The Postal History of ICAO (2024)

THEPOSTAL HISTORY OF ICAO

AviationHistory - The First Over the Atlantic

The idea oftransatlantic flight came about with the advent of the hot-air balloon. With everypassing year, records of flying were broken; in the end, much progress was madedue to the practice of incentives. In April 1913, the London newspaper the DailyMail offered a prize of £10,000 to “the aviator who shall first cross the Atlanticin an airplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canadaor Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland in 72 continuous hours”.In reality, it was unlikely anybodycould have made the crossing in 1913. In 1914, Glen Curtiss had designed the flyingboat America, especially designed to win the prize.

The competitionwas suspended with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. But by the end of the war, aviation technology had improved significantly.The Daily Mail's renewed offer in 1918 seemed like it might just be within reach.The Daily Mail's offer was further boosted by business man Lawrence Phillips, £1,000,and £2,000 from the Ardath Tobacco Company. Several teams had attemptedand failed. Bythe spring of 1919, several teams had gathered in St. Johns, Newfoundland, vyingto be the first to cross the Atlantic and collect the prize.

Whilst there was an initial flurry of entrants, only fourserious contenders made it to the starting point in Newfoundland, this place beingchosen as the prevailing winds favoured a West to East flight.The fourentrants were:

1. Raynham and Morgan in the Martinsyde single engine plane, named Raymor;
2. Harry Hawker and Mackenzie Grieve in the Sopwith B1 single-engine plane, named Atlantic;
3. Kerr, Brackley and Wyatt in the converted Handley Page four-engine bomber, also named Atlantic;
4. Alco*ck and Brown in a two-engine Vicker Vimy.

From the time of theirarrival in Newfoundland in early April 1919 up until their eventual departure, theyexperienced quite bad weather; testing was virtually restricted to engine runsand because the freezing outside temperature, the radiator had to re-filled andemptied after each engine run to prevent the engine from freezing.

On 11April 1919, the competing team Raynham and Morgan arrived with their MartinsydeplaneRaymor; the latter name was obtained through the combination ofthe first syllable of each of their last names. However,the weather was preventing any of the teams from taking off. On Sunday morning18 May, the sky at St Johns was cloudless. Lettersfrom a mail bag, which had been divided between Hawker and Raynham, were alsoput on board. Raynham decided that they were going to take off, eventhough the wind was somewhat behind the aircraft, because it was now a racewith Hawker and Grieve and an act of desperation. Just after 4p.m. local time that evening, the aircraft wasstarted. With a full load, the aircraft didn’t start to lift off until after300 yards down the runway. When it started to rise, it was due to hitting abump; it rose, wavered, and plummeted down so hard that the undercarriagebuckled. So ended the Raymor challenge.Theymade another attempt on 17 July 1919, which resulted in a crash. Raynhamcaught the first ship he could back to England, butapparently the mail (see sample below) was not delivered until early Januarythe following year.

The team ofRear Admiral Mark Edward Frederic Kerr, with Major Herbert George Brackley asnavigator, and R.Wyatt, arrived later than most of the entries, anddecided to attempt their flight out of Harbour Grace, whereas the other entrieswere out of Trepassey, St. John’s. The team mostly consisted of men of highmilitary and social ranking and as such, was the favourites of the elite inEngland to win the Atlantic Air Race and theDaily Mailprize. Kerr’sbiplane was one of the largest in the world at that time. Before Kerr couldattempt the transatlantic flight, Alco*ck and Brown made the flight across theAtlantic, winning theDaily Mailprize. Kerr still wanted to attemptthe Atlantic crossing, but was ordered to quit the race and to instead tour theaircraft in the United States.

Another ofthe four entrants for the Daily Mail prize was the Sopwith B1, named Atlantic,single-engine plane piloted by Australian aviatorHarry Hawker with his Scottish navigator Kenneth Mackenzie-Grieve.

On 18 May1919 at 3:40pm local time,Hawker and Grieve set off from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, in their Sopwith. Afterfourteen and a half hours of flight, the engine overheated and their plane was forcedto descend in the ocean; both Hawker and Grieve were rescued by the Danish steamerMary and the mail carried was salvaged. Hawker and Grieve were awarded a consolationprize of £5,000 by the Daily Mail.

At theopposite left, a mere 200 stamps of the3cbrown overprints"FIRST / TRANS- / ATLANTIC / AIR POST / April,1919" in black were issued on 12April 1919 for the eventual trans-Atlanticflight attempt. Many of these stamps were used on flight covers, leaving just 87remaining mint examples. Fewer survive today after nearly 100 years.

