Shank, Robert F.

Air Mail Service Began:
August 2, 1918
Air Mail Service Ended:
November 19, 1918
Pilot Rehired:
January 1, 1919
Air Mail Service Ended:
April 16, 1919
Assignment:
Belmont Park, New York
January 1, 1919 – Belmont Park, New York
Refer to caption
Robert Shank stands behind the mail truck while the mail is being loaded into his airplane at College Park on August 12, 1918. A mechanic is posed in the airplane, checking it out before the flight.

Appointed August 2, 1918, Robert Shank was the last of the four pilots to join the Air Mail Service. On November 19, 1918, Shrank and pilot Eddie Gardner were fired when the pair refused to carry mail in a low-visibility fog that had already claimed the life of one pilot that morning.

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