In 1918, the airplane was still a new technology, but the Postal Service set out to use it to deliver mail. The undertaking was dangerous and many pilots lost their lives.
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum has a catalog of photographs showing what a challenging and surprising job this was. Check out some of the photos below.
An airmail plane is parked in front of its hangar in Reno, Nevada. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Another airmail plane is parked at the Omaha, Nebraska, airmail field. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Pilots steered airmail planes from open-air cockpits. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Postmaster Thomas Patten hands Lt. Torrey Webb a bag of letters for the first regularly scheduled airmail delivery in the United States. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
This JR-1B mail airplane was designed by Standard Aircraft Corp. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
The de Havilland airmail plane is parked next to a U.S. mail truck in 1922. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Airmail planes often crashed. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Pilots for the Postal Service were treated like astronauts are today. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
“To the first superintendent of aerial mail, Capt BB Lipsner, from yours in the bog, Edward W. Killgore” was written by the pilot in the photo. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
This NC-4 took off from Newfoundland on May 8, 1919, and landed in Portugal on May 27, 1919, in the first trans-Atlantic flight. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Pilot Robert Shank crashed in the woods but survived. (Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Brielle is the deputy editor of Freight Waves and has a more-than-10-year history in B2B publishing, tackling cutting edge stories in business, with four years specifically focused on freight. She’s interviewed numerous CEOs and is adept at finding stories that matter to the industry. She believes in finding a new way forward in the supply chain to solve problems, drive sustainability and put people first. If you’d like to get in touch with Brielle, please email her at bjaekel@freightwaves.com.
