Aerial_wilshire_boulevard_and_fairfax_avenue_looking_north1920

Mercury Aviation Company was one of the first commercial

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

services founded in 1919 by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...

. DeMille, Hollywood American film director and producer, was one of the first to see the

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

's potential in commercial airline service. At first Mercury Aviation flew

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

surplus

Curtiss JN-4 Jenny The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

for sightseeing and charter flights from DeMille Field No. 1 and then later purchased passenger planes. DeMille restored a World War I plane in 1917. Mercury Aviation Company did not make a profit and closed in 1922 after two years of operation.

Al Wilson Aldra Kauwa Wilson (born June 21, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the University of Tennessee, and ...

was DeMille's flight instructor and became the manager of the company for a short time.

Air Service

Mercury Aviation Company's Mercury Air Lines started regular scheduled flights in May 1921. Mercury Aviation Company offered flights to Santa Catalina Island,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Other cities were added to the airline service. Mercury Aviation Company thus became the first airline service to offer flights to multiple destinations. Over 25,000 passengers were transported in the two years of Mercury Aviation Company operation. Mercury Aviation Company closed in 1922 with no crashes in its two years of operation.

DeMille Field No. 1

DeMille Field No. 1 built by Cecil B. DeMille in 1918, located at the southwest corner of

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Beve ...

and Fairfax Avenue, Fairfax was called Crescent Avenue in the 1920s. DeMille Field No. 1 was located at across the street from the current Fairfax High School. In 1920 he closed DeMille Field No. 1 and move to DeMille Field No. 2. The DeMille Field No. 1 site is now houses in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles.

DeMille Field No. 2

DeMille Field No. 2 also called Mercury Field was at the northwest corner of Lindenhurst Ave and Fairfax Avenue, Fairfax was called Crescent Avenue in the 1920s. The was just north of the Sydney Chaplin's Airport at . Cecil B. DeMille's Mercury Aviation Company purchased a Junkers-Larsen JL-6 aircraft in August 1920 and start his commercial airline. Eddie Rickenbacker, World War 1 ace delivered the new JL-6 to DeMille Field No. 2. Before operating the JL-6, Mercury Aviation flew World War I surplus

for sightseeing, US Mail, cargo and charter flights. Cecil B. DeMille used DeMille Field No. 2 for some of his silent picture films. In August 1920 two stunt pilots were killed at DeMille Field No. 2: Ormer "Lock" Locklear and Milton "Skeets" Elliott, the making of '' The Skywayman''. Mercury Aviation Company had a unique gas station at Fairfax and Wilshire. One side filled up cars the other side filled up aircraft. DeMille Field No. 2 was the site of the first passenger plane to land from

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. The airport closed in 1930, as Mercury was not profitable. The site is now housing in the Fairfax District.

Eaton Altadena

Eaton Altadena Airport was built by Mercury Aviation Company in 1922 in

Altadena, California Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

located at at 1347 East Mendocino Street. The airport also served nearby

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Eaton Altadena had much less service than Field No. 2. The site is now the Altadena Town & Country Club.

References

{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Airlines disestablished in 1919 Airlines established in 1930 Defunct airlines of the United States 1919 establishments in California 1930 disestablishments in California American companies disestablished in 1919 American companies established in 1919 Airlines based in California

Air Service

DeMille Field No. 1

DeMille Field No. 2

Eaton Altadena

See also

References