For the half-century after Cayley’s death, countless scientists,  flying enthusiasts, and inventors worked toward building  a powered flying machine. Men, such as William Samuel  Henson, who designed a huge monoplane that was propelled  by a steam engine housed inside the fuselage, and Otto  Lilienthal, who proved human flight in aircraft heavier than  air was practical, worked toward the dream of powered flight.  A dream turned into reality by Wilbur and Orville Wright at  Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903.  The bicycle-building Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio, had  experimented for 4 years with kites, their own homemade  wind tunnel, and different engines to power their biplane. One  of their great achievements in flight was proving the value of  the scientific, rather than a build-it-and-see approach. Their  biplane, The Flyer, combined inspired design and engineering  with superior craftsmanship.  [Figure 1-3]  By the afternoon  of December 17th, the Wright brothers had flown a total of  98 seconds on four flights. The age of flight had arrived.  During the early years of manned flight, aviation was a  free for all because no government body was in place to  establish policies or regulate and enforce safety standards.  Individuals were free to conduct flights and operate aircraft  with no government oversight. Most of the early flights were  conducted for sport. Aviation was expensive and became the  playground of the wealthy. Since these early airplanes were  small, many people doubted their commercial value. One  group of individuals believed otherwise and they became  the genesis for modern airline travel.  P. E. Fansler, a Florida businessman living in St. Petersburg,  approached Tom Benoist of the Benoist Aircraft Company  in St. Louis, Missouri, about starting a flight route from St.  Petersburg across the waterway to Tampa. Benoist suggested  using his “Safety First” airboat and the two men signed an  agreement for what would become the first scheduled airline  in the United States. The first aircraft was delivered to St.  Petersburg and made the first test flight on December 31,  1913.  [Figure 1-4]  A public auction decided who would win the honor of  becoming the first paying airline customer. The former  mayor of St. Petersburg, A. C. Pheil, made the winning bid  of $400.00, which secured his place in history as the first  paying airline passenger.  On January 1, 1914, the first scheduled airline flight was  conducted. The flight length was 21 miles and lasted 23  minutes due to a headwind. The return trip took 20 minutes.  The line, which was subsidized by Florida businessmen,  continued for 4 months and offered regular passage for $5.00  per person or $5.00 per 100 pounds of cargo. Shortly after the  opening of the line, Benoist added a new airboat that afforded  more protection from spray during takeoff and landing.  The routes were also extended to Manatee, Bradenton, and  Sarasota giving further credence to the idea of a profitable  commercial airline.  The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line continued throughout  the winter months with flights finally being suspended when  the winter tourist industry began to dry up. The airline  operated for only 4 months, but 1,205 passengers were  carried without injury. This experiment proved commercial  passenger airline travel was viable.  The advent of World War I offered the airplane a chance  to demonstrate its varied capabilities. It began the war as a  reconnaissance platform, but by 1918, airplanes were being  Figure 1-4.  Benoist airboat.  Figure 1-3.  First flight by the Wright brothers.  1-3  History of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 