Editing Alfred Lawson (section)

==Aviation career (1908–1928)==
An early aviation advocate, in October 1908, Lawson started the magazine ''Fly'' to stimulate public interest and educate readers on the new aviation science fundamentals. It sold for 10 cents a copy from newsstands across the country. In 1910, moving to New York City, he renamed the magazine ''Aircraft'' and published it until 1914. The magazine chronicled the technical developments of the early aviation pioneers.

Lawson was the first advocate for commercial air travel, coining the term "airline." He also advocated for a strong American flying force, lobbying Congress in 1913 to expand its appropriations for Army aircraft.

In early 1913, Lawson learned to fly the Sloan-Deperdussin and the [[Blériot XI|Moisant-Bleriot]] monoplanes, becoming an accomplished pilot. Later that year, he bought a Thomas flying boat and became the first air commuter to regularly fly from his country house in Seidler's Beach, New Jersey, to the foot of 75th Street in New York City (about 35 miles).

In 1917, utilizing the knowledge gained from ten years of advocating aviation, he built his first airplane, the Lawson Military Tractor 1 (MT-1) trainer, and founded the Lawson Aircraft Corporation. The company's plant was in Green Bay, Wisconsin. There, Lawson secured a contract and built the Lawson MT-2. He also designed the steel fuselage Lawson Armored Battler, which never got beyond the drafting board, given doubts within the Army aviation community and the signing of the armistice.

[[File:Lawson T-2.jpg|left|thumb|Lawson C.2 or T-2]]

After the war, in 1919, Lawson started a project to build America's first airline. He secured financial backing, and in five months, he had built and demonstrated in flight his biplane airliner, the 18-passenger [[Lawson L-2]]. He demonstrated its capabilities in a 2000-mile multi-city tour from Milwaukee to Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo-Syracuse-New York City-Washington, D.C.-Collinsville-Dayton-Chicago and back to Milwaukee, creating a buzz of positive press.<ref>{{cite book|last=Alfred|first=Lawson|title=200 Mile Trip in First Airliner|year=1928|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb1BAAAAYAAJ&q=%222000+mile+trip+in+first%22+alfred+lawson&pg=PA146}}</ref>

The publicity allowed Lawson to secure an additional $1 million to build the 26-passenger [[Lawson L-4|Midnight Liner]]. The aircraft crashed on takeoff on its maiden flight.

In late 1920, he secured government contracts for three airmail routes and to deliver ten warplanes. However, because of the fall 1920 recession, he could not secure the necessary $100,000 in cash reserves and had to decline the contracts.

In 1926, he started his last airliner, the 56-seat, two-tier Lawson super airliner.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lawson – Aircraft Industry Builder|year=1930|publisher=Humanity publishing company}}</ref>

In this phase of his life, he was considered one of the leading thinkers in the budding American commercial aviation community; however, his inability to secure financial backing for his ideas led him to turn to economics, philosophy, and organization.