Aéronautique

1939 · réf. 91398 — Washington DC: Civil Aeronautics Authority c1939. Presumed one on multiple originals. Envelope. Good. The format is approximately 9 inches by 4 inches. Face of envelope has "Civil Aeronautics Authority Washington Official Business in the upper left corner. In the upper right corner it states Penalty for Private Use to Avoid Payment of Postage $300. The center portion has the address Civil Aeronautics Authority Washington D.C. The envelope is sealed but shows as empty against a light source. This rare possibly unique surviving artifact of the brief CAA era is suitable and perhaps ideal for museum exhibits or memorabilia collections. The 1938 Act superseded the Watres Act which had regulated commercial aviation from the mid-1920s. Predecessor agencies included the Aeronautics Branch 1926-1934 the Bureau of Air Commerce 1934-1938 and the Bureau of Air Mail Interstate Commerce Commission 1934-38. Prior to 1938 the airlines in the U. S. asked for regulation. There was little air traffic control. That which existed was provided by the biggest airlines themselves. There were significant high profile crashes that killed prominent people and brought air travel into disrepute. The airlines formed the Air Transport Association of America today's Airlines for America and one of its first activities was lobbying for government regulation. The 1938 Act created three positions/bodies: the Civil Aeronautics Authority CAA an Administrator of Aviation and an Air Safety Board. The 1940 Amendment to the Civil Aeronautics Act redistributed functions between two new bodies: CAB and CAA with powers split between them. The Civil Aviation Authority had a very short official life span. In 1938 oversight of civil aviation passed to a new independent agency the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Among the seminal events of the CAA era was the establishment of a pair of major new facilities one devoted to research and one to a spectrum of functions. Opened in May 1939 the Indianapolis Experimental Station was dedicated to seeking improvements in such aeronautical fields as communications navigation lighting and landing systems. Since 1940 the CAA had been redesignated the Civil Aeronautics Administration and had operated as a part of the Commerce Department. The Experimental Station was later renamed the Technical Development and Evaluation Center then gradually deactivated after the establishment of a new research and testing facility in New Jersey in 1958. In May 1946 the CAA announced the selection of Will Rogers Field at Oklahoma City as the location of its new aeronautical center. The municipal government agreed to construct an administrative building and two hangars for the agency's use. The CAA quickly began to concentrate its many aircraft maintenance and training activities at this central location. Civil Aeronautics Authority unknown