deRirpa~T .Jaur1717f VOLUME33 NUMBERS MAY 1962 \\\VE are philatelic auctioneers and specialize a for stamp collections and other philatelic properties ~ c ~ Over 35 years' experience I assures the maximum I in results - Y om inquiry is welcomed i a :: I IRWIN HEIMAN~ ; Inc. I Serving A mcrican Philntely Since 1926 ~ 2 WEST 46th STREET ~ NEW YORK 36, N.Y. I Telephone: JUdson 2-2393 Suite 708 I ~llllltllClllllllllllllClllllllllllltlllllllllllllClllllllllllltlllllllllllllClllllllllllltlllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllCll1illlllllllCllllllllllll!~lllllllllllllC'~ The American Air Mail Society A Non-Profit Corporation Incorporated 1944 Organized 1923 Under the Laws of Ohio Official Publication o:t the PRESIDENT Dr. James J. Matejka, Jr. AMERICAN AIR MAIL SOCIETY LaSalle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois VOL. 33, No. 8 Whole Number 384 SECRETARY Ruth T. Smith 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. TREASURER Contents .................. for May, 1962 John J. Smith 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. VICE-PRESIDENTS The Pilot's Story of the May 1•5, 1918 Joseph L. Eisendrath Flights .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 234 Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. Herman Kleinert Presidential Message .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 238 Lester S. Manning EDITORS - Other Publications 1912 Open Planes No Place for a Skirt 239 L. B. Gatchell Geo. D. Kingdom Zeppelin-A Brief Biography . ... .. 241 ATTORNEY Foreign Pioneer Airpost Flights, George D. Kingdom (1909-14) ....................................... ... 246 DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN RELATIONS Balloon Post of the Siege of Paris 251 Dr. Max Kronstein AUCTION MANAGER Early Flights in the Himalaya Mts. 253 Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. Official Section ................................... 254 ADVANCE BULLETIN SERVICE Paul Bugg By the Seat of My Pants 255 1417 Gersuch Avenue Baltimore 18, Maryland TRANSLATION SERVICE Roland Kohl EDITOR 350 E. 30th St., New York 16, N.Y. joseph L. Eisendra1:h AUDITOR 350 No. Deere Park Drive, Highland Park, m. Stuart J. Malkin ASSISTANT EDITORS DIRECTORS Alton J. Blank, Herbert Brand­ Robert W. Murch ner, Paul Bugg, Robert E. Har­ Ernest A. Kehr L. B. Gatchell ing, Dr. Max Kronstein, George DEPARTMENT AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS L. Lee, Narcisse Pelletier, Horace D. Westbrooks. R. Lee Black, N. Pelletier, Florence L. Kleinert, Dr. Max Kronstein, Richard L. Singley, William MEMBERSHIP DUES - $4.00 R. Ware, James Wotherspoon, John Watson, per year William T. Wynn, Frank Blumenthal, Samuel Include subscription to The S. Goldsticker, Jr., J. S. Langabeer. AIRPOST JOURNAL. Appli­ Published monthly at Albion, Erie Co., Pa., U.S.A. cants must furnish two refer­ Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office ences, philatelic preferred. At at Albion, Pa., February 10, 1932, under least one must reside in Appli­ the Act of March 3, 1879. cant's home town. Applicants under 21 years must be guar­ The AIRPOST JOURNAL is not conducted for teed by Parent or Guardian. profit. The Editor and all others serve without Membership may be terminated compensation. Receipts from advertising, sub­ by the Society in accordance scriptions and contributions are applied to the with its By-Laws. betterment of the magazine and the promotion of aero-philately. Correspondence concerning sub­ scriptions, back numbers and The Editor and Officers of The American A1r bound volumes, address changes Mail Society assume no responsibility for the and other matters and all re­ accuracy of statements made by contributors. mittances should be sent to the Every effort is made to insure correctness of Treasurer. All general com­ all articles. munications and adverttsing Subscription Rates: $4.00 per year, 35c per copy. should be sent to the Editor. Advertising Rate Card available from the Editor. THE A'IRPOST JOURNAL, MAY, 1962 233 The Pilot's Story of the May 15, 1918 Mail Flights EMBERS of the Collectors Club of Washington heard from the lips of one of the first air mail pilots, the story of those first trips. The pilot was M James C. Edgerton, then a Lieutenant in the Army and now an official in the Commerce Department in Washington. Here's the story as told to us: "On the morning of May 13, 1918, a small group of Army officers, assembled from all sections of the country, met in a small room at Hazlehurst Field, Long Island. Thus actually began an experiment which was to have far reaching effects. In command of the group was Major Reuben H. Fleet, the others being Captains Torrey Webb and Paul Culver and Lieutenants Steve Bonsal, Walter Miller and the speaker, all pilots. After a brief and inspiring talk, Major Fleet started the work of the day. "As we were soon to learn, threats of failure stared us in the face fr.om the beginning