Artifact 2 – The History of Airmail

In the famous story, flight ironically arose out of a small town in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, December 17, 1903, when the Wright brothers figured out heavier than air flight. Aviation technology reaches back over two thousand years, from hot air balloons and kites, to heavier-than-air jets, super-sonic flight, and aerial combat. It is without a doubt, the most important recent advance in worldwide connectivity. No other technological advancement has dramatically shortened the time of travel across great distances the way that flight has. The wheel allowed heavier loads to be carried, but did not dramatically increase speed. Horse and camelback riding increase speed, but only to around 20 miles an hour at best, and not for long periods. Sea travel allowed trade and travel with other continents, but it was slow and expensive. The personal automobile is probably second to the airplane, because it did dramatically increase speed, but only over land, and only for as long as an individual could drive. At best, you might cross the country in a few days in a car, a few weeks by boat, months by horse, or years on foot. With an airplane, you can do it six hours and twenty-five minutes flat. One fourth of a day. That is why airmail has flourished; it plays to the name of the game: speed.

The Wright brothers are famous for discovering manned, powered, and heavier than air flight. As usual, they cannot claim all the credit as inventors because there was already an incalculable amount of study already done on the subject. Nevertheless, the work done by the brothers, Orville and Wilbur, was incredible. Especially considering that Wilbur only completed high school and Orville only spent three years there. The brothers work centered on the belief that a man, given adequate control, could learn to balance an airplane that moved on three axes. This was against the common convention of people attempting to build inherently stable flight structures. They got their idea from bicycles. The brothers were very familiar with the concept because they owned and operated a bike shop. The profits of which allowed the Wrights to fund their flying obsession. The popular belief of the time was that an airplane must utilize an “inherently stable” aerodynamic frame to operate. This is like believing that a vehicle can only stand if it has three or more wheels. It is true. It is logical. However, one can substitute a third wheel with skill or balance and ride a bicycle. One could further substitute another wheel for even more skill and ride a unicycle! That is the principle that the Wright brothers sought to explore. Not how to build a structure that could stand, but a structure that could fly. As we all now know, turns out the brothers were right! Using a multiple rudder system to point the nose of an airplane and with lots and lots of practice, the brothers mastered flight. Soon after, they presented their working idea to the United States government, who commissioned the construction of more airplanes for military and reconnaissance use. Later, it logically followed that they use this incredible fast mode of travel for transmitting mail.

The original form of airmail was carrier pigeons, but the first mail delivered by an actual vehicle was in 1785. The mail was delivered by a hot air balloon, to Paris, and included a letter written by Benjamin Franklin’s grandson. The world’s first official airmail flight was in 1911, and was quickly followed by the first scheduled airmail service in the U.K. The first official American airmail delivery was on September 23, 1911 and was under the authority of the U.S. Post Office Department. Service in the United States began on May 15, 1918 between Washington, D.C., and New York City, with a stop in Philadelphia. These early mail routes were incredibly fast, compared to other methods of the day, but poor weather and frequent crashes caused constant strife. In 1921, the Postal Department arranged a through flight from San Francisco to New York. An airmail plane left San Francisco and landed at New York the next day. The total elapsed time for the trip, including stops, was 33 hours and 21 minutes. The actual flying time was a little over 25 hours, and the average speed was 104 mph over the distance of 2629 miles [1]. Advancement in aerial technology during the First World War played a huge role in the research and development of airplanes and, consequentially, airmail. In 1921, the Post Office Department paid manufacturers $476,109 for new airplanes and the remodeling of Army planes. Around this time, the planes could carry about a 500-pound load of mail.

The next major step was night flying. Up to this point, every mailing route was carried out in the daylight hours so that the pilots see and stay on the correct route. Flying by instruments was not possible yet because they were not sophisticated enough. The U.S. Army had some previous experiments in this field, and they happily turned over all their data to the Postal Department. Eventually, and through the assistance of, the General Electric Company, the American Gas Accumulator Company, and the Sperry Instrument Company all pitched in and set beacon lights all the way from Chicago to Cheyenne. Planes were equipped with external lights for landing, emergency fields were prepared and lit up with lights, and landing areas were designated. The test flight was huge success, and intercity lighting became prevalent for several years.

By 1926, it became apparent that larger planes were needed as the population and volume of letters increased. Eventually, the Department purchased 51 Douglas mail planes that could carry 1,000-pound loads. The problem was that, although faster than previous models, these planes top speed was around 150 or 160 miles an hour with a stiff tailwind. 1931 saw the advent of the Boeing Monomail that could tow a 2,300-pound load at the same speed. Today, the United States Postal Service utilizes the recognizable Boeing passenger airplanes for transporting mail. These modern monsters can take off with a weight of 700-800 thousand pounds, cruise at speeds over 500 miles per hour, and fly for 6,000 miles without refueling. They can carry you, your luggage, your mail, and fuel clean across the planet.

Today, “airmail” does not exist as a distinct service, because it is the basic service of the U.S. Postal Service. In 1995, the USPS began to service all international first class mail by air, without additional charge. At the same time, they eliminated “surface” service, which transported mail by ship. Due to these changes, “Air Mail” no longer appears on any U.S. postage stamps because just about everything is already airmail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

1. http://www.airmailpioneers.org/content/Sagahistory.htm