PILOT STORIES: Lee, E.
Hamilton
| Air Mail
Service Began: |
December 29, 1918 |
| Air Mail
Service Ended: |
June 30, 1927 |
| Total Hours
Flown: |
4220.43 |
| Total Miles
Flown: |
382,426 |
| Assignment: |
College Park, Maryland |
| |
February 1, 1919 –
Bustleton Field |
| |
February 10, 1919 –
Belmont Park |
| |
September 20, 1919 –
College Park |
| |
July 29, 1920 – Chicago |
| |
September 16, 1920 –
Omaha |
| |
October 16, 1920 –
Chicago |
| |
March 1, 1921 – Minneapolis |
| |
July 1, 1921 – Omaha |
| |
August 1, 1921 –
Chicago |
| |
June 10, 1924 – Hazelhurst |
| |
December 16, 1924 –
Hadley Field |
| |
January 1, 1925 –
Maywood, Illinois |
Along with Jack Knight, E. Hamilton Lee was
one of the most remarkable pilots to come out of the U.S.
Air Mail Service. Lee was born in Paris, Illinois on April
18, 1892. He made his first solo flight on June 16, 1916 at
Ashburn Field in Chicago.
Many of the U.S. Air Mail Pilots were in love
with the danger of flight, as much as the fun and excitement,
and many took risks that were not part of flying the mail.
Lee could certainly count himself among that crowd, until
a particular incident in which  he
survived a crash after trying to "buzz" a group
of men on a Mississippi River boat. Lee did not see wires
that lined the side of one river bank, and his landing gear
and one wing caught them, forcing him down. Fortunately, he
survived the crash, but determined then and there to live
to the credo that there are "old pilots and there are
bold pilots, but there are no old, bold, pilots."
After his airmail service ended, Lee flew for
United Airlines, retiring from the company in 1949. At the
time of his retirement, he had flown longer and farther than
any other flyer alive.
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