Air yacht

An air yacht is a private aircraft, usually a flying boat. They developed between the wars as a recreation and status symbol for rich businessmen.

The first aviation of this form developed immediately before World War I, when 'sporting' gentlemen, i.e. those both rich and with ample leisure time, could indulge in private flying. For the first time this regarded flight as a means of safe and reliable transport, not merely an achievement in itself. Right from the outset, the speed of flight and its ability to make long distances manageable was recognised as an advantage. The idea of seasonal commuting between New York and Florida, previously done by train, was one goal.

All aspects of aviation were spurred by World War I and there were many technical developments, particularly for engine reliability and the construction of larger, more robust aircraft, including seaplanes. Despite this, the time immediately after World War I was a recession in the aircraft industry, as the surplus market was flooded by ex-military machines and engines. Manufacturers sought any available market they could, including building a handful of specialised aircraft for the very rich. In a more buoyant climate, this minority market might have been less attractive.

A typical air yacht of the early 1920s was the Kirkham Air Yacht, built to the order of Harold Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt intended it for transport between his business offices in New York and the family estate at Newport, Rhode Island. Like the contemporary Loening Flying Yacht, it included an enclosed passenger cabin for four with an open pilot's cockpit ahead. Both were of the most modern construction, as monoplanes with duralumin stressed-skin construction. A difference was that the Loening used a war-surplus Liberty engine whilst the Kirkham had the latest, and more powerful, British Napier Lion. Both were flying boats, able to land on any expanse of open water, which was available to the rich at both New York and their seaside country homes. The journey to Newport could be made in around two hours, three times faster than by train and still twice as fast as the journey by car today. As public airfields developed in this decade, later aircraft became amphibians, making them more flexible about their destinations.

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