![]() One of these carriers, the Robertson Aircraft Corporation of St. The Post Office disbanded its own flight department and by 1927 private airmail carriers delivered all airmail. Just four years later, in 1925, the government decided to contract for airmail service to spur commercial aviation. By that time, Knight was the toast of Chicago, hailed in newspapers nationwide.Ĭongress set aside $1.25 million to expand the airmail service. The letters which left San Francisco were in New York in 33 hours and 20 minutes. Two more pilots flew the remaining legs to Hazelhurst Field on Long Island. Minutes later he took off into darkness again, his nose pointed toward Chicago. With the man who’d lit the flare, he found a drum of gas and refueled the DH-4. A small red flare lit up and Knight landed beside it. With minutes of gas left, he buzzed the town, revving his engine. On reserve fuel, he saw the lights of Des Moines but there was too much snow for a safe landing. Knight fought a strong crosswind and increasing cloud cover. Postal officials assumed the flight was off. He had a flashlight and a Rand-McNally road map on his lap. Knight took off on a compass course for Des Moines, Iowa. ![]() “But I can make it if they keep on lighting bonfires.”Īt 2 a.m. Hill jokingly claimed his cigar was the first instrument to aid commercial fliers.Įarly routes were in the East but with the public reluctant to pony up 24 cents for mail going from New York to Washington DC, the Post Office sought to show the real time savings by flying airmail from coast to coast. By that time he figured it was safe to descend to the landing field in Bellefonte, PA. Hill leisurely puffed the stogie until only two unburned inches remained. Dean Hill crossed the Alleghenies by first lighting a long cigar, then climbing above the cloud deck. ![]() To fight off disorientation, another mail pilot, Wesley Smith, used a half-empty whiskey bottle as an attitude indicator, the tilt of the whiskey showing whether his wings were level or not.Īnother pilot named J. He had been an airmail pilot for only five weeks. He was carried from the wreck but died before reaching a hospital. Lamborn’s airplane came out of clouds at 400 feet, nose-down, smashing into the mountain. Without visual reference, he became disoriented. Flying through fog and rain Lamborn climbed into clouds to pass over Snowshoe Mountain. In August, 1919 Charles Lamborn took off from Cleveland for Bellefonte, PA, crossing the Allegheny Mountains on his mail route. Although few actually saw combat, flying mail could sometimes be just as deadly. Many of these early airmail pilots were WWI aviators. But obstructive clouds and fog along with ice forming on wings could potentially stall an airplane, killing pilots in the process. Pilots navigated by dead-reckoning, using landmarks, rail lines, roads, and even telephone lines as their guide. Twice more Lindbergh was forced to jump from his plane, each time being saved by his parachute.ĭespite the challenges, Lindbergh and his team completed more than 98 percent of their scheduled flights, at a time when one out of every six airmail pilots was killed on the job.JR-1Bs and other mail planes had few instruments, no radios, or other navigational aids. Louis-Chicago route, took pilots through quick changing weather. The danger of delivering airmail was high. Louis banks, which considered airmail an investment in the future of aviation. Robertson Aircraft survived for months with subsidies provided by St. But the public was slow to adopt this new service, in part because airplane travel was still very dangerous and in part because of the additional cost for airmail. On April 15, 1926, Robertson Aircraft inaugurated its airmail route with a formal ceremony before 200 citizens and a crowd of cameras. Knowing that these planes had earned the nickname "flaming coffins," Lindbergh insisted that each pilot be equipped with a new seat-type silk parachute, with no penalty if used. Lindbergh spent the winter preparing his flight path, while the company readied their five mail planes, Army-salvage De Havilland DH-4 observation planes with 400 h.p. In October 1925, Robertson Aircraft Corporation was awarded the St. As a result, he became the first man saved twice by a parachute.ĭuring his waiting period, he also joined The Mil-Hi Airways and Flying Circus in Denver, Colorado, and earned the reputation of being one of the best stunt fliers in the country and the nickname “Flying Fool.” He tested a new commercial four-passenger plane, an OXX-6 Plywood Special when the controls malfunctioned and he was forced once again to jump to safety with his parachute. While waiting for that contract, Lindbergh flew at Lambert Field. Shortly after arriving, he accepted a job with the Robertson Aircraft Corporation as chief pilot for the soon-to-be awarded St. Louis, Missouri, to find a job in aviation. Following graduation, Lindbergh went to Lambert Field in St.
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