HISTORY
Thomas W. Benoist (29
December 1874 – 14 June 1917) was an
American aviator and aircraft
manufacturer. In an aviation career
of only ten years, he formed the
world's
first aircraft parts distribution
company, established one of the
leading early American aircraft
manufacturing companies and a
successful flying school, and from
January to April 1914 operated the
world's
first scheduled airline.
Benoist purchased a
Curtiss-type airplane built
by Howard Gill and learned
to fly it, making his first
flight on 18 September 1910
at the Kinloch Park Aero
Club field in Kinloch,
Missouri. He gave flying
exhibitions in the
Midwestern and Southern
United States, but an injury
he suffered in a flying
mishap during one of them
prevented him from taking
part in an international
aviation meet in mid-October
1910. He recovered quickly,
however, and on 22 December
1910 received a pilot's
license from the Aero Club
of America, the first person
from St. Louis to do so.
In March 1911, Benoist
established the Aerosco
Flying School at Kinloch
Field, and it soon drew
students from throughout the
United States; it later was
renamed the Benoist Flying
School. At around the same
time, he bought out his
partner and moved the
original Aerosco company to
a larger facility in a
suburb of St. Louis,
renaming it the Benoist
Aircraft Company. With the
name change, he reoriented
the company from dealing in
aviation parts and kits for
aircraft by other
manufacturers to building
airplanes of original
design. As an intermediate
step, he designed and
manufactured a version of
the Curtiss-Gill airplane he
had purchased in 1910. The
flying school and
manufacturing concern were
both so successful that
Benoist airplanes and pilots
soon were appearing all over
the United States.
On 20 October 1911, the
Benoist Aircraft factory
burned to the ground,
destroying five complete
airplanes, many tools,
machinery, and all of the
company's
files. Although the loss was
not insured, Benoist bounced
back quickly, opening a new
factory nearby, bringing
aviator Tony Jannus – who
would soon become its chief
pilot – into the company in
November 1911, and designing
and building the first
Benoist airplane of
completely original design,
the Type XII Headless,
before the end of 1911.
By 1912, Benoist Aircraft
was one of the leading
aircraft companies in the
world. The Type XII Headless
made history when, piloted
by Jannus, it carried Albert
Berry over Kinloch Field on
1 March 1912 and Berry made
the world's
first successful parachute
jump from an airplane.
Improvements in the Type XII
led to the development of
the Land Tractor Type XII
later in the year, which,
configured as a floatplane,
set a distance record for
overwater flight in a
journey of 1,973 miles
(3,177 km) down the Missouri
and Mississippi rivers from
Omaha, Nebraska, to New
Orleans, Louisana, between 6
November and 16 December
1912. Jannus performed 42
aerial exhibitions during
the trip, exposing thousands
of people in the central and
southern United States to
aviation.
In December 1912, Benoist
Aircraft produced its first
flying boat, the Type XIII
Lake Cruiser, which the
company demonstrated widely
during the summer of 1913. A
larger Type XIV flying boat
soon followed.
In 1913, Percival E. Fansler
brought in Benoist to start
an air passenger service
using Benoist Aircraft's
new flying boats to connect
St. Petersburg and Tampa,
Florida, two cities that
otherwise were a day's
travel apart at the time.
Benoist signed a three-month
contract to provide the
service with the St.
Petersburg Board of Trade on
17 December 1913,
subsidizing 50% of the costs
for starting the airline.
Benoist initiated the
service, the St.
Petersburg-Tampa Airboat
Line, using a Benoist XIV
flying boat, on 1 January
1914. It was the first
scheduled airline service in
the world. Two Benoist XIVs
provided twice-daily service
across Tampa Bay and by the
time the initial contract
expired on 31 March 1914 had
transported 1,204 passengers
without injury, losing only
four days to mechanical
problems. A decline in
business led the airline to
shut down in late April 1914
and sell its two flying
boats.
Unable to secure a large
contract for its airplanes
during World War I, Benoist
Aircraft began to experience
financial problems by 1915.
To reduce costs, Benoist
moved the company first to
Chicago, Illinois, and then
to Sandusky, Ohio, where it
affiliated with the Roberts
Motor Company, which was
Benoist's
preferred source for
aircraft engines. Benoist
designed the Type XVI flying
boat and Type XVII
landplane, both of which
appeared in 1916.
On 14 June 1917, Benoist
died when he struck his head
against a telephone pole
while stepping off a
streetcar in front of the
Roberts Motor Company in
Sandusky. With him gone and
facing continued financial
problems, the Benoist
Aircraft Company and the
Roberts Motor Company both
went out of business in
early 1918. Benoist Aircraft
had built just over 100
airplanes in its history by
the time it ceased
operations.
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