One important and influential prize was of a $25,000 reward offeredon 22 May 1919 by Raymond Orteig, a French-American hotelier and philanthropist who owned the New York hotel, “to thefirst aviator of any Allied Country crossing the Atlantic in one flight, fromParis to New York or New York to Paris”. By the early 1920s, airplanes had progressedto the point that the flight seemed technically feasible, albeit with considerablerisk for the pilot; several pilots died or were injured while trying to win theprize.

Early 1918, Glen Curtiss had begun work on four large flyingboats capable of flying to Europe under their own power. The type was named NCfor Naval-Curtiss, since it was a join US Navy-Curtiss design. The fourflying boats were designated NC-1 to NC-4; they were impressive and strange-looking.The maximum speed was 91mph.

Between 8 and 31 May 1919, the U.S. Navy Curtiss NC-4 (NC forNaval Curtis) flying boat, under the command of Rear Admiral Albert Cushing Read,flew 7,284 km from Rockaway, New York, to Plymouth (England), via among other stopsTrepassey (Newfoundland), Horta and Ponta Delgada (both in Azores) and Lisbon (Portugal)in 53h 58m, spread over 23 days; the longest non-stop leg of the journey, from Trepasseyto Horta was 1,900 km and lasted 15h 18m. The Navy mobilized 68 destroyers to bestationed at intervals of 50-75 miles along the route as guide posts, so as to takemeteorological observations, report the weather and render assistance in the eventof a water landing. This flight was not eligible for the Daily Mail prize,since it took more than 72 consecutive hours and also because more than one aircraftwas used in the attempt; it was not eligible for the Orteig prize as they leftfrom Newfoundland. Three Curtiss flying boats, each with a crew ofsix, were involved in the transatlantic flight: NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4. The accompanying NC-1 and NC-3 flying boats were lostin dense fog; unable to contact the destroyers, they were forced to land on thesea.

Originally, the entire division of four NCs was supposed to makethe flight. The NC-1, however, was severely damaged in a storm and it was decidedto use the NC-2 as a test bed while repairs and updates were made to the NC-1. TheNC-2 was then cannibalized for the remaining parts required. The NC designationof the aircraft was derived from the collaborative efforts between the U.S. Navy(N) and Glenn Curtiss (C). The accomplishment of the NC-4 was somewhat eclipsedin the minds of the public by the first non-stop transatlantic flight made by Alco*ckand Brown two weeks later.

There were other teams competing for the first non-stopflight across the Atlantic; none was successful. However, on 14 June 1919, Britishaviators Captain John Alco*ck and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown (navigator) successfullycompleted the first non-stop in a twin-engine Vickers Vimy F.B.27A Mk.IV biplanebomber crossing of the Atlantic from St. John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland,winning the £10,000 Daily Mail prize; in fact, their flight time was 16h 27m in denseicy fog. These pioneers had minimal flight instruments, a sextant and a radiothat soon broke down. The Vickers Vimy wasstripped of its military equipment and fitted with extra fuel tanks; theprevailing west to east winds made the flight in that direction most likely to succeed.

On 9 June 1919, the post office of Newfoundland had overprinted 10,000of the 15-cent red stamp, issued on 24 June 1897 for the 400^thanniversaryof John Cabot’s discovery of Newfoundland and the 60^thyear ofQueen Victoria’s reign, with the textTrans-Atlantic/AIR POST,/1919./ONEDOLLAR.,in four black lines; some of these overprints exist withoutthe comma afterAIR POST. Alco*ck and Browncarried 196 lettersand one parcel using the overprinted red stamp and postmarked between 10 and 14June at St. John’s. As mail was carried on the flight,it became the first transatlantic airmail flight. See pictureshereafter.

The first transatlantic flight by rigid airship, and the firstreturn transatlantic flight, was made just a couple of weeks after the transatlanticflight by Alco*ck/Brown on 2 July 1919. It was the first flight to transport payingpassengers. The flight was intended as a testing ground for postwar commercial servicesby airship and part of the British Imperial Airship Scheme in the 1920s to improvecommunications between Britain and the distant countries of the British Empire byestablishing air routes using airships (i.e., the R100 and the R101).

The South Atlantic had never appealed to airmen as much asthe North Atlantic. A great deal of the challenge offered by the longer crossingin the north was lacking; no large amount of prize money was available toprovide an incentive. The first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic was made bythe Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral to mark the centennialof Brazil's independence. They flew in stages from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, using three different British Fairey IIID biplanes and covered a distanceof 8,383 km between 30 March and 17 June 1922. The Fairey IIID seaplane was an aircraftwidely used by the RAF and the Royal Naval Air Service; it was not spectacularperformer, but proved to be steady and reliable, despite the problems inherentto a single-engine aircraft. They carried no mail that could provide philatelicsouvenirs.

