These twenty TWA Coast-to-Coast scheduled flights were created using the
best available resources I could find. Using today's VORs and NDBs, they
follow as accurately as possible the 1937 air routes of long-range (200nm)
Long-Wave four-course radio beacons, the 1937 TWA route schedule, and the
airports then in use.
The twenty scheduled routes include 112 individual "flights" or "legs". Some
of these legs are flown in one route and then again flown as part of another
scheduled route, but by a different airplane.
In 1935 TWA flew the DC-2 on these routes using "Sky-Sleeper Service." But
the DC-3, which Douglas was already promoting in "Aviation Week" magazine,
soon replaced the DC-2. For the first time ever, with the "Sky Chief" one
could leave New York at the end of one business day and arrive in Los
Angeles the next morning in time for a business meeting.
For accuracy, I consulted with a retired TWA pilot who flew the routes in a
DC-3, beginning in 1946 after leaving the military. (He retired in the 1970s
as a Boeing 747 Captain!)
He wrote me:
New Nav facilities were constantly being installed. New and/or relocated radio facilities often meant a new airway or straightening a jog in an older one. Also before long, if not at first to some extent, there were alternate 'side routes' for weather deviations. Therefore the best that you can do is 'to go' with the 'Main' or usual route, since there was no, 'must use' route. The shortest set of airways was used when there was no need for deviations. [By the way, the VOR came along in the late '40's.]
The "Sky Chief" was the name of a route that was originally flown by the
DC-2, and later the DC-3. The TWA pilot told me that the airline dropped the
name "Sky Chief" after WW2 as it was too similar to that of the railroad's
"Super Chief." They no longer wanted any resemblance or any comparison to
the railroads.
The schedules include actual TWA Departure and Arrival times should you
desire to set your time-of-day to that of the original flight. Or, you can
fly the route at any time you wish and enjoy the ever-changing cross-country
scenery!
I plotted and flight-tested them using FS2002 and FSNavigator ... I used
"Real Weather," too, and was able to meet the schedule times – as was Dave
Arnold, DCA-520!
Enjoy,
Jay Schneider, DCA523
November 2003
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Here is some interesting reading I found about the TWA route:
"Surely, silently, swiftly, this mighty monarch of the air glides across the
central trans-continental skyway, offering the utmost in comfort and
security. Here is speed – the fastest mode of transportation – yet smooth
and motionless beyond comparison."
"Mile after mile of soft, fleecy clouds unfold in all their splendor, a sea
of cotton tinted with the hues of the setting sun. The air castles formed by
the billowy clouds often separate to disclose the world below. Restless
cities and the winding trails of a former day pass in review before those
who have chosen this supreme achievement in transportation – the criterion
for all air travel – The Sky Chief."
In the late 1930s TWA's "Sky Chiefs" chugged from Newark to Chicago to
Kansas City to Albuquerque and then on to LA on a pretty regular basis. The
17 hour and 39 minute journey carried 17 passengers and 3 crew:
Newark's Eastern Terminal of the Lindbergh Line was the place where they
started. Every day at 4:45pm (ET) TWA flight #5 started the long journey
west. Chicago's Municipal Airport was touch-downed just shy of five hours
later, at 8:30 (CT) that same night. Thirty minutes after that the "gigantic
monster of the air ... eight tons of metal" left for Kansas City. After a 27
minute-long near-midnight refueling stop in Missouri the "mighty monarch of
the air" continued west into "Indian country" and landed at Albuquerque at
4:17am (MT). A little more than four hours later, at 7:30am (PT), saw the
DC-2 hangared at Los Angeles's Grand Central Airport in Glendale.
Thereafter, from LA you could connect upward to San Francisco on a United
Air Lines flight (adding another 159 minutes to your travel day), or to San
Diego or Palm Springs via other airlines. Twelve hours later the same crew
flew the same plane back to Newark.
In-flight meals, 'laptop' typewriters, reclining seats, fluffy pillows were
the norm.
This 1937 TWA "Sky Chief" guide to your transcontinental flight pretty much
told you what to expect:
"A short trip from the center of town to the airport, with a careful driver
in a modern limousine ... The air terminal – a veritable hum of activity –
uniformed attendants – baggage checked – telegrams sent – magazines bought
... And then the thrilling call, 'All Aboard' – the two engines roar in
perfect unison ... From city to city, from coast to coast a message is
flashed – 'Sky Chief departed on time' – Seventeen people and a thousand
pounds of mail rise to the skyway. The mighty liner gains altitude charting
its course for the first of five stops between New York and California ... "
"Up front, seated side-by-side two thoroughly trained pilots study their
maps – keep a watchful eye on their instruments – while the plane, powered
by two 710-horsepower engines and guided by a gyro pilot, never deviates
from its charted course ... "
"Hello Chicago – First Westbound Sky Chief calling – we are now flying 10
miles west of Plymouth at eight thousand feet – ceiling unlimited,
visibility 10 miles – will be landing in Chicago in 25 minutes. What is your
wind and weather? ... "
" ... Chicago calling First Sky Chief – wind here 10 miles per hour
southwest – barometer thirty ten – weather clear and unlimited ... "
"A dinner served above the clouds is so tempting – so appetizing. Just to
breathe the clean, fresh air aloft seems to stimulate an appetite that only
a tasty fried chicken dinner can satisfy ... "
"The lights of a city ahead – the flash of a beacon – and the skyliner
begins its slow descent to the airport of another city ... "
"The skyliner takes a long drink of gasoline – 510 gallons – enough to fly
over a thousand miles without refueling ... "
"In ten minutes the plane is off to a fresh start – next stop Kansas City –
half way across the continent ... "
"The air is still and calm. There is no perceptible motion and the cabin is
very quiet. The watchful hostess notes a nod of the head – suggests a more
comfortable position – adjusts the chair – adds a pillow or two for perfect
comfort – draws a curtain – and hundreds of miles slip by unnoticed as sleep
creeps across the passenger ... "
"In another part of the cabin a bridge game is in progress – two chairs
having been reversed to face two others... "
"And as the journey draws to a close the passengers, refreshed and relaxed
and with renewed energy, reluctantly leave the skyliner. Quiet, luxurious
parlor cabins – freedom from dust and dirt and the smooth swift flights
place TWA unequaled by other means of travel. Weary travel hours and days
were for pioneers – while today's passengers enjoy the energy saving, time
saving and economical air transportation ... "
"It is a story to tell – the story of the Sky Chief." - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From ON TIME – THE SKY CHIEF, Copyright 1937, Transcontinental & Western
Airways, Inc.
This booklet was given to all passengers who traveled on TWA's "Sky Chief"
service.
The TWA logo remained intact with the renaming in 1950 to Trans World
Airlines.