The airline was known as the St. PetersburgTampa Airboat Line.
A Model 14 Benoist floatplane flying above Tampa Bay.
Fansler became interested in airplanes while experimenting with high speed boat racing.
He realized that the only way to achieve even greater speeds was to take the boats to the air.
In 1912, legendary pilot Antony H. Jannus made a record-breaking long distance flight from Omaha to New Orleans.
After exchanging a few letters with Benoist, Fansler conceived of the idea of starting a commercial airline service.
Thomas W. Benoist
Antony H. Jannus
Fansler decided that a line could be operated between St. Petersburg and Tampa.
He then went to St. Petersburg, then a city of about 9,000.
The trip from St. Petersburg to Tampa by steamer took 2 hours, and 12 hours by train.
A trip by airplane would take only twenty minutes.
Fansler convinced twelve businessmen from St. Petersburg to put up $100 each to back the airline scheme.
He received another $1,200 from the secretary of St. Petersburgs Board of Trade.
The service was to begin on January 1, 1913.
The route of the worlds first scheduled flight.
Benoist arranged for one of his airplanes to be shipped by train to St. Petersburg.
The Model 14 Benoist airboat No.
The airplane was powered by a 75-horsepower engine, that gave her a top speed of 64 mph.
The hull was constructed of three thicknesses of spruce with doped fabric layered between them.
Six water-tight compartments in the hull made the craft buoyant in the water.
Phiel had bagged the only ticket by winning the auction of the same with a bid of $400.
The airline donated the money to the city for the purchase of harbor lights.
Before the flight began, Fansler addressed the crowd.
Pilot Jannus begins his takeoff run for the first flight by a scheduled airline in history.
Less than half an hour later, the flying boat touched down on the Hillsborough River in Tampa.
An even bigger crowd of 3,500 spectators was awaiting Jannus arrival.
Decades later, Pheils wife, Mrs. Lottie C. Pheil recalled her husbands eagerness and her fear.
She remembered, He had talked about it for several days.
He was dead set on going.
When I got there, he was in the planeabout to take off.
I was worried all the time he was gone.
Regular operation of the airline commenced at once.
The price of a one-way ticket was fixed at $5.
Passengers were allowed a maximum weight of 200 pounds gross, including hand baggage.
Anything over that weight was charged at $5 per hundred pound.
From left to right: P.E.
The airline proved the dependability, practicality and safety of scheduled air service.
But before it could fly, World War I broke out.
His body was never recovered.
Benoist met a similarly unfortunate fate.
He died within three hours of the accident.
A replica of the historic Benoist No.
43 airplane hangs at the airport terminal baggage claim area.
Another replica is on display at the St. Petersburg Historical and Flight One Museum.
There is also a monument to this historic flight at Benoist Centennial Plaza in St. Petersburg.
The Worlds First Airline Monument at Benoist Centennial Plaza, Pier District - St. Petersburg.
