St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line: The World’s First Airline, Part 3


The Group Behind St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line

The driving force behind the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was Percival Elliot Fansler, a Florida sales representative for Kahlenberg Brothers. Kahlenberg Brothers was a Wisconsin manufacturer of diesel engines for fishing boats. Thus there is another strong tie with marine engines and flying. Fansler became fascinated with Benoist's progress in aircraft design and manufacture, recalling: "My appetite for speed was whetted by my experiences in racing boats. Having heard that Tony Jannus had made his famous trip down the Mississippi in a flying boat, I started correspondence with Tom [Benoist] . After receiving two or three letters that dealt with the details and capabilities of the boat, the idea popped into my head that instead of monkeying around with the thing to give 'jazz' trips, I would start a real commercial [air]line from somewhere to somewhere else. My experience in Florida led me to conclude that a line could be operated between St. Petersburg and Tampa. The distance was about 23 miles--some 15 of which were along the shore of Tampa Bay, and the remainder over open water. I wrote to Tom about the scheme and he became immediately enthusiastic."

Fansler went to Tampa in late November 1913. No one there was interested in issuing a contract for an airline franchise. On December 4, he went across Tampa Bay to St. Petersburg, which was then a city of only about 9,000 people during the winter months. "They thought I had a mighty clever idea," Fansler wrote later, "but they didn't believe there was any such thing as a flying boat. I talked a group of a dozen men into putting up a guarantee of $100 each, and the Board of Trade came in with a like amount."

Fansler wired Benoist to come to St. Petersburg. On December 17, 1913 - 10 years to the day after the Wright brothers had first flown successfully at Kitty Hawk - Benoist signed the world's first airline contract for heavier-than-air planes.

The agreement called for a cash subsidy of $2,400 from the city of St. Petersburg. But Benoist had to supply the planes and pilots and maintain two scheduled flights daily between St. Petersburg and Tampa, six days a week for three months. For each day that scheduled flights were made on time, the city guaranteed to pay $40 a day through January and $25 a day in February and March.

The copyright of the article St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line: The World’s First Airline, Part 3 in Airlines is owned by John L. Hoh, Jr.. Permission to republish St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line: The World’s First Airline, Part 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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