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Moving the Mail : Airmail in America : US Aerial Mail Service 1918–1926 : Transcontinental Service
Transcontinental Service
Pilot "Wild Bill" Hopson was one of several pilots who carried the mail across country night and day in February 1921.
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The Post Office Department's ultimate goal was to provide coast-to-coast airmail service. By 1918 it had established
service between New York and Chicago. After September 8, 1920, airmail was flown across country, from New York to
San Francisco. In the early days of airmail service, the lack of ground lighting made night flying impossible.
Mailbags were routinely removed from airplanes at night and placed on mail trains, which sped them on their way. The
next morning the bags were put back on the nearest mail airplane to continue their journey. At it's fastest,
transcontinental airmail service saved less than 2 days over mail sent the entire distance by train.
To institute coast-to-coast airmail service, postal officials had to show Congress that round-the-clock flying was
possible. If mail moved only slightly faster by air than by train, few in Congress would be persuaded to fund the
service.
On February 21, 1921, the Post Office Department sent out two planes in each direction, west to east and east to west.
The westbound flights turned back in horrible snowstorms. One of the eastbound flights, piloted by William Lewis,
crashes near Elko, Nevada. Mail was flown to North Platte, Nebraska, where Jack Knight was scheduled to fly the next
segment. Knight ended up flying the mail all the way into Chicago, flying much of the way over unfamiliar ground at
night, and in a snowstorm. Knight's remarkable flight captured national attention and helped push for successful funding of airmail service.
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Lighting the Way
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Beacon light on display
Beacon lights help pilots find airfields in the dark.
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To save the service, postal officials had to make night flying a reality by providing lighted airways. Carl F. Egge, general
superintendent of the Airmail Service, worked with J. V. Magee, an illumination engineer, to organize a viable lighting
system along the airmail routes.
Small acetylene gas beacons, visible for 10 miles, were installed at three-mile intervals. Every emergency landing
field had a rotating beacon mounted on a 50-foot tower. The beacon made six rotations a minute. Regular landing
fields were equipped with high-intensity lamps that dispersed light across the field, and white boundary lights
were placed every 150 to 300 feet around the perimeter. Large buildings in the area were floodlighted, and nearby
high-rise obstacles were equipped with red lights.
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Close up view of an airmail beacon
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