Who is Arthur Godfrey

Mansplaneing in the 1950s?  In celebration of 50 years of flight a documentary was made in 1953.  Aviation needed an ambassador.  Someone who the public knew to show how far Aviation have come, and to convince people to fly.

Transcript

Paula 0:00

For the Best Aerospace Era this is the mansplaining podcast. Here is your host Anthony L. Sealey

0:10

Welcome aerospace enthusiasts. In the first few decades of aviation, most of society was, let's say, apprehensive about the idea of getting on an airplane. A much larger portion of society than today, and I don't blame them. airlines and aircraft manufacturers needed to put together a film for the public and put a face on aviation to show that it was safe. Someone who the public knew and was familiar with, but also someone who had real aviation credentials. Eastern Airlines found just the man for the job, a man named Arthur Godfrey. But who was Arthur Godfrey? I will get to who Arthur Godfrey is and the aviation documentary, Flying with Arthur Godfrey, in a moment. First, let's look at the year nineteen fifty-three, the year Flying with Arthur Godfrey premiered. Dwight D. Eisenhower is president. Ben Hogan won the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia. Rocky Marciano is the Boxing World Heavyweight Champion. In baseball, the Cincinnati Reds officially changed their name to the Cincinnati Redlegs, a name they would keep for the next five years. They did this to disassociate themselves from the communists known as Reds. This is deep Cold War time Speaking of, a ceasefire agreement was reached in the Korean conflict, although that war is still technically going on right now. I just talked about the Korean War in a previous episode. The sci-fi classic War of the Worlds hit theaters. A massive storm surge in what is known as the North Sea Flood of nineteen fifty-three killed more than two thousand people in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The most popular car on the road was a Chevrolet 210. Speaking of Chevrolet, the first Corvette was unveiled in 1953. The average cost of a home in 1953 was between eighteen and twenty thousand dollars. Also in 1953, there were people alive who could still remember a world without airplanes. As you can see, 1953 was a very different time, but this is also the perfect time for a documentary about aviation. It was fifty years after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers after all. Now, I have talked at length on the Mansplaneing Podcast about how dangerous flying was for pilots and passengers in the first few decades of the Best Aerospace Era. The growing pains of aerospace engineering cost hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. At the same time, I have profiled the rise of aircraft manufacturers and airline companies, some of which that are still in business today. How did aircraft manufacturers and, more importantly, airline companies convince the traveling public to fly with them instead of driving or taking the train? Well, I watched a documentary from 1953 that sought to do just that, and I want to talk about it here on Mansplaneing. The film is Flying with Arthur Godfrey. Now, this film is from 1953, and it is very of its time from the presentation, the music, and the way those on screen talk. Most people today may not initially appeal to this film, especially those with an attention span of less than eight seconds. I'm talking to you TikTok addicts and doomscrollers. But if you give this film a chance and think about what it's trying to accomplish here back in the 1950s, it becomes a very interesting look at aviation history. And after this episode, I suggest you find it on YouTube and watch it. Now, who is Arthur Godfrey? Arthur Godfrey was born in Manhattan, New York on August 31st, 1903. Hey, that's less than four months before the first flight, right? Godfrey served in the US Navy and Coast Guard before becoming a well-known entertainer on radio and television. He is way before my time, just like most of everyone else listening here, so I did some research on his credits. Godfrey is most known for his radio show, Arthur Godfrey Time, on the CBS Radio Network. I also checked his name on IMDb, and the list of his credits from radio programs, along with guest appearances on TV and movies, is extensive. Godfrey was most popular in part because of his more casual and relatable delivery. He has not one, but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he is also in the Radio Hall of Fame. Now, unless you're an old movie or entertainment buff, then you might not have heard the name Arthur Godfrey before. In the 1950s, however, he was a major public figure that almost anyone could identify with and felt comfortable seeing on film or hearing his voice. He was also an avid aviator, as you will see from the film Flying with Arthur Godfrey. You may find that this film is not just an aviation documentary to celebrate fifty years in the air, but is also a concept to persuade those who are apprehensive about flying at the time to get on a plane. Let's get into it. Flying with Arthur Godfrey begins with the man himself, Arthur Godfrey, showing off his many aviation certifications and licenses. The one he says he's most proud of is being an honorary captain for Eastern Airlines. In fact, you may find that this film is a backdoor advertisement for Eastern Airlines. After this scene, Godfrey shows a model of a very early flying machine, the kind I often mention here on Mansplaneing, that are made simply of wood, wire, and fabric. To me, it looks like the June Bug that Glenn Curtis flew in the earliest days of powered flight. In the next scene, though, another example is shown flying in the air: the legendary SPAD 13. Once the SPAD 13 lands, it is revealed that the pilot is none other than World War I ace of aces himself, Eddie Rickenbacker. I've mentioned his name on the podcast before, haven't Rickenbacker, at this time, was the head of Eastern Airlines. Here, though, he's