The movie The Wizard of Oz, a smash hit when it came out in 1939, had a scene where the wicked witch wrote SURRENDER DOROTHY OR DIE in the sky with her broom. Ever since sky writing has fascinated people. (The witch's message was actually just special effects, produced in a 6 foot by 6 foot glass tank.) But sky writing goes back further than that. It was first tried in1922 in England. Advertisers began using skywriting at the same time but Pepsi-Cola made it famous, using skywriting from 1931 to 1953.
Are the letters really formed by smoke? Yes, skywriting smoke is made by inserting paraffin oil into the exhaust of the plane. The oil vaporizes in the heat making an environmentally friendly white smoke that lingers in the air. Of course, the pilot only injects the oil into the exhaust when he is in a position to form part of a letter.
How tall are the letters? A mile tall. How long is the message? Up to fifteen miles long. How long do the letters stay visible before drifting away? They last up to twenty minutes. What determines if the skywriting will be a success? First, the skill of the pilot. He must be really good at maneuvering the plane and knowing exactly where he is in terms of the message. Second, the size of the plane engine. It must be large enough to make the letters quickly, but it also must be hot enough to vaporize sufficient paraffin oil to make the smoke. That means the paraffin must reach 1500 degrees and to do this, some recommend 450 horsepower engines that are six times hotter than small planes.
Besides these factors, there is the weather. The wind cannot exceed three to five miles per hour. The sky must be nearly clear for the white letters to be visible against the blue sky. Since wind speed may vary at different heights, the planes will fly anywhere from 7000 and 17000 feet. At these heights, the message is visible for thirty miles on either side. Cooler air temperature makes more smoke, but the air temperature cannot exceed 95 degrees. The best months for these conditions are September and October.
How large is the message? It is usually four to six letters and it takes one to two minutes to form each letter. A shorter message is more likely to be visible at once. Why not make it longer? When a message is longer than this, it will take too long to form so that it is seen all at once. One remedy is to hire multiple pilots. The two or three pilots coordinate their maneuvers so that, as they work together, they will produce the message visible for the minutes before it drifts away.
Think about this: the pilot is writing from the top, parallel to the earth though the message may seem to be vertical. Therefore the pilot must write the letters backwards from above so that they appear correctly to the readers below. The letters must also be uniform and in a straight line so that the message is attractive. This requires great piloting skills.
This method of advertising is so novel that it almost demands to be read all the time the letters are forming. So what kind of people would benefit from hiring skywriting to get their message across? Skywriting has been used to advertise soft drinks, motion pictures, websites, political candidates, products, and so forth. One company says they skywrite fifty marriage proposals each year.
What does all this cost? The cost depends on the company, and on the availability. For example, if you must fly in a skilled pilot from some distance, that will add significant cost to the adventure. But for local skywriting, count on starting around $1000 and look for a discount if you get more than one message or the same message multiple times.
Skywriting advertising is just one of the aerial advertising services AirSign provides. Learn how AirSign has been leading the industry in providing this innovative advertising method since 1996.
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