Friday marked the 100th anniversary of the first U.S. mail flight, which took place on Sept. 23, 1911, when Earl Ovington took off from Long Island, New York, in a Bleriot monoplane, carrying about 15 pounds of letters. He flew to the Mineola post office, about 10 miles away, where his cargo continued to its final destination via ground transportation. The flight was an experiment, which was repeated every day until September 30.
After the initial experiment, another 31 experimental airmail flights took place before the Post Office Department urged Congress to fund the airmail service in 1912. But it wasn’t until 1916 that Congress finally appropriated $50,000 for the system, and in 1918, the first experimental airmail route was established between Washington, D.C. and New York City. Four Curtis Jenny airplanes, boasting airspeeds of 50 to 60 mph and a 150 lb mail cargo carrying capacity, were used for the mission.
