Plane Facts: Skywriting

The history and evolution of skywriting

Plane & Pilot

Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 08:03 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Skywriting, first documented in 1915 and utilized for public advertising with significant impact by the 1920s, saw a decline in the 1950s due to television but regained popularity in the 2010s thanks to social media.
This aerial messaging technique involves planes flying at 10,000 feet to emit paraffin oil vapor, creating mile-tall letters visible for up to 30 miles, with messages typically dissipating within 20 minutes.
Standard skywriting messages, often 12 letters long, cost around $2,500, while a high-tech "skytyping" method uses multiple planes and software to create longer, dot-matrix-style messages (up to 30 characters) at a higher cost.

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First documented: 1915
Message: “Good Night” by Art Smith (U.S. barnstormer)

First used in public advertising: November 1922
Location: New York Times Square
Message: “CALL VANDERBILT 7200”
“VANDERBILT 7200:” Phone number to hotel where the pilot was staying
Phone calls hotel received in three-hour span: 47,000

Skywriting Corporation of America (SCA) founded: 1923
First SCA advertiser: Lucky Strike Cigarettes
Message: “L S M F T” (Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco)
Other major advertiser: Pepsi-Cola
States where Pepsi advertised: 48
Pepsi skywriting ads in 1940: 2,225
Maneuvers required to write the word “PEPSI:” 17
Minutes needed: 10

What the media dubbed skywriting: “Celestial vandalism”
Popularity decline: 1950s (television)
Reason: TV ads not weather-dependent
Became popular again: 2010s
Cause: Social media
Reason: Messages shared online boost ad visibility

Ideal weather: Cool, humid, windless, clear
Common altitude: 10,000 feet
Aircraft speed: ~150 mph

What creates skywriting smoke: Paraffin oil in exhaust
Degrees at which paraffin vaporizes: 1,500Â°
Environmental concerns: None
Width of smoke streams: 75 feet

Time needed to create a single letter: 60-90 seconds
Average size of each letter: 1 mile tall
Letter capacity of each message: 12
Radius of message visibility: 30 miles
Minutes visible before dissipating: ~20

Average cost: $2,500
Most popular non-ad message: Marriage proposals
Average proposals written/year by one NYC company: 50

Hi-tech version of skywriting: “Skytyping”
Method: Software signals plane to emit small, uniform smoke puffs
Resembles: Dot Matrix Printing
Aircraft used for each skytyping assignment: Five or more
Special maneuvering required: None
Characters written/minute: 10-12
Maximum letter capacity for skytyping: 30
Skytyping teams in U.S.: 3 Cost: $15,000+/message