Waynoka's Roots in TAT's Routes
By Sandie Olson
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
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Coast to Coast in 48 Hours Within a few years after its inauguration in 1929, Transcontinental Air Transport had evolved into TransWorld Airlines. TWA commemorated its beginnings with a poster which shows the TAT route from New York to California, traveling by trains at night and Ford tri-motor airplanes by day.
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It was winter 1928-29 when Col. Charles Lindbergh landed his airplane in an alfalfa field about three miles northeast of Waynoka, Oklahoma. Two teenage farm boys, Roscoe and Punk Kelsey, watched him from their home across the road. As he climbed out of the cockpit, they immediately recognized the tall, slender Lindbergh, made famous by his transatlantic flight in 1927.
Lindbergh was looking for land for a new airport to be built by Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT).
In early 1928, Lindbergh and three other TAT founders had drawn a map on an envelope showing a potential route that would take passengers from coast to coast in 48 hours, using a combination of air travel and rail travel. A few months later, Lindbergh finalized the route and TAT was born.
The plan was for passengers to take a night train from New York City to Columbus, OH, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The next morning, they would board a TAT airplane and fly west, making stops in Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, and Waynoka, arriving about 6:00PM. That night, after dinner at Waynoka's Harvey House, they would board a Santa Fe train to Clovis, NM. The following morning, it was another TAT airplane to Los Angeles, with stops at Albuquerque, Winslow, and Kingman. The fare was to be $360 per person.
With Col. Lindbergh as its technical advisor, TAT quickly became known unofficially as The Lindbergh Line. Lindbergh selected airplanes, pilots, and airport sites.
THE FORD TRI-MOTORS
Lindbergh's technical committee investigated six multi-engine airplanes for the new passenger line. Lindbergh preferred the sturdy Ford Tri-Motor, dubbed the Tin Goose, even though it was slow and noisy. Powered by three Pratt and Whitney 400-hp Wasp engines, the all-metal plane could sustain flight with two engines. In an emergency, it could maintain a slow descent with only one engine; from 5000' altitude, it could reach any landing spot within twenty miles.
The Tri-Motor had a wingspan of 77 feet 10 inches, carried fuel for a 500-mile trip, and cruised at 100 mph. For the TAT flights, cruising altitude would be 2500 feet westbound, and somewhat higher eastbound.
Five wicker seats lined each side of the luxurious cabin. Each passenger had his or her own window with a brown velvet drapery, reading lamp, electric cigar lighter, and ashtray. The noise level made communication other than note writing impossible. A heater kept the cabin a somewhat comfortable 60 degrees.
THE PILOTS
Col. Lindbergh's pilot recruitment committee hired thirty-eight pilots, mostly from other airlines, aircraft companies, and the military. They were the cream of the aerial crop, with an average flying time of 3000 hours each, including an average of 500 hours in Tri-Motors. Their salary was $300 per month, plus expenses.
THE LANDING FIELD
On March 3, 1929, a joyous crowd of about 4,000 gathered at the Waynoka site to witness the groundbreaking ceremony and partake of the big barbecue sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. The Daily Oklahoman devoted a full page to the event, proclaiming that would-be passengers were scouring the maps looking for little-known Waynoka.
The Waynoka airfield had three asphalt runways: a 2640' N-S, a 1200' E-W, and a 2000' NE-SW. It was the most brilliantly lighted field in the world, with 15-watt runway lights every 260 feet. A high intensity electric-arc floodlight near the Santa Fe tracks threw a soft bright light over the field. Residents reported being able to read newspapers a half-mile away at night.
TAT constructed America's third-largest and most up-to-date hangar at Waynoka. The 202' x 148' building could house six Ford Tri-Motors and also included mezzanine storage space, a machine shop, administrative offices, a waiting room, rest rooms, a women's lounge, a wireless telephone station, and quarters for the pilots. Two electrically-lighted signs, each 172' x 48', were installed on the roof, spelling out WAYNOKA.
THE TAT WEATHER BUREAU
Under Col. Lindbergh's guidance, the TAT system included 82 weather-reporting stations and ten complete weather stations. Each city on the route had a weather station, and reporting stations were located in cities about 50 miles either side of the route. TAT's weather bureau system was about half the size of the entire United States Weather Bureau.
