Marshall_CIS270WX-01_Writing#2_Final
Nick Marshall
MAJ Sook Ha
CIS-270WX-01
March 14, 2016
The invention of the airplane marked an important point in the history of mankind and the communication of information technology. While simple messages could be transferred quickly at that point in history through the usage of telegraphs and telephones, invented some years before, air mail allowed for the rapid dissemination of physical media like letters and packages. This also opened up newer, faster communication options to sections of the world which may have been informationally isolated due to their lack of telegraph or telephone connectivity.
The interest in sending information via airmail was sparked immediately upon the first successful flights performed in 1903. The first experimental airmail flights came in the year 1911. Most notably, the United States Post Office Department had its first major test flights in New York during the week of September 23, 1911 through September 30, 1911 (Keogh). Earl L. Ovington was appointed as an “air mail carrier” and covered a route that flew between two points in the state of New York. Ovington dropped packages at the latter of the two points and a postmaster would collect them. During the week Ovington flew his route, tens of thousands of postcards along with several thousands of letters and circulars were delivered (Keogh). The results of the experiment proved to be more than satisfactory to the Post Office Department and, after several similar experiments were carried out in the same year, it was decided that the airplane would be a more than viable improvement on mail transportation and information dissemination.
Under these pretenses, the Post Office Department made several requests to Congress in 1912 for funds to start a formal service. After initially denying several requests, Congress approved funds for the foundation of an airplane service in 1916 (Keogh). The World Wars on the horizon at this time would prove to be a valuable asset in affirming the usefulness of airplanes for the mail service. Planes were used as fighting assets during both wars. If they could achieve fill this role, there was little doubt left in many people’s minds that they could be tasked with safely delivering mail and cargo shipments. Congress allotted even more money toward the service in 1918 when they granted $100,000 to be used in the establishment of the first experimental air mail route (Cleveland, 1). The Post Office Department established this route on May 15, 1918, marking it as an important date in the history of aviation and mail delivery services. The route was established between New York and Washington, DC (Cleveland, 1). The frequency of service ended up being a single round trip per day over the 218 mile span of the route (Keogh).
Perhaps most impressively, the pilots who flew the route had no navigation aids, instruments, or radios. The pilots made all of their trips via dead reckoning techniques. Forced landings were frequent but fatalities on the route were not (Cleveland, 1). In fact, the route was so successful that the Post Office Department immediately began creating a route that would bring the airmail service from New York to San Francisco, marking the first transcontinental airmail deliveries. By June 1st of the same year, the route was already in the works (Cleveland, 1).
The transcontinental route was accomplished by transporting mail from New York to Cleveland and then from Cleveland to Chicago. This leg of the route was completed in 1919 (Cleveland, 1). The next year another leg of the route was opened from Chicago to Omaha, with several feeder routes. The final segment, linking both ends of the continent via airmail, was completed in May of 1920. This finalized the route which allowed mail to be even more rapidly transported from New York to San Francisco (Cleveland, 2).
After some routes began to be shut down with the purpose of economizing expenditures, the Post Office Department further demonstrated the many possibilities of airmail by making a through flight from San Francisco to New York. This monumental flight took a total of approximately 33 hours to complete, with 25 of those hours being spent in actual flight (Keogh).
After demonstrating the capabilities of airmail, routes were able to be expanded upon. The United States postal service would be able to receive more money to implement their services across the contiguous and, eventually, non-contiguous states in the US. The service of airmail saw significant expansion as it became more publicly adopted and more infrastructure became available to support airmail to varied locations. Airmail largely came of age around 1927. At this time, most significant challenges had been overcome by the innovative work of the United States Post Office Department. At the beginning of its implementation, weather was one of the largest challenges facing airmail pilots. By the late 1920’s, it had been overcome, allowing for less delays and more rapid postal delivery. Fog remained the one issue that caused serious delays in postal deliveries but work was done to alleviate this issue as well (Keogh). By this point in time, fatalities had also been markedly diminished. The safety records of United States Post Office Department pilots were nearly impeccable, with very few fatalities or injuries while on the job. Millions of miles were flown between known injuries on the job (Keogh).
The efforts of the Post Office Department, aided by the United States Congress helped bring the US postal service into modernity. Airmail has proved to be the most rapid form of physical mail transportation thus far, as evidenced by its persistence into the present day. Being eclipsed only by the advent of the internet and email, airmail is still one of our most important information delivery systems in the United States and around the world. It vastly improved cultures through its ability to connect and facilitate efficient communication.
Works Cited
Cleveland, Reginald M. “Airmail.” Sci Am Scientific American 150.6 (1934): 290-91. USPS. Web. <https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/airmail.pdf>.
Keogh, Edward A. “Airmail Pioneers: A Brief History.” Airmail Pioneers: A Brief History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.airmailpioneers.org/content/Sagahistory.htm>.