MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
WRITTEN SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT POPULAR MECHANICS IN THE ROARING TWENTIES
BY GIACINTA BRADLEY KOONTZ
The internationally-read monthly magazine, Popular Mechanics, has been a feast for the inquisitive for more than a century. The publication was conceived, edited and published by H.H. Windsor, of Chicago, IL in 1902. Editorial offices were also in London, Paris and Melbourne. Regular distribution extended to Cuba, Mexico and Canada. The masthead of each issue included Windsor’s promise that it was “Written so you can understand it.” Published in English, for the most part this was true, as readership ranged from grammar school children to adults of all levels of education around the world. Aviation-related articles were included within every issue — some a few paragraphs in length; others featured several pages, illustrated with photographs and drawings. Between 1920 and
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1929, there were 26 colorful cover illustrations of dirigibles, kites, balloons, gliders and powered aircraft. Following WWI, aviation gained immediate recognition for military use. Aircraft no longer needed for combat were inexpensive and sold to pilots who barnstormed across America, introducing many to their first sight of an airplane. Soon, the potential for aviation seemed unlimited. In February of 1921, Popular Mechanics featured an alternative to shooting ducks nesting in the rice fields of California. True or fictional, the article depicts a bi- plane diving into a flock of ducks which were captured in a fishing seine affixed to the struts. I do not know if the term “bird strike” applies. In December of 1922, the cover story was the first [and potentially the only fixed wing] landing of an aircraft
within the Grand Canyon by pilot, R.V. Thomas, skillfully navigating “treacherous air currents.” As I browsed through the issues between 1920 and 1929, I created my own aviation-related categories as either Fantasy/Science Fiction, In-Progress Practical Inventions or Genuine News of Past or Current Events. These included aerial exploration, development of air mail delivery, the exciting prospect of over-sea travel in luxurious flying boats, the accelerated interest in air races and an on-going debate regarding the use of dirigibles for commercial and military use. Featured in November, 1924, were illustrations of a man on a toboggan pulled by a biplane over ice and snow. The magazine reported that this sport, on Lake Tremblant, near Montreal, Canada, was “a novel joy ride for those who care to risk life and limb
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