Cross-country flight marks 90th anniversary of
airmail
Addison
Pemberton prepared his Boeing 40C in Farmingdale, N.Y.,
to reenact the first transcontinental airmail flight.
(Howard Schnapp/Newsday via Associated Press)
By Frank Eltman
Associated Press / September 11, 2008
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - Getting a
message from New York to San Francisco these days is as easy as a click of a
mouse. But nearly a century ago, sending a missive across the country was an
ordeal that often placed mail carriers in mortal danger in experimental flying
machines.
It's a piece of aviation
history being celebrated this week with a flight that will replicate those
harrowing cross-country journeys.
A trio of pilots in vintage
airplanes took off yesterday from Long Island's Republic Airport on a six-day,
15-stop flight to San Francisco to mark the 90th anniversary of the Postal
Service's involvement in airmail delivery.
"This airmail anniversary
flight of historic biplanes is a compelling display of pilot skills that too
often seem forgotten in an era of autopilots, GPS, and daily flights high above
the weather," said Josh Stoff, curator of the Cradle of Aviation museum,
which chronicles Long Island's rich aviation history.
Historians are quick to point
out that the post office's launch of airmail helped jump-start commercial
aviation in America, showing airplanes could fly safely across country on a
regular basis.
The first-ever experimental
airmail flight took place on Long Island in 1911, a 3-mile journey between
Garden City Estates and Mineola. The first regularly scheduled intercity US
airmail began on May 15, 1918, after Congress appropriated $100,000 to
establish airmail routes.
Using planes on loan from the
Army Signal Corps, pilots flew between Washington's Polo Grounds and Belmont
Park on Long Island, stopping in Philadelphia on the way. The first
transcontinental airmail flight took off Feb. 22, 1921, from Mineola to San
Francisco.
Among the initial airmail
pilots was a young Charles Lindbergh, who flew for the post office in the early
1920s as part of a squadron that often had to fly exclusively in the daylight,
following railroad tracks and dirt roads to locate destinations. Lindbergh took
off from Long Island on his historic 1927 trans-Atlantic flight to Paris.
The post office didn't stay in
the airplane business for long.
By 1926, commercial airlines
took over the flights and a year later, all airmail was carried under contract.
******************************************************
The following is a compilation of emails and
photos from the pilots .
What an
awesome day. Down Jones Beach at 400 ft, up to 700 ft for a tour down 31
Left at JFK. Then back to the beach for a tour by Coney Island, over the Verrazano
Narrows Bridge, and around Our Lady of Liberty. Then over Newark at
1000 ft, with a police chopper taking photos as we go. Can't wait for
those pictures.
At Belefonte,
PA a large , enthusiastic crowd greeted us. The trip over the Alleghenies
was impressive.
Glad we had good weather over those rugged, tree covered ridges. Then on
to Cleveland Lakefront, between downtown Cleveland and the lake. A
rival to Chicago's Miegs Field before Mayor Dailey stole it. A bit crosswindy,
but fun. Another big reception.
Big day
tomorrow. On to Bryant, OH, Lansing, IL and Iowa City, weather
permitting.
The three mail planes
left New York this morning with a great send off from Republic field,
on hand were all media reporters and dignitaries from the Post Office and the
Air Power Museum.
Note: Some of the following photos
may be out of geographical sequence
Addison Pemberton being interviewed
regarding the re-enactment flight.
Here Mary Weber of the US Post
Office in full era costume
personally cancels the postage on many of the letters.
Our departure included a low pass
over JFK airport at the request
of ATC so they could see the very rare old aircraft in our flight.
Next the three aircraft passed over
the Statue Of
Liberty as we started our first day of the trip West.
Our first stop was at Bellefonte PA
where the folks provided a terrific
reception with media, and over 200 residents came out to see the
planes. This was one of the stops on
the original flight 90 years ago.
Our last stop of the day was at
great reception with the Post Office on hand, local residents and many
others. We will overnight here and be
off early in the morning to continue
the trip West to
Date: Sun, 14 Sept 2008 23:16:21
+0000
Well, we are still here in
beautiful Rochelle Ill. now going into 5 days since we were
unable to launch today, we had a break in the weather, packed the
planes, pulled
them through and then another storm started dumping on us. We have hope
that if there isn't fog in the morning that we will be able to make it to
In the meantime we
continue to give tours to folks
visiting the hangers to see the airplanes.
One more shot from the Boeing 40C
just in case you are not tired of seeing them.
Our goal is to make
Date: Sun, 14 Sept 2008 21:03:49 EDT
I just had to share this quote
from the Renee Brown, Postmaster of Reno with
regard to the flight delays. 'Life is not
about waiting for the Storm to pass -
it is about learning to Dance in the Rain.'
---------------------------
Westward Ho at last.
Sent: 9/15/2008 9:48:59 P.M.
Pacific Daylight Time
Subject: Transcon airmail flight
Today the ceilings lifted
barely enough for us to safely depart Rochelle
after spending 4 nights there waiting for a break in the weather.
We headed West towards our first stop at
One danger that we faced while
traveling with low ceilings that the original pilots
did not was the ever-present radio towers disappearing into the cloud deck
above.
One of the more striking things is
as you are flying along are the large windmill
electric generators, I was thinking about the contrast in technology when flying
in a 1928 airplane flying over this very modern equipment.
