Tahoe Takeoff

If there ever was a logical route for a summer resort air service, it lies between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, high in the mountain forests on the California-Nevada border. It takes 10 hr. of arduous driving to make the trip by motor.

An airplane could fly it in about 2 1/2hr. On numerous occasions in the last 13 years airplanes have alighted on the lake, but until last week every one had to be dismantled and trucked down the mountainside. Reason: the rarefied atmosphere of Lake Tahoe (elev. 6,225 ft.) reduces airplane efficiency 30%.* Last week a Sikorsky amphibian of Varney Speed Lines flew from San Francisco Bay Airdrome to the lake, carrying Pilot Monty Sharp, Owner Walter T. Varney, two airline executives. After discharging his three passengers, Pilot Sharp managed to make the first take-off in history from Lake Tahoe.

*Landplanes can operate from fields of that altitude, or higher: hut amphibians are necessarilv heavier, less efficient.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.