Capital Airlines was an airline serving the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. Capital's headquarters were located at Washington National Airport (now Reagan Washington National Airport) across the Potomac river from Washington, D.C. where crew training and aircraft overhauls were also accomplished. In the 1950s Capital was the fifth largest United States domestic carrier by passenger count (and sometimes by passenger-miles) after the Big Four air carriers (American, United, TWA, and Eastern). Capital merged with United Airlines in 1961. History Clifford Ball Airline Clifford A. Ball, a McKeesport, Pennsylvania, automobile dealer and owner of a controlling interest in Bettis Field near Pittsburgh, won airmail contract route No. 11 on March 27, 1926. In April of the following year, The Clifford Ball Airline began operating between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio. Clifford Ball Airlines operated from Pittsburgh's first commercial airport, Bettis Field, a former farm field which farmer Barr Peat had allowed to be used for barnstorming. The airplane which flew the first flight from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, a Waco 9 named "Miss Pittsburgh", is currently displayed at the Pittsburgh International Airport. Famed humorist and performer Will Rogers was known to be an early and regular passenger, but scheduled passenger service did not begin until April 28, 1928. The following August, Ball Airline became the first airline to serve Washington, D.C., from the west, offering its flagship "Path of the Eagle" service from Cleveland to Hoover Field across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. A "Path of the Eagle" brochure and schedule are displayed at the Pitcairn Field Web site. Pennsylvania Air Lines Ball sold his interests in November 1930 to Pittsburgh Aviation Industries Corp., and the airline became Pennsylvania Air Lines (PAL). PAL was reorganized as Pennsylvania Airlines after the Air Mail scandal of the early 1930s. In 1934 Pennsylvania Airlines acquired Kohler Aviation. Central Airlines Central Airlines was founded in 1934 by the men who had formed Pittsburgh Airlines in 1929. Central was notable for hiring Helen Richey, the first female commercial pilot in the U.S. Central Airlines became PAL's main competitor and they engaged in ruinous rate wars with prices well below those charged for railroad seats. The two companies merged to form Pennsylvania Central Airlines, or PCA, on November 1, 1936. Pennsylvania Central Airlines The merged airlines flew Stinson A and Boeing 247 aircraft. Early in its existence, PCA faced a minor crisis in January 1937