BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

Long before airport tank farms provided piped aviation fuel directly to aircraft at terminal docks, planes were refueled individually by specially built tank trucks.

In the scene below, taken at New York's La Guardia Airport in North Beach, Queens on New Years Day in 1940, we see several such vehicles delivering 'Aero Mobilgas' (a high octane gasoline designed for operation at heights of 20,000 feet and more) to a fleet of American Airlines DC3's which were the backbone of passenger service at the time.

Designed specifically for American by Alexis De Sakhnoffsky (The Pinan Farina of the 1930's) in concert with the White Motor Company, these ultra streamlined tanker bodies were mounted on White series 900 chassis with 143 hp V-12 engines.

Notice the number of grounding straps under the bodies which were a vital protection against static electricity during refueling operations.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY