30 December 1913

The headline of the St. Petersburg Daily Times on Tuesday, December 30, 1913 read “Tony Jannus Will Make First Flight Thursday” to inaugurate airline service between that city and Tampa. Jannus gave the recently assembled Benoist Model 14 flying boat two test flights on December 30 and 31, accompanied on one by Benoist's chief mechanic, J.D. Smith, and on the other by a local man named J.G. Foley.