BLOOMINGTON - In the decade before World War II, The Daily Pantagraph ran thousands of aerial photographs in its pages, with hardly a day going by without the publication of one or more of these pictures from on high. By the late 1930s, it was said that more aerial photos ran in The Pantagraph than any other newspaper in the world. After all, how many papers could boast of having their very own airplane? | From Our Past page

From 1929 until 1941, "Scoop," as the plane was known, roamed the skies above The Pantagraph circulation area in search of, well, scoops. Although many of the plane's photographs look bland compared to the wonders of today's Google Earth, back during the golden age of aviation, an aerial perspective offered a fresh and exciting way to look at the world.

Scoop (actually, there were four different planes over 12 years with that name) also was used for more than picture taking: it also delivered, in a crunch, newspapers to outlying communities; ferried reporters to news events; and, perhaps most importantly, helped popularize aviation during its wild and wooly years.

A newsgathering airplane was the brainchild of Davis Merwin, Pantagraph publisher and aviation buff. On June 6, 1929, Merwin purchased the first Scoop, a Waco "90" biplane powered by a World War I-era OX-5 motor.

The Pantagraph staged a "name-the-plane" contest, and J.J. Meagher of Bloomington won $25 for coming up with "Scoop." The paper received 1,214 submissions, ranging from common sense suggestions like "Flash" and "News Hawk" to more off-beat ones such as "Miss Pantagraphia" and "Tally-Ho."

Late that month, Scoop toured the surrounding countryside, stopping in Saybrook, LeRoy and elsewhere to deliver papers and give rides (or "air voyages") to local residents. In late August, Scoop rendezvoused with the Graf Zeppelin, which was on one of its globe-spanning, goodwill tours.

Scoop reached the 776-foot-long dirigible near Walnut, Ill., northwest of Mendota, and followed it for 35 minutes as it headed toward Chicago.

During the 1929 World Series, Scoop dropped bundles of late-edition newspapers to outlying communities so baseball fans could enjoy same-day coverage.

Scoop II, an open-cockpit, taper wing Waco "225" biplane, arrived in January 1930. In its 18 months, the new plane spent about 500 hours in the air while covering more than 50,000 miles. Its air-cooled J-7 Wright whirlwind engine provided 2½ times the horsepower of its predecessor. The Pantagraph also purchased a large-format Folmer-Graflex K-10 "air camera" that greatly improved the quality of its aerial work.

Tragedy struck in July 1930 when Scoop pilot Jack Bell and passenger Clifford Holt were killed during dedication of the Mattoon airport. Bell wasn't piloting Scoop, but rather a taper-wing Waco named Hula Baby, owned by Bloomington resident Archie Baldwin.

The fatal crash occurred as Bell and Holt were participating in a contest in which flyers released balloons and then swooped back to break them. Observers said Bell was unable to pull out of a steep dive and the plane plowed into the ground, instantly killing the two men.

Art Carnahan became Scoop's new pilot. "Mr. Aviation," as many knew him, served as manager of the Bloomington airport from its dedication in October 1934 until 1956.

In the summer of 1931, Scoop III, a black-and-silver Stinson Jr. mono-plane, made its inaugural flight over Central Illinois. The closed, four-place cabin, with its finished and upholstered interior, represented a significant improvement in comfort from its open-cockpit predecessors.

Aerial surveys proved a boon to agricultural reporting. For instance, J.B. Andrews of the University of Illinois noted how the Canada thistle invasion was especially visible from the air. Scoop enabled farm editor Frank Bill to report on the condition of flooded fields or drought-stricken crops, as well as photograph the enormous crowds - numbering in the tens of thousands - that attended corn husking contests.

For much of the 1930s, The Pantagraph ran almost-daily aerial photographs of unidentified farmsteads. If the owner or tenant successfully recognized his own farm, he'd receive the original photograph framed and inscribed. By 1938, about 1,000 of 1,200 of these photographs had been identified and given out to area farmers.

Sometime in 1934, Scoop IV, an SR-5 Reliant, made its debut. Two years later, Amelia Earhart stopped in Bloomington for an appearance. "Slim, graceful, with curls all over her head" was how The Pantagraph described the 38-year-old "aviatrix." During her visit, she toured the Bloomington Municipal Airport and took a ride in Scoop IV.

In May 1941, Scoop surveyed the low water level at Lake Bloomington, the laying of concrete slabs for the "Beltline" (today Veterans Parkway), and new home construction in the Walglen addition in north Normal.

Yet with war looming in Europe and the Pacific, Scoop's days were numbered. Flights were halted and Scoop IV was sold. With the end of World War II, The Pantagraph decided against launching a Scoop V.