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- Aerial View of U.S. Air Mail Plane above Fort Crook, Nebraska, circa 1923 - Regular air mail service in the United States started in 1918. Initial air mail stamps cost 24 cents -- eight times more than ground service. But those fees helped subsidize the development of America's airways. After operating air mail flights itself for eight years, the U.S. Post Office Department contracted with commercial air carriers in 1926.
- circa 1923
- Collections - Artifact
Aerial View of U.S. Air Mail Plane above Fort Crook, Nebraska, circa 1923
Regular air mail service in the United States started in 1918. Initial air mail stamps cost 24 cents -- eight times more than ground service. But those fees helped subsidize the development of America's airways. After operating air mail flights itself for eight years, the U.S. Post Office Department contracted with commercial air carriers in 1926.
- Loading Air Mail Plane Using Floodlights, Fort Crook near Omaha, Nebraska, 1924 - Transcontinental air mail pilots relied on a string of powerful light beacons to navigate sections of the New York to San Francisco route at night. They flew night mail planes equipped with illuminated instrument panels, navigation lights, and landing lights. At airfields along the way, floodlights helped workers inspect the planes, refuel, and unload and load the mail.
- July 01, 1924
- Collections - Artifact
Loading Air Mail Plane Using Floodlights, Fort Crook near Omaha, Nebraska, 1924
Transcontinental air mail pilots relied on a string of powerful light beacons to navigate sections of the New York to San Francisco route at night. They flew night mail planes equipped with illuminated instrument panels, navigation lights, and landing lights. At airfields along the way, floodlights helped workers inspect the planes, refuel, and unload and load the mail.