General aviation includes all aircraft except military and scheduled commericial airline (including air mail and cargo service). Helicopters and gliders are included in general aviation, but most of the aircraft are airplanes. These are usually smaller airplanes. These airplanes can land at airports, open fields, roadways and on lakes.

During World War I there were many people in the military who learned to fly. They became pilots. After the war the U.S. government sold hundreds of planes left over from the war. Many of the pilots bought them. Some of these pilots became "flying gypsies" or "barnstormers"; pilots who flew all over the country. They gave airplane rides to thousands of people, for a small fee. The favorite airplane was the "Jenny", Curtis JN-4. It had two seats and two wings. Many people liked to watch them do tricks in the air. They could travel at about 60 MPH.

Later, in the 1920's, many of these "barnstormers" settled down and opened commercial flying services. These services included airport runways, covered hangars and aircraft repair. Airplanes needed these services because they were being used for many things. Some were being used for surveying, photography and emergency service.

Major Jack Savage introduced something new by using chemical smoke to write "Hello U.S.A." in the sky over New York. Many companies, after that, used sky writing to advertise their products.

Law enforcement used the airplane to find "rum-runners" during the 1920's. The rum-runners used the airplane to avoid being caught! (Alcohol was illegal.)

More and more companies began using airplanes. The company would either own an airplane or charter (rent) one when needed. Some of the companies that owned their own planes were Walgreen Drugstores, Jell-O and A-C Spark plugs.

Another use discovered for airplanes during the 1920's was in agriculture (farming). An airplane could "dust" 500 acres per hour with insecticide or seeds. A job that could take days for a crew of men on the ground.

A very important use is spotting fires and transporting men to the scene of a fire. In the 1920's and 1930's the men would parachute into remote areas to fight fires. They were called "fire or smoke jumpers".

Learning to fly is big business! It can take up to 60 hours to get a pilot's license. A person must pass a flying test and a written test. You must be at least 16 years old (14 for gliders) to get a student license. It will take from 3 to 6 months to get the full pilot's license. The student must practice flying one or two times per week. The student must also pass a physical exam and get a license to operate the two-way radio telephone from the plane to the ground control center. The lessons cost about $25 and the cost of the plane rental can be $50 per hour or more. The pilot can then fly some small planes. Students can get different licenses for bigger planes.

Airplanes, in the 1920's, started racing and doing aerobatics (tricks in the air). They are still doing that today. There is a World Aerobatics contest, which is taken very seriously. The airplanes do many tricks in the air. The scoring is similar to figure skating. Some do simple tricks and others do very difficult tricks. The difficult tricks usually get more points.

Gliding is another popular sport. Pilots are towed, in their gliders, up in the air. The pilot looks for clouds. This is a sign of a "thermal" (a column of warm air). The pilot uses these thermals to keep the glider in the air or to go higher.

During the 1920's and 1930's pilots tried many new things. Many more airplanes were in the air. Flying was becoming more dangerous. The Federal Aviation Administration was started to regulate (control) air flight. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Bureau of Aviation Safety were also formed to help make flying safer.

Today, we are still finding new uses for aircraft. A person flies to New York City for a meeting on Monday and then has to be in Alaska on Tuesday. On Mt. Everest a helicopter makes a rescue at an elevation never tried before. A rancher flies over his ranch to find lost cattle and then drops alfalfa to them or radios his ranch hands to go get them. A pilot is over the ocean near Northern California and sees a school of salmon and radios a fishing boat nearby.

With a little imagination, you too can think of many ways an airplane can be used.

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Last modified: Sat Apr 25 15:45:02 PDT 1998