Of course, by today's standards, weather observations and predictions were rather crude. Meteorologists were aware of the modern air mass concept, but it had not yet been proven. They relied mostly on using balloons to measure ceilings and winds aloft and on interpreting cloud formations.
Lindbergh insisted that TAT install 2-way radios between the airplanes and the ground stations-- the only airline to have such equipment. By June 7, 1929, radio station KSY was in operation at Waynoka, at a frequency of 393 kilocycles, the first station on the TAT line to be completed.
In the airplanes, radio transmitters were installed in the rear of the cabin. In low-visibility conditions, station personnel would use direction-finding equipment to locate the airplane and provide a compass heading to the station.
THE HARVEY HOUSE AND THE TAT PASSENGER STATION
In 1910, the Fred Harvey Company had built one of their famous Harvey House restaurants on the Santa Fe railway in Waynoka. With exclusive contracts and ample support from the railroads, Harvey Houses and the Harvey Girls that staffed them became famous for high-quality rail side dining. (In 1946, Hollywood immortalized the Harvey Girls in a movie by that name, which starred Judy Garland.) Near the Harvey House, TAT erected a passenger station and ticket office. The station provided a comfortable, attractive place for passengers to rest between plane and train trips.
TAT AIRPORT DEDICATION
On Saturday, June 22, 1929, the town of 1200 went all-out to celebrate the dedication of the TAT Airport. Oklahoma's Attorney General delivered the principal address. An orchestra provided music for the afternoon program and for a free dance in the hangar that night. Planes from Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Enid, Amarillo, Wichita, and other cities flew in for the big day.
THE INAUGURAL FLIGHT
Col. Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, had been married less than six weeks when they spent the night in Waynoka on the way to California for the inaugural flight. The well-educated and well-read Mrs. Lindbergh described Waynoka in a letter to her sister:
...But Waynoka! I have never been in a place like it. It is smaller than this [Clovis, NM] - has four or five paved streets and a hotel (one of the TAT men described it as 'the kind you see in an old Western movie') painted white with a large sign, 'Baths,' over the front door. One big room downstairs for meeting, eating, registering, buying and smoking cigars, spitting, and talking. At least I presume all this - I only looked at it through the open door. We got a room at the Harvey House connected with the station and slept well in spite of two or three trains going under our window. The Santa Fe Railroad goes by there and stops. A small country crowd tumbles out to the restaurant and gets a terribly good meal.
It all felt very, very Western: the quiet, the lack of pressure or touch with progress (not that Western towns aren't progressive, but a small, distant country town isn't). TAT has built a magnificent field and hangar with attractive offices, the equipment being the most modern, efficient, progressive, down to the last detail. The entire town came out to see the dedication. Some townsman said there hadn't been such a crowd since the dedication of the pavement!
The Lindberghs entertained the Waynoka TAT crew with a dinner at the Harvey House. Other times when they dined at the Harvey House, they entered through a back door to avoid attention, the citizens of Waynoka allowing them privacy.
On July 7, 1929, at 6:05 PM Eastern time, Lindbergh, in the office of California Governor C.C. Young, pressed a button that flashed a light 3,000 miles away at Pennsylvania Station. At the signal, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Airway Limited started its westbound journey, as a band played California, Here I Come!
Arriving in Columbus the next morning, the twenty or so westbound rail passengers boarded two Ford Tri-Motors for the flight to Waynoka.
In flight, clean-cut college-boy couriers served meals and saw to the comfort of the travelers. Every passenger on the full run received a solid gold fountain pen from Tiffany's and cotton balls to protect their ears from the noise. In turbulence, slices of lemon were provided, though often passengers merely opened the windows for a breath of fresh air.
Amelia Earhart, named Assistant to the TAT General Manager to encourage women to fly, was on the first westbound plane, accompanied by her good friend, Dorothy Putnam, heir to the Crayola fortune.
Arriving at about 6:30PM in Waynoka, the travelers were transported from the airport to the Harvey House in the Aerocar, a specially designed wood-and-fabric trailer pulled behind a car. After dinner at the Harvey House, they boarded the night train to Clovis.
