Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly.The pathfinding aerial mail flight, New York-Cleveland-Chicago.Max Miller starting in a Standard Aircraft plane equipped with a 150 h.-p. Hispano-Suiza motor.
Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly.The pathfinding aerial mail flight, New York-Cleveland-Chicago.Max Miller starting in a Standard Aircraft plane equipped with a 150 h.-p. Hispano-Suiza motor.
Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly.
The pathfinding aerial mail flight, New York-Cleveland-Chicago.
Max Miller starting in a Standard Aircraft plane equipped with a 150 h.-p. Hispano-Suiza motor.
On May 15, 1919, the postal authorities intended to inaugurate aero mail service between New York and Chicago, but owing to the fact that some of the machines which were being renovated from war-machines to mail-machines were not ready, that branch of the service had to be postponed for a few days.
The aero mail between Chicago and Cleveland and Cleveland and Chicago was inaugurated. The delivery at Cleveland and Boston will be reduced to some sixteen hours, and to New York some six hours. Letters mailed in New York City in time for the train leaving at 5.31P. M.will reach Chicago in time for the 3 o’clock carrier delivery instead of the following morning carrier delivery, as would be the case if sent all the way by train.
Mail from San Francisco and the entire Pacific coast States put on Burlington train No. 8, mail from South Dakota and northern Illinois put on Illinois Central No. 12, mail from northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin put on Northwestern train No. 514, mail from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana put on Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul train No. 18, and mail from Kansas City and the entire southwest put on Sante Fé train No. 10, will reach Chicago in time to make connection with the air mail eastbound. The air mail from these trains will be taken direct to the air mail field. At Cleveland the air mail will catch the New York Central train at 4P. M.for the East.
Under this arrangement the air mail will be delivered in Cleveland and Boston on afternoon deliveries instead of the following morning. At Albany, N. Y., and Springfield, Mass., this mail will catch the morning delivery instead of the afternoon following.
The aero mail stamps for this service are the same as for the aero mail service between Washington and New York. It will be recalled that originally the amount necessary to carry a letter was 24 cents. This was reduced to 16 cents, and finally to 6 cents, where it now is.
Without a doubt when large bimotored machines have been put into aero mail service, letters will be carried for 3 cents apiece between New York and Chicago.
One company has already made a proposal to the postal authorities to supplement the mail service between Chicago and New York.
The aero mail service between Chicago and Cleveland started off on schedule. Pilot Trent V. Fry left Chicago at 9.35A. M., and arrived at Cleveland at 12.48P. M., in a rebuilt D. H. 4, carrying 450 pounds of mail. The opening trip was made in very good time, with a five-minute stop at Bryon, Ohio.
Another plane with Edward Gardner as pilot left Cleveland at 9.30A. M., carrying 300 pounds of mail, arrived at Chicago at 1.25P. M.