Topic: Aerospace » Governmental Aerospace Programs » Air Mail

Air Mail

Delivery of mail using airplanes
Results 1 - 19 of 19

Close Formation

The parasitic aircraft of Britain’s Short Brothers.
April 2013 | By George C. Larson, Member, NAA

Stinson SM-6000B, Stearman 4DM Speedmail, Stearman C3B (above, front to back.)

You’ve Got Mailplanes

Square-tail Stearmans, straight-wing Wacos, and Hisso Jennies top the roster of antique airplanes at a captivating grass strip in Iowa.
January 2009 | By John Fleischman

Photo Essay:The Blakesburg Fly-In

Antique airplanes—the cream of the crop—fluttered around corn country to celebrate an air mail birthday.
November 18, 2008 | By airspacemag.com

Pilot Max Miller and Air Mail Service superintendent Benjamin Lipsner (right) before Miller

The Great Race

When the Air Mail Service decided to establish a route between New York City and Chicago, two pilots competed to fly it first.
September 18, 2008 | By Rebecca Maksel

Otto Praeger

The Father of Airmail Looks Back

On the 20th anniversary of airmail service, three key players recalled the early days.
September 17, 2008 | By Tony Reichhardt

In 1923, U.S. Air Mail DH-4s were equipped with lights on the nose and on wingtips for night flying.

No Longer Afraid of the Dark

The civil engineering project that got the airmail through the night.
September 16, 2008 | By Linda Shiner

Airmail pilots (from left) Jack Knight, Harvey Lange, Lawrence Garrison, “Wild Bill” Hopson, and Andrew Dunphy pose for photographer Nathaniel Dewell in 1922.

The Image Maker

During the 1920s, photographer Nathaniel Dewell produced iconic portraits of airmail’s finest.
September 12, 2008 | By Rebecca Maksel

A crashed Martin MB-1 mailplane, one of many in the service

Crash Course

Finding an airplane to deliver the mail should have been easy.
September 12, 2008 | By Rebecca Maksel

San Dimas, California, a suburb of Lost Angeles, boasts a population of 36,200.

A Flying Success

For an entire week in 1938, the country celebrated airmail.
September 2008 | By Rebecca Maksel

After his career with the airmail service, Knight flew for United Airlines between 1934 and 1937, when the airline was still flying single engine Boeing aircraft. By the time Knight retired, he had flown more than 2 million miles.

Crossing the Alleghenies in 1919

The man who saved the airmail describes “Hell Stretch.”
September 09, 2008 | By Jack Knight

A Boeing 40C (background) and a 1927 Stearman C3B biplane are two of the three airplanes recreating the cross-country airmail route.

Airmail Odyssey

Three historic mailplanes commemorated the anniversary of U.S. airmail by tracing the original coast-to-coast route.
September 08, 2008 | By Linda Shiner

Landing field at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, October 1935. Note the "large white circle" called out in the directions.

The Route: Long Island to Cleveland

Pilots flying the mail cross-country in 1921 followed these directions to find landmarks along the way.
September 03, 2008 | By Tony Reichhardt

Aerial view of an airmail light beacon tower, somewhere along the New York to Chicago route, in the mid-1920s.

The Route: Cleveland to Iowa City

Pilots flying the mail cross-country in 1921 followed these directions to find landmarks along the way.
September 03, 2008 | By Tony Reichhardt

DH-4 mailplanes at Fort Crook airfield, Omaha, Nebraska, in the mid-1920s.

The Route: Iowa City to North Platte

Pilots flying the mail cross-country in 1921 followed these directions to find landmarks along the way.
September 03, 2008 | By Tony Reichhardt

A light beacon tower (used for night flying) on the airmail field in North Platte, Nebraska in the mid-1920s. The field boundary light is visible in the right foreground.

The Route: North Platte to Rock Springs

Pilots flying the mail cross-country in 1921 followed these directions to find landmarks along the way.
September 03, 2008 | By Tony Reichhardt

A Varney Air Lines Swallow outside the airmail hangar at Elko, Nevada in April 1926.

The Route: Rock Springs to Reno

Pilots flying the mail cross-country in 1921 followed these directions to find landmarks along the way.
September 03, 2008 | By Tony Reichhardt

Reno, Nevada, Postmaster Austin Jackson (left) hands a mail bag to pilot Harry Huking in his DH-4 mailplane, July 1924.

From Reno to San Francisco

Pilots flying the mail cross-country in 1921 followed these directions to find landmarks along the way.
September 03, 2008 | By The Editors

Passengers board 5339 three weeks before its 1928 crash.

Diamonds in the Wreck

Riches to rags and back again: A 1928 mailplane is reborn.
November 2003 | By Sam Goldberg

U.S. Air Mail personnel with a De Havilland DH-4 mailplane at the Bellefonte, Pennsylvania airfield, December 1923.

Slim Lewis Slept Here

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, had one brief, shining moment when airmail pilots used it as a stopover. Then they went away, leaving only memories.
October 1991 | By Donald Dale Jackson


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