of this great adventure. It is a significant and interesting fact that the inception of most human endeavors which are to bulk large in world affairs have inauspicious beginnings. "We were informed that, due to pressure of getting out war materials, our planes with which we were expected to launch the Air Mail in a matter of hours were just then arriving from the factory in many pieces, all dressed up in nice new crates. "Just picture the situation! These inanimate objects required first to be trans­ formed into planes. Following assembly, they must be serviced, flight tested and then sufficient planes flown to Philadelphia and Washington in time to protect the inauguration of the Air Mail Service. The skeptics were close to triumph in that hour. "Desperate situations command more desperate remedies. We made a con­ certed rush on the storage hangar. There was a mass of crates. Each pilot selected a willing crew of mechanics and the requisite number of crates. Then the feathers flew. Such a shower of boards and protective wrappings has never been seen before or since. Finally uncrated, in the sunset glow of the thirteenth stood the parts of shiny new JN4Hs, the good old Jennies of early fame, but these had 150 horsepower Hispano-Suiza motors (what power!) and the entire bunch of crates transposed into the first mail compartments. They even had nice new leather straps to protect those first souvenir letters about to be entrusted to us by your great group of stamp col­ lectors. "By intense effort, and this carried through the wee small hours of the morning of the fourteenth, Paul Culver and I had each gotten our respective bunch of crates transposed into actual airplanes. These two were serviced and stood ready for flight tests by 3 p.m. The others were not so fortunate. Mind you, this was the afternoon of the fourteenth and still Hazlehurst Field. Pulling on helmets and goggles, Culver and I each climbed into our respective cockpits with fear and trem­ bling. Would we succeed? Contact, and my motor took hold with a roar. Many times since I have thought of those cartoons depicting a grand and glorious feeling. "With my motor idling in the first warm-up I looked over and saw Culver's motor puff, then the glint of the whirling propellor. Away with the blocks and off we both went. The next ten minutes must tell the story. My plane, old 38274, seemed sweet from the start so I promptly landed. Culver soon came in. As no 234 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, MAY, 1962 other planes were ready a hasty council of war ensued, the result being that Major Fleet, Paul Culver and I arranged a second hop, luggage aboard, with a meeting place at Belmont Park racetrack, the future New York Air Mail Terminal. The Major came near taking my ship, but with sympathy for my anguish, reconsidered and took a conventional JN4H belonging to the Army Post. The three of us took off through a low, broken ceiling and soon landed at our meeting place. A real council ensued at Belmont Park. The ceiling was even lower and the clouds had closed in. About an hour and a half of daylight remained, strange country was ahead with an unknown field of doubtful condition to locate. Impetuous youth prevailed, so we took off to meet at Bustleton Field, Pennsylvania. All we knew about our destination was that it lay some twelve miles north of Philadelphia. "Paul Culver and I landed at Bustleton about dusk. We anxiously waited for Major Fleet. With tension and darkness increasing by the minute, the hangar phone finally rang and with a sigh of relief we heard the Major's voice inform us that as a result of a forced landing he was on a golf links about three miles away, with minor damage. Rushing like madmen, we dumped spare parts in a truck and went careening across the landscape. That is one truck which should have been equipped with safety belts. A spare wheel was soon in place and by dint of a commandeered fleet of autos, Bustleton Field was lighted for a successful landing. "Early the next morning, May 15th, Major Fleet ferried to Washington, leaving Paul Culver and I on station with our own ships in readiness for the inauguration of the service. Fleet reached the Polo Field here in Washington in time for the first north-bovnd flight, but found no gas to service the ship. Under the watchful eye of President Wilson and many dignitaries, the flight hour, eleven o'clock, came and went to the accompaniment of a wild scramble for aviation gas. What a theme for "Embarrassing Moments." The first flight from Washington north was ill star­ red. Due to the gas incident the plane took off a few minutes late and as a result of inexperience, the pilot, Lt. George Boyle, who had awaited the opening day in Washington, lo&"t his way soon after the takeoff. By the irony of fate he landed next door to the southern Maryland farm of Otto Praeger, Second Assistant Post­ master General, a point directly opposite to his true course.