
            A State which took part in the war of 1914 to 1919 but which is not a signatory of the present Convention, may adhere only if it is a member of the League of Nations or, until January 1, 1923, if its adhesion is approved by the Allied and Associated Powers signatories of the Treaty of Peace concluded with the said State. After January 1, 1923, this adhesion may be admitted if it is agreed to by at least three-fourths of the signatory and adhering States voting under the conditions provided by Article 34 of the present Convention.

            Applications for adhesion shall be addressed to the Government of the French Republic, which will communicate them to the other contracting Powers. Unless the State applying is admitted ipso facto as a Member of the League of Nations, the French Government will receive the votes of the said Powers and will announce to them the result of the voting.

  
Article 43.

            The present Convention may not be denounced before January 1, 1922. In case of denunciation, notification thereof shall be made to the Government of the French Republic, which shall communicate it to the other contracting Parties. Such denunciation shall not take effect until at least one year after the giving of notice, and shall take effect only with respect to the Power which has given notice