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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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But, the first airmail route by the US Post Office Department did not begin until January of 1918 from Washington DC to New York City.
On September 6, 1918, the Air Mail Field in Bryan, Ohio began operations as one of the state's first official airfields with the arrival of a survey flight to establish air mail service between New York and Chicago.
Scheduled service began on July 1, 1919, and stretched west to San Francisco on September 8, 1920, completing the 2,666 mile U.S transcontinental airmail route.
Flying the Curtiss JN-4H "Jenny," R-4, Standard JR-1B, and later, the De Havilland DH-4, aviators pioneered cross continental flight in open cockpit biplanes without radios or electronic navigational aids.
This operation reduced coast-to-coast mail delivery from 87 hours by rail to 33 hours by air.
Air Mail Field was relocated a mile north of Bryan on July 1, 1924, in preparation for overnight mail service. The first scheduled night flights through Bryan began one year later. By May 1926, more efficient air mail planes began to fly over Bryan, and Air Mail Field was reduced to serving as an emergency landing site.
On September 1, 1927, the Post Office Department relinquished control of the transcontinental route to private contractors and Bryan's role in air mail service officially ended.
Air Mail Field and the aeropost flights became a part of aviation's heritage, having performed vital roles in the advancement of air commerce as well as charting a course for the future of global air transportation.
Bryan's Air Mail Field is commemorated with a Historical Markeron the corner of North Main & East Foster Streets in Bryan, Ohio, located in Williams County.
August 23, 2023