in his mid-60s, but age didn't stop him from showing off in the air and flying the same aircraft he flew during World War I. Godfrey and Rickenbacker briefly talk about how far aviation has come in the past 50 years from these early examples to all-metal airplanes. Then we have my favorite scene of the entire film. Godfrey and Rickenbacker are shown walking and approaching the camera with the SPAD 13 in the foreground, and in the background is the much larger all-metal Lockheed Constellation with the Eastern livery. It's an awesome scene that was made without CGI. Now, for some enthusiasts, the Lockheed Constellation is their all-time favorite aircraft They are affectionately referred to as Connie. The first prototype of the Lockheed Constellation, the Lockheed XC-69, first flew in January of 1943. A small number of them were used in World War II as military transports, but in the airline industry is where the Connie really rose to legendary status. This aircraft was later developed into the L-1049 Super Constellation, with a wingspan of 123 feet, a length of 113 feet, and powered by four Wright engines. It could fly around 350 miles per hour while accommodating between 65 to 88 passengers, depending on the interior configuration. I got these specs from the National Air and Space Museum website, by the way. Now this is the aircraft that Godfrey will demonstrate just how far, and more importantly, how safe and routine aviation has become. After Rickenbacker departs the scene, Godfrey says he's going to bring us along, the audience, along with him in the cockpit on a flight and show you just how everything works. Godfrey is dressed as an airline captain, very similar to how captains and first officers dress today. The kind of uniform that instills confidence to any passenger. He introduces the crew he will be flying with, one of which is a flight engineer. Early airliners used to have a flight engineer until more modern jet airliners were introduced decades later. Godfrey and the first officer check in with the dispatch and the weather desk. This is something that will never change. Wheather it's general aviation, the military, the airlines, or a space launch, operation is always contingent on the weather forecast. The flight route is a popular one and a big moneymaker for Eastern, a flight from New York to Florida. New Yorkers love Florida, don't they? Now Godfrey takes the audience into the cockpit, or the flight deck as we call it today, of the Eastern Lockheed Constellation. An inside look that most people at the time had never seen before. From this perspective, Godfrey is in the left seat, the captain's seat. He explains, or rather Mansplaneins, what the dials indicate to the flight crew and how most of the controls work. This is an effort to put those at ease who may be intimidated by all the switches, controls, and dials they see. Godfrey and the in-flight crew goes through the routine checklists, The same kind of checklist flight crews go through on every flight every day. As someone who works in the airline business on the ramp, I can't tell you how many times I've heard a first officer say over the headset, "Standby, we have one more checklist to complete." If you're in the airlines, you know what I'm talking about. If I had a dollar for every time I heard it, I could have retired long ago. The film also shows how Godfrey communicates to the ramp agents on the ground through a headset and hand signals, in the same way that we do today. After starting the Connie's four engines, the ramp agent holds up and shows Godfrey the gear pins. Godfrey and the ramp agent give each other a salute. This happens on every ramp in every airport today. In fact, the first airline I ever worked for required us to salute the captain and first officer before they taxied off. I still do this today, even though it's not required by my current airline. Godfrey shows how they operate the controls for takeoff. Once they make it in the air, and they reach an optimal level, Godfrey does something unexpected. He lights up a cigarette Now this is one thing I have not talked about before in regard to flying on an airline back in the best aerospace era. With passengers being able to smoke freely during the flight, those cabins must have smelled like an ashtray. In fact, some airlines had passenger seats with ashtrays built into the armrest. That doesn't sound nice, does it? Although if you were alive back then, that smell would be the reality anywhere you went, so you'd probably be used to it. Imagine if passengers today were able to vape on a plane. That would be almost as annoying if people were able to talk on their cell phones or FaceTime someone while on a flight. I would hate that. After having a smoke, a Chesterfield actually, Godfrey explains how they navigate by bouncing radio signals back and forth off radio towers. This is long before GPS. The first satellite hadn't even been launched. He also demonstrates how they communicate to the tower of the airport that they're flying to before landing using radio signals and runway lights. He ensures everyone watching how all of this helps pilots locate and land at their intended destination in good or bad weather, and how routine everything is after landing. As airline workers, we do this every day. Godfrey proves that he knows what he's doing, and that he's not just some celebrity or actor who said, "I played a pilot on TV, I know how to fly a plane now." With Godfrey's casual delivery and the sound of the Connie's four engines, the film comes off very calming, almost relaxing. That's kind of the point of this film, really. It's intended to reach those who are intimidated by the idea of flying on an airplane and convince them to take a flight. Hopefully, buy a ticket on Eastern. In a scene later in the film, Godfrey demonstrates that the Lockheed Constellation can fly with just one of its four engines running with no problem. There used to be a regulation that said airliners had to have more than two