Once we got about 100 miles West,
the skies cleared and we were on our way again.
Our spirits were high once again as
you can tell as Larry Tobin
maneuvers his C3B in close and gives us a wave!!!
We traveled low to the ground over
the farmlands
due to higher headwinds at the upper elevations.
Ben Scott brought his 4E Stearman
Speedmail in for a photo while over the vast
farmlands of
Tomorrow we will rise early and push
on to
to Rawlins WY and lastly to a overnight stay in Rock Springs WY.
At
be traveling with us to
------------------------
Sent: 9/16/2008 9:44:15 P.M.
Pacific Daylight Time
Subject: September 16 Airmail Flight
Today was the most spectacular
day we have had regarding weather!
We started out this morning from
It was just beginning to become
daylight as we pulled the planes from
the hanger, the air was dead calm
and not a cloud in the sky.
Everyone was excited about flying the mail today!!!
Addison waves goodbye to
over the horizon behind us as we once again head West.
Our first stop this morning was at
hand to process the mail, which was done efficiently as we had four legs to fly
today.
Again as at other stops, a very interested group of folks from
welcome us and take a first hand look at the antique airplanes that were flying
coast to coast.
Cheyenne, Wyoming was our next stop
where we were greeted by a very large group
of townspeople, the Post Office handled the mail while we visited with and
enjoyed the
crowd. It was difficult to leave as there were so many questions
from both young and
old, as well as many stories from people who had knowledge of the airmail
planes
stopping here many years ago.
The Boeing 40c casts an interesting
shadow just
seconds before touching down on the runway.
Our third mail stop today was at
7000 feet high and really reduced the performance of these vintage aircraft.
Very friendly residents came out to meet the pilots and see the aircraft.
We could tell that we were not over
fertile farmland below us, now our vintage aircraft passed over harsh mountains
and
sagebrush. We began the day cruising at altitudes below 2500 feet above
sea level.
we finished the day flying at 10,000 feet to safely clear the peaks.
Our final stop of the day was in
as we pushed the planes into a
hanger for the night. Today was probably the best
traveling day we have had but it also included the most stops in one day on the
trip.
After the mail was processed we headed for the motel and for the first meal of
the day!!
Tomorrow we will load up and
head for
-------------------
Subject: Trans con mail flight
second to last day
Date: Thurs, 18 Sept 2008 13:20:34 +0000
Only one more day and the
adventure will be drawing to a close!
Yesterday we got an early start from
When we departed
had all the students out in the yard to see us depart.
Dropping down from high altitude
over the rugged
Salt
The mail was quickly canceled and
the planes refueled.
There was a nice lunch for us and a great reception.
The Boeing 40C flying over the Salt
Flats on our way to the
next stop,
Larry Tobin makes a right break over
the desert. The little C3B has to
really
pedal hard to keep up with the larger and more powerful Boeing and Speedmail.
The folks at Elko were very
interested in the aircraft and we had a
great time visiting about the trip across the
The Post Office processed the mail and we fueled the planes and were off for
At
Mary will be traveling with us to
Our next leg is our last, we
will make the hop over the hills to
where there are programs and receptions to celebrate the completion of the
adventure.
----------------------
Sent: 9/18/2008 10:48:24 P.M.
Pacific Daylight Time
Subject: Mail flight final edition
The mail has been
delivered!!!!!
We arrived at
All of you that have sent mail via the trans con flight will be getting your
mail soon.
Each letter was stamped at every stop across the nation.
A mix of old and new air traffic
with Ben's Stearman and jet traffic
We stopped in at the Museum at SFO. Here is a shot from the C3B over the airport.
We did a harbor tour by air. Here the 40c flies by the
The
This scene was probably repeated many times 80 years ago.
Larry Tobin with SFO behind.
An interesting story regarding Larry is that on his last trip as a 767 captain
for
TWA just prior to his retirement was a flight from
On this trip he flew his Stearman on the same flight
So with Ben and Addison passing by
the Golden Gate, we completed the
adventure of a lifetime flying 3 old bi-planes from
The trip took over 28 hours of flying time and 8 days, with the loss of 4 days
in Rochelle Ill
Tonight, Bud Field hosted us and
invited nearly 100 guests to a dinner and a program
to celebrate completion of the
Subject:
Tobin C3B
Date: Sat, 20 Sept 2008 14:41:30 EDT
From: Ben Scott
All:
I just heard from Addison at
He said he was running full heat and it was a textbook carburetor ice day. He felt that Larry's heat muff just didn't
have the capacity to cope. It could have happened in a lot
worse places on the trip.
Bummer.
------------------
Subject: Fwd:
: plane crash
Date: Sun, 21 Sept 2008 12:11:57 EDT
So glad good people were there
to take care of Larry when he dropped in.
Subject: plane crash
Date: Sat, 20 Sept 2008 20:10:18 +0000
Larry and his family
First I would like to say I am
so grateful that Larry is alive to tell his story and am blessed by meeting
him. It was our pleasure to assist Larry with anything he needed
during this ordeal, you are welcome at our home any time.
Craig and I will
watch over the plane until the insurance company and FAA have come to remove
the plane.
Attached are a few photos of
the crash.
Wanda
