Today In History:  23 September  [1911]   --  The first official flight of airmail in the United States

The first official airmail of the United States by fixed-wing aircraft is flown when Earle Ovington flies 6 miles (9.7 km) from Nassau Boulevard aerodrome to Mineola on Long Island. He circled Mineola at 500 feet and tossed a sack of mail bag over the side of the cockpit and the sack burst on impact, scattering letters and postcards. He delivered 640 letters and 1,280 postcards, including a letter to himself from the United States Post Office Department designating him as "Official Air Mail Pilot #1".

PHOTO: Edward M. Morgan, Frank Harris Hitchcock, and Earle Lewis Ovington

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.