engines to be ready to fly over large bodies of water, just in case there was a problem with one of the engines. What did this regulation lead to? Well, this is where tri-jets, like the DC-10, the Lockheed L-1011, and the Boeing 727 come from. Those planes dominated the skies just a decade or so later. Now, after landing, we move on to another scene. The Lockheed Constellation is not the only modern marvel of the 1950s aviation shown here. There are a few other airplanes shown on film. I will just mention one other here. It's another from Lockheed. Lockheed's made some amazing airplanes over the years. This one's a jet, the F-94C Starfire. The F94C Starfire had a wingspan of thirty-seven feet, a length of forty-four feet, and was powered by a Pratt Whitney jet engine with afterburner. It can reach a speed of six hundred and forty miles per hour. I get those specs from the National Museum of the United States Air Force website, by the way. It's one of the first US jet interceptors made to meet any and all threats in the air from rival nations. Think about it. The attack on Pearl Harbor is still fresh in everyone's mind in 1953, and the Cold War with the Soviets is ramping up, so this is a very important jet fighter at the time, and a logical choice to profile here in this film. Godfrey explains the difference between prop engines and jet engines here, And an Air Force pilot demonstrates the F-94's speed and how it performs in the air. In another scene, a camera, I guess the equivalent of a GoPro in 1953, is placed in the tail of the F-94 to show what it's like to break the sound barrier. The audience gets to see and hear the F-94 break the sound barrier and experience the silence after. For perspective, Chuck Yeager officially broke the sound barrier for the first time in a Bell X-1 rocket plane just six years prior in 1947. This was cutting-edge aerospace engineering in 1953. I'm sure the audience at the time were mesmerized by how fast a jet can go compared to a prop plane. He also makes the case to those teenagers in the 1950s to join the US Air Force and the United States Navy to learn how to fly in the military. Of course he would do this. Godfrey served in the Navy. I wonder how many kids one day joined because of this film During and after this, Godfrey talks about how jets will one day be incorporated into the airlines. In another scene, he meets and talks again with the head of Eastern Airlines himself, Eddie Rickenbacker, about what the future holds for aviation. Much of this conversation is about how fast airline travel will become one day with larger jet airliners. This conversation became true. In the next 10 or so years, jet airliners, Like the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and the Convair 880 will be seen at airports across the nation beside prop airliners like the DC-3, the DC-7, and of course, the Lockheed Constellation. What an amazing sight this must have been to see in the early 1960s. This is an aerospace enthusiast's dream. Can you think of a movie or TV show that shows this kind of scene with vintage airplanes? Rickenbacker even mentions the role that helicopters would play in transporting people from cities and towns to airports. Keep in mind that helicopters are much newer than airplanes in the 1950s. Now this hasn't really happened on a large scale yet. Maybe for those living in mega cities like New York, and that is only if you can afford that sort of thing. Do you think more helicopter or even drone transportation will happen in the next 50 years? As I have said before, at times this feels like an ad for Eastern Airlines If you had listened to my episode, An Ace in the Airlines, you know Eddie Rickenbacker was a savvy businessman. He knew anyone who was encouraged by this film would want to buy a ticket and fly on Eastern Airlines. Also, this would inspire kids to become the next generation of airline workers at Eastern. The same goes for the aerospace manufacturer Lockheed, because two of their aircraft are profiled here in this film. As I said before, Lockheed's made some awesome airplanes over the years. I have to profile them one day. One major thing I want to bring up here is how Godfrey shows and explains how valuable the ramp agents, the flight attendants, the mechanics, and air traffic control workers are to the airline industry. He makes it a point to show that aviation is not possible without their efforts. That's true back in the 1950s, that's true today, and it always will. If you remember my first Extra Section episode, my guest, Jeff Lester, brought this film up. We should have him on again, shouldn't we? Flying with Arthur Godfrey is very of his time, from the presentation, the music, and the way he talks, and others on-screen talk. But if you give it a chance and watch it all the way to the end, it is a very interesting artifact of aviation history. Now, Arthur Godfrey is an excellent host with his casual way of speaking, and he does an awesome job of giving the audience an inside look at aviation, the airline industry, and what the future holds for aviation. It is evident that he's one of us, a passionate aerospace enthusiast. If he were alive today, I'm sure that he would have a podcast and host major figures from the aerospace world, and of course, celebrities, as he was in the entertainment industry. Since he's not around today, you have to settle for this aerospace enthusiast and The Mansplaneing Podcast. What if a film like this was made today? Is there a well-known celebrity with real aviation credentials that you have in mind that could host and fly a major airline today, just as Arthur Godfrey did for this film back in 1953? Which airline today can or should make a film like this again? Also, do you think a film like this will be needed to be made in the next 100 or so years for space transportation? Thank you so much for listening, and remember, there's always a light at the end of the runway.

Paula 26:29

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