Cargo Ton-Miles and Passenger Miles adding up
CARGO. December 3rd to 21st (1945). Here we have the first cargo revenue flights. Flown in the company’s newly acquired DC-3.
(Passenger Period) These are reported further down the page.
Cargo. April 1 – June 1, 1946. The Ton-Miles reported here are the first four of six war-relief flights, two each, to Prague and Warsaw. A Veterans Air Line DC-4 was outfitted by company personnel to carry 55,000 or 65,000 fertilized eggs per flight. They were to be incubated at hatcheries in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Aviation history was logged on these flights.
DEFINITION BY U.S. DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS: “A ton-mile is defined as one ton of freight shipped one mile and, therefore, reflects both the volume shipped (tons) and the distance shipped (miles)…Air freight tends to transport high value, relatively low weight goods.”
Dear Reader, “High value…low weight” certainly applies to the hatching eggs transported so successfully by Veterans Air under contract with the UNRRA – United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
Gaye Lyn
Passengers. Jan 20 – Mar 30. The known destination of these early Passenger Miles was Miami. They were flown in two (if not three) of the company DC-3s during the “Snowbird” season on weekends. Newark – Miami – Return. Logbook entries by Jack Stettner from January 22 thru January 29 are the prized and only records among our research documents covering that period. Given the robust number of Passenger Miles shown on this chart, although we have no evidence, curiosity wonders what other destinations might have been included.
For a detailed look at Stettner’s logbook mentioned above, click HERE
Jumping slightly ahead. In 1946 beyond this chart’s time frame, log book entries by Bernard Shmanske include DC-3 trips in August and early September. With the exception of his New York City (LaGuardia), Ballston Spa (NY) and Hyannis (MA) entries, these are likely cargo flights – Memphis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Cleveland. Again, they are the only DC-3 flight records within our research documents for this time period, so they are treasure, even if they do not tell the whole story.
