Bryan in Williams County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Bryan's Air Mail Field
Photographed By Christopher Light, November 2, 2007
1. Bryan's Air Mail Field Marker
Inscription.
Bryan's Air Mail Field. . Here, on September 6, 1918, Bryans’ Air Mail Field began oeprations as one of Ohio’s first official airfields ith the arrival of a survey flight to establish air mail service between New York and Chicago. Scheduled servcie began on July 1, 1919, and stretched west to San Francisco on September 8, 1920, completing the 2,666 mile U.S. transcontinental air mail 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 and reduced coast to coast mail delivery from 87 hours by rail to 33 hours by air. , Air Mail Field was relocated 1.5 morth of this site on July 1, 1924, in preprartion for overnight mail service and the first scheduled night flights through Bryan, July 1, 1925. By May 1926,more efficient air mail planes began to overfly 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.
Here, on September 6, 1918, Bryans’ Air Mail Field began oeprations as one of Ohio’s first official airfields ith the arrival of a survey flight to establish air mail service between New York and Chicago. Scheduled servcie began on July 1, 1919, and stretched west to San Francisco on September 8, 1920, completing the 2,666 mile U.S. transcontinental air mail 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 and reduced coast to coast mail delivery from 87 hours by rail to 33 hours by air.
Air Mail Field was relocated 1.5 morth of this site on July 1, 1924, in preprartion for overnight mail service and the first scheduled night flights through Bryan, July 1, 1925. By May 1926,more efficient air mail planes began to overfly 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
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of global air transportation.
Erected 2002 by The Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Miller Aviation Heritage Fund, The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 3-86.)
Location. 41° 29′ N, 84° 33.06′ W. Marker is in Bryan, Ohio, in Williams County. Marker is at the intersection of North Main Street (U.S. 127) and East Foster Street on North Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Bryan OH 43506, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Christopher Light, November 2, 2007
2. Side 2
Photographed By Christopher Light, November 2, 2007
3. Close up of the photo on the marker
Photographed By Christopher Light, November 2, 2007
4. Bryan's Air Mail Field Marker
Photographed By Christopher Light, November 2, 2007
5. The old air field is still a field
Credits. This page was last revised on January 21, 2020. It was originally submitted on November 6, 2007, by Christopher Light of Valparaiso, Indiana. This page has been viewed 2,873 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 6, 2007, by Christopher Light of Valparaiso, Indiana. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.