Page 67 - Demo

In the years following World War I, The National Exchange Club was a big advocate of military preparedness, and it played an important role in promoting the growth of both the military and commercial aviation. Harold M. Harter, who served as the Exchange%u2019s national secretary for 44 years, was friends with many top military figures and prominent aviators. He was also one of the first to recognize the future in aviation and urged the Exchange to participate in its growth. Harter rode in an early Ford tri-motor commercial plane, and was a friend of Amelia Earhart%u2014who gave him a ride in her autogiro.During 1930 and 1931, Harter was instrumental in getting the National Exchange Club to sponsor aviation pioneer Lt. Walter Hinton to lead a Service to Aviation Tour of the nation. The tour%u2019s purpose was to help communities publicize, establish, and improve airports and emergency landing fields in order to promote the use of aircraft for passenger travel and freight transport. It also encouraged the development of a variety of local aviation projects such as the use of landing markers. The Service to Aviation Tour began on November 25, 1930 in Toledo, Ohio, and ended in Memphis, Tennessee in September of 1931. It traveled to 135 selected cities in every state in the Union, which prompted the media to dub Lt. Hinton the Air Crusader. Among the tour%u2019s many accomplishments, was credit for saving the airport in Keene, New Hampshire which was threatened with closure. He also won praise for getting local leaders excited about building airports near Newark, New Jersey and Washington DC. On June 8, 1931, the tour stopped in South Bend, Indiana, which coincided with the Indiana Exchange Club%u2019s state convention. It had made an Service to Aviation Tour, South Bend, June 8, 1931. For collectors, covers were printed in different colors (purple).Signed by Walter Hinton.