In Los Angeles, on the morning of July 8, a throng of people watched Mary Pickford christen the Tri-Motor City of Los Angeles, with Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks, the Lindberghs, and other dignitaries in attendance. Lindbergh personally piloted the eastbound flight as far as Winslow.
A few days later on her return trip in the Tri-Motor City of San Francisco, Dorothy Putnam recorded some excitement: Within the hour we've had a terrifying thrill. Our radio burned out and the fire, smoke and smell at 10,000 ft. altitude over mountains and valleys gave one to think!
As the trips continued in both directions, Waynoka was filled with excitement and enthusiasm. Local people took advantage of flying to Wichita for shopping or to attend a ballgame. If word came that Lindy would be flying in, a line of cars would make its way to the airport to get a glimpse of the famous aviator. Each week, the Waynoka newspaper listed the names of TAT passengers, which included Lionel Barrymore and John Gilbert of the movies, Ernie Pyle and numerous other reporters, government and railroad officials, airline personnel, and Will Rogers.
TRAGEDY STRIKES
In spite of all the safety measures implemented by TAT, on September 3, less than two months after its initial flight, the Tri-Motor City of San Francisco was reported missing between Albuquerque and Los Angeles. Col. Lindbergh joined the massive ground and air search. Four days later the wreckage was found on the south side of 10,000-ft. Mt. Taylor in New Mexico. All eight aboard perished.
It was a blow from which TAT never recovered. Less than two months later, a Western Express F-10 crashed into the same mountain, killing all 5 persons aboard. Passenger numbers dwindled to almost nothing. To encourage passengers, TAT advertised motion pictures to be shown in the air from Waynoka to Columbus. They boasted of Fred Harvey's fine food service. They offered radio service for passengers. They even flew their own people to swell the numbers. Finally, in January 1930, after fares had been lowered to less than $160, traffic picked up, increasing 450%-- nearly 6,800 passengers in two months.
But TAT was losing money. The directors began to look for a merger to salvage the airline. In February 1930, Maddux Airlines became part of TAT, adding fifteen Tri-Motors to the fleet and adding a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco route.
Following the established TAT custom of naming airplanes, the Tri-Motor City of Waynoka was christened on a Sunday afternoon in April 1930, little more than two months after the TAT-Maddux merger. The Waynoka High School Band provided the music, while Miss Waynoka, Ruth Goodale, performed the christening. TAT-Maddux then offered twenty-minute airplane rides to the public, charging $3 for an afternoon flight and $5 for a night flight.
THE END IS NEAR
In its first 18 months of operation, TAT lost $2.7 million. The directors realized the air-rail concept was not workable and merged with Western Air Express, to become Transcontinental and Western Airlines-- TWA. On October 1, 1930, the U.S. Postmaster awarded a lucrative mail contract to TWA, which helped subsidize its passenger operations. By the end of October, the announcement had been made that TWA would cease operations in Waynoka.
FINAL CHAPTERS
In 1939, the huge TAT hangar was dismantled and moved to the airport in Little Rock, AR-- a WPA project. The building is still being used, as show in the picture, by Central Flying Service.
During WWII, the US Army Air Corps used the TAT airport runways for practice landings. In 1945, TWA sold the 320-acre half-section to two area farmers, Miles and Harrison Olson. The land was returned to farm use, but the Olson descendents and many of the neighbors still refer to the property as the airport.
Two brick buildings remain at the site-- the garage and the transformer house. The concrete apron provides a place to park farm machinery, and hay shed has been constructed on the hangar site. One can still easily identify where the walls of the hangar stood.
Waynoka's Harvey House closed in 1937, after which the Santa Railroad used it as a depot, reading room, and storage area, finally closing it in the early 1990s. After the railroad donated the building to the City of Waynoka, the Waynoka Historical Society completed a beautiful $1-million restoration in 2000. The Transportation Museum on the second floor features TAT, Santa Fe, and Fred Harvey exhibits, with historic photos and artifacts.
The Museum and Gift Shop are open from noon till 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and Friday and Saturday evenings. The Gift Shop sells books, videos and gifts.
On the first floor of the Harvey House, El Charro Restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday.
If you would like to plan a special air trip to Waynoka and the Harvey House, the Waynoka Historical Society would be happy to arrange transportation from the Waynoka Municipal Airport. Call 580.824.1886 for further information.
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