A few of the important characters in The Couriers of Herodotus didn’t contribute to the dialogue but made a huge contribution to the story and to aviation history.
Where would a book of historical aviation fiction be without a cast of airplane characters?
The star of Chapters 5 and 9 is the solid, dependable DeHavilland DH-4.
When the United States entered World War One, the initial contribution in the field of aviation was little more than some trained pilots and a lot of energy. The U.S. had no combat aircraft and the time it would take to create, test, and manufacture suitable designs simply wasn’t available.
A commission was appointed to evaluate current European combat aircraft and several French and British designs were selected for manufacture, under license, in the U.S. One of the designs chosen was the DeHavilland DH4, a British bomber. One complete airframe arrived in the U.S. in July of 1917 and was immediately copied for manufacture by several companies.
The airplane had a crew of two: a pilot in the front cockpit and a bomber/gunner in the more open rear cockpit.
Earlier that year, another group was tasked to design a water-cooled engine intended primarily for aircraft but adaptable for tanks and boats. Two designers, representing two major engine manufacturers, Jesse Vincent of the Packard Company and Elbert Hall of Hall-Scott, were brought to D.C., given rooms in a hotel and told not to leave until they had a completed design. In less than a week they had designed a modular engine that could be built in a 4, 6, 8 or 12 cylinder configuration. The design used the overhead camshaft valve design of contemporary German aircraft engines.
A prototype was soon tested and manufacture began of primarily the V-12 configuration producing 400 horsepower. It was named the Liberty engine. The engine was soon mated with the DH-4 airframes and they were shipped to France. The aircraft proved to be very successful, in part due to the higher displacement offered by the Liberty engine.
Meanwhile, back in the States…
In the Spring of 1918, the Post Office was just beginning plans for the air mail service that had been approved and funded by Congress the previous year. The Army saw this as a great way to give newly-trained pilots experience in air navigation and the Army began flying the mail in May of 1918. The service began with 6 brand new Curtiss JN4 “Jenny” aircraft. These were the “H” models equipped with the 150 horsepower Hispano-Suiza engine instead of the more common 90 horsepower Curtiss engine. This made a good choice from the pilot’s standpoint since they had used the Jenny in their training. The front cockpits, normally occupied by an instructor, were converted into a mail compartment. Three months later, the Post Office hired their own pilots, purchased 6 aircraft from the Standard Aircraft Company of New Jersey and the JR-1B became the primary air mail aircraft.
When the Armistice was signed in November of 1918, many of the completed DH-4 aircraft had never been delivered overseas and the government found itself with aircraft and engines it didn’t need in a peacetime environment. But at this same time, the air mail was gaining in success and larger, faster aircraft were needed.
In almost biblical fashion, these aeronautical swords were converted to plowshares.
Initially, the pilot’s controls were moved to the rear cockpit, previously occupied by the bomber/gunner and the front cockpit was converted into a large mail compartment. Over time many additional modifications were made and the aircraft became the mainstay of the air mail system even after new aircraft, purpose-built to carry the mail were designed.