using landmarks, and were grounded after nightfall and during bad weather. The only problem? Radar, radio systems, and aviation maps didn’t exist. And in 1921, a team of seven pilots completed the first harrowing delivery, proving to a skeptical Congress that airmail was possible and that the program deserved funding.įrom then on, brave pilots in 96 propeller planes flew correspondence back and forth across the country, cutting those weeks needed to deliver a letter by train down to a mere 34 hours. In 1920, the United States Postal Service announced it would begin a coast-to-coast route. The year 1918 marked the first time mail was delivered by air, only available for short distances at first. But as the Roaring Twenties approached, a new, faster method of parcel delivery was burgeoning: airmail. The Pony Express stopped galloping in the mid-1800s, and the train system was booming. Mail often took weeks to get from one coast to the other, chugging along on rail lines. ![]() Large buildings in the area were floodlighted, and nearby high-rise obstacles were equipped with red lights.Before 1920, keeping in touch over long distances was a very slow affair. Regular landing fields were equipped with high-intensity lamps that dispersed light across the field, and white boundary lights were placed every 150 to 300 feet around the perimeter. Every emergency landing field had a rotating beacon mounted on a 50-foot tower. Small acetylene gas beacons, visible for 10 miles, were installed at three-mile intervals. Magee, an illumination engineer, to organize a viable lighting system along the airmail routes. Egge, general superintendent of the Airmail Service, worked with J. To save the service, postal officials had to make night flying a reality by providing lighted airways. Learn more about Knight's remarkable flight »īeacon light on display in the National Postal Museum, seen through the wings of a DeHavilland DH-4 aircraft. Knight's remarkable flight captured national attention and helped push for successful funding of airmail service. ![]() Knight ended up flying the mail all the way into Chicago, flying much of the way over unfamiliar ground at night, and in a snowstorm. Mail was flown to North Platte, Nebraska, where Jack Knight was scheduled to fly the next segment. One of the eastbound flights, piloted by William Lewis, crashes near Elko, Nevada. The westbound flights turned back in horrible snowstorms. On February 21, 1921, the Post Office Department sent out two planes in each direction, west to east and east to west. If mail moved only slightly faster by air than by train, few in Congress would be persuaded to fund the service. To institute coast-to-coast airmail service, postal officials had to show Congress that round-the-clock flying was possible. At it's fastest, transcontinental airmail service saved less than 2 days over mail sent the entire distance by train. The next morning the bags were put back on the nearest mail airplane to continue their journey. Mailbags were routinely removed from airplanes at night and placed on mail trains, which sped them on their way. ![]() In the early days of airmail service, the lack of ground lighting made night flying impossible. After September 8, 1920, airmail was flown across country, from New York to San Francisco. ![]() By 1918 it had established service between New York and Chicago. The Post Office Department's ultimate goal was to provide coast-to-coast airmail service. Hopson was killed on October 18, 1928, when his plane exploded in mid-air. Air Mail Service, Hopson signed on with National Air Transport on Contract Air Mail Route #17, flying between New-York and Chicago. Pilot "Wild Bill" Hopson was one of several pilots who carried the mail across country night and day in February 1921.
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