Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, Sepember 22, 1923. The ZR-1 over Washington, D.C.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, Sepember 22, 1923. Henning Hotel Robbed.: 

Saturday, Sepember 22, 1923. Henning Hotel Robbed.

The Navy's ZR-1 dirigible flew over Washington, D. C.

Challenging airport funding and looking at subsidization of transportation in a different light.

Should this be the fate of most of Wyoming's airports?

In an interview with Wyoming News Now, Casper Mayor Bruce Knell came out against providing subsidies to Sky West and went on to suggest that Wyoming had more airports than it needs.  He specifically stated, regarding SkyWest

SkyWest is a 1.2-billion-dollar company. They absolutely should not receive any of taxpayers’ money … to help them with their business.

Knell also went on to accuse SkyWest of "feasting" off of the revenues and basically threatening the communities by indicating they may pull out. 

And he went on to challenge the Minimum Revenue Guaranty concept, stating, according to Oil City News:

We need to do away with these MRGs statewide. The state needs to quit funding them. We need to do away with the airport in Gillette, in Rock Springs, in Evanston, in Sheridan, in Cody, in Riverton. They all need to go away. We need to have one international airport in Casper, and one airport in Jackson.

Not too surprisingly, the communities which Knell feels should lose an airport reacted. Officials from Sweetwater County wrote a letter in reply which stated.

The Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport is a critical economic driver for Southwest Wyoming, supporting over $36.9 million in annual economic activity including $25.5 million in annual spending and 324 jobs resulting in $11.4 million in annual payroll,” the letter states. “Much like your local airport, our airport provides critical connectivity to the global economy for dozens of commercial and industrial employers in Southwest Wyoming while also providing residents connectivity to healthcare, friends, family and leisure destinations, improving the overall quality of life for our workforce.

While you may be willing to risk your local economy’s vitality, we are not. Our airport and its air service are foundationally critical assets to our community.

Casper's mayor, it should be noted, serves in a different capacity than those of most cities and towns, and accordingly is not elected as mayor, but appointed to that position by other councilmen.  This is not to say that it's wholly influential, however.

As for doing away with airports, it's hard to imagine any of these airports going away. The real question is whether they shall continue to have commercial air service.  Knell's view seems to be that if they didn't have regional service to Denver and Salt Lake, that would mean that the Casper and Jackson airports would succeed by default, something that's not really clear.

FWIW, at one time or another I've been in planes that landed at every one of these airports, although I've only been on regular commercial flights to Casper.  Having said that, I've known people to take commercial flights into Jackson, Cody, Riverton and Rock Springs, and I've never heard any complaints about those flights.  Being able to fly regionally, and with much greater access than currently exists, is something that outside business entities often ask about.

Knell's overall point is that he feels that the free market should take care of all of this.  The truth of the matter is, however, that only rail transportation isn't subsidized in the U.S.  Highway transportation is heavily subsidized by taxes, which fund the roads, various transportation departments, and specialized police forces.  Air transportation is subsidized by the creation and maintenance of airports, and the maintaining of the TSA and FAA.

Given that, we might really wish to ask the question of what transportation we wish to subsidize and in what amounts, assuming we wish to subsidize any, and of course we do.  Nobody is going to suggest we abolish highway funding, for example. So the real question is what is most efficient, socially productive and serves our long term goals.

September 1, 1923.

 

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.: 

Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.

Grumman F6Fs made their combat debut.

The fighter was a leap in Navy fighter technology, joining the Corsair as a new generation of flattop launched fighter aircraft.  The plane would be responsible for approximately 2/3s of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the U.S. Navy during World War Two.

The carrier born first use was in a day-long raid on Marcus Island.

Radar equipped F6F's would remain in service until 1954, completing their service as night fighters.

On the same day, the 14th Air Force bombed Gia Lam, Co Bi, Ichang Airfiled, Stonecutters Island and the Yoyang rail yards.  The 5th Air Force hit trages in Saint George Channel and the Dutch East Indes.

To Denver and back.

Air Tractor at Natrona County International Airport.

Denver International Airport.

Wind farm north of Glenrock/Casper.

Bar Nunn, Wyoming.

 

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 22, 1923. Air Mail.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 22, 1923. Oaths of Office, Air Ma...: 

Tuesday, August 22, 1923. Oaths of Office, Air Mail, No French Concessions, Japanese Navy Disaster, Societal Shifts.

Mail was getting speedier.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, August 14, 1943. US Aviation Insignia Change Again.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, August 14, 1943. Rome declared an open ...: 

U.S. aviation insignia changed again, albeit slightly.

By NiD.29 - Bell, Dana (1995) Air Force Colors Volume 1 1926–1942, Carrollton: Squadron Signal Publications ISBN: 0-89747-316-7.US Navy F6F Hellcat USMC F4U Corsairaccording to Section 40.1.1.2 Color of MIL-STD-2161A (AS), the colors of this insignia are established as FED-STD-595 red 11136 white 17925 blue 15044. The visualization of the colors comes from this siteElliot, John M. (1989) The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide Vol 2 1940–1949, Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications ISBN: 0-914144-32-4., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3330877

T

5 August 1943: Women Airforce Service Pilots

5 August 1943: Women Airforce Service Pilots

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, August 5, 1943. WASPs.

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, August 5, 1943. WASPs.: 

Thursday, August 5, 1943. WASPs.

While by this point, this story is now confusing because of predecessor organizations, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were officially formed.

WASP wings.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, July 27, 1943. Storms.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, July 27, 1943. Storms.: 

Tuesday, July 27, 1943. Storms.

Major Joseph Duckworth, together with Lt. Ralph O'Hair, of the U.S. Army Air Force flew an AT-6 into the eye of a hurricane, becoming the first people to do so on purpose.

Duckworth was an advocate for training on instruments.  He had been an Army Air Corps flyer, originally starting in 1927, and recalled to service during World War Two.

The hurricane bore the name The Surprise Hurricane due to weather censoring during World War Two, which the storm would end due to killing 19 people and causing $17,000,000 in damage.

Croatia became a republic, for a time, after Prince Aimone, the Duke of Astsoria, who had been made king of Croatia by Mussolini, resigned, deciding that desertion was the better part of valor.

The Fascist Grand Council and the Fascist Party were abolished.

Sarah Sundin notes, on her blog:

Today in World War II History—July 27, 1943: Flight nurse Lt. Ruth Gardiner (805th MAETS) is killed in a plane crash in Naknek, Alaska; the first US Army nurse to die in WWII.

She also notes the horrific Hamburg firestorm of the night of July 27, 1943, which resulted from the RAF's Operation Gomorrah bombing raid that evening.

Unloading a P-47 at Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, July 27, 1923. Martin MS-1s.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, July 27, 1923. Casper living on Tulsa Time?: 

The Federal Archives list these photos of a Martin MS-1 that the Navy was experimenting with.  The concept was to carry the biplane on a submarine, something that proved viable, and while the U.S. Navy gave up on it by World War Two the Japanese did not.

The Imperial Japanese Navy would, in turn, use submarine born monoplanes to attack the U.S. West Coast, albeit with no success.