Orteig's offer was for a period of five years and went unanswered;as a result, Orteig extended it for another five years on 1 June 1925.

The first transatlantic flight between Spain and South Americawas completed in stages between 22 and 26 January 1926 with a crew of Spanish aviatorson board in the Plus Ultra, a Dornier Do J Wal (Wal for whale) flying boat,also designated Do 16; conceived by the German designer Claude Dornier, itwas built in Italy, because building large aircraft in Germany was forbidden bythe terms of the Treaty of Versailles. CaptainRamónFranco and his co-pilotJulio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz were accompanied by crewmembers: Teniente de Navio (Navy Lieutenant), Juan Manuel Duran and themechanic Pablo Rada. The 10,270 km journey was completed in 59h 39m.

The Dornier Wal became one of the most popular and best-knownflying boats between the two world wars. The same type of Dornier DO J Wal flyingboat (named the Argos) was used for the first night-time crossing of theSouth Atlantic accomplished during 16-17 April 1927 by the Portuguese aviators Sarmentode Beires, Jorge de Castilho and Manuel Gouveia, flying from the Bijagós Archipelago,Portuguese Guinea, to Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.

Between 10 October 1927 and 14 April 1928, French aviatorsDieudonné Costes andJoseph Le Brixflew57,410km around the world, in aBreguet XIXGR namedNungesser-Coli.During the trip, they made the non-stop aerial crossing of theSouthAtlantic Oceanon 14-15 October 1927, flying betweenSaint-Louis,SenegalandNatal, Brazil, during 18 hours and covering 3,380km.

Born on 4 February 1902 in Detroit, Michigan, Charles AugustusLindbergh studied mechanical engineering before leaving school to pursue his interestin flight. He made his first solo flight in 1923; he enlisted in the U.S. Army inMarch 1924 to begin a year of military flight training. He later worked as an airmailpilot. Lindbergh wanted to win the OrteigChallenge and obtained financial backing from a group of friends and businessmenin St. Louis.

As a consultant for the Wright Aeronautical company, the designerGiuseppe Mario Bellanca had built in 1926 the Bellanca WB-1 airplane as ademonstration vehicle for the new Wright Whirlwind engine. The WB2, named Columbiaor Miss Columbia, was the second in a series of aircraft designed by Bellanca, initiallyfor Wright Aeronautical, then later for Columbia Aircraft Corp. The WB2 had somefeatures built-in intended for long-distance overseas flights and was a single-engine high-wing monoplane that was generally acknowledgedto be one of the best aircraft in the world.

The WB2 aircrafthad been Charles Lindbergh’s first choice for his transatlantic flight. Lindbergh had dreamed of piloting a Wright-Bellanca, across the Atlantic andcame to Bellanca Aircraft Corporation to buy the Columbia to fly for the OrteigPrize. Bellanca agreed to the sale, but Levine, chairman of the board, refused to sell unless he could pick the crew to pilot the plane.Eventually, Lindbergh contacted Ryan Airlines, a small firm at San Diego, to supplyan airplane which he named the Spirit of St. Louis in honour of his supporters;the aircraft was constructed in record time.

Lindberghactively participated in the design of the aircraft. Lindbergh daringly decided to fly by himself, without a navigator, so hecould carry more fuel. Extra fuel tanks were added and the wing span increasedto accommodate the additional weight. The plane would have a maximum range of 4,000miles, more than enough to reach Paris. One of the more innovative design decisionsinvolved placing the main fuel tank in front of, rather than behind, the pilot'sseat. Lindbergh didn't want to be caught between the tank and the engine if theplane was forced to land. This configuration also meant that Lindbergh would notbe able to see directly ahead as he flew. Every ounce mattered. Instead of a heavyleather pilot's seat, Lindbergh would be perched in a far lighter wicker chair.The first tests started on 26 April 1927.

Before Charles Lindbergh made the first solo, non-stop flightacross the Atlantic Ocean in May 1927, most Americans thought it too dangerous totravel by airplane. Lindbergh’s flight changed that. By 20 May 1927, Lindbergh was ready for the transatlantic flightfrom the Roosevelt Field runway, near New YorkCity. He took offin the Ryan NYP (New York-Paris, registered N-X-211) from the field at 7:52a.m. and began his non-stop journey to Paris.He brought with him 4 sandwiches, 2 canteens of water, and 451 gallons of gas.

Fighting fog, icing, and sleepdeprivation, Lindbergh landed safely at Le Bourget Field in Paris on 21 May 1927 at 10:22p.m., after a flight whichlasted 33h 30m. Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize. Lindbergh's greatest enemy on his journey was fatigue, but hemanaged to keep awake by sticking his head out the window to inhale cold air, byholding his eyelids open, and by constantly reminding himself that if he felt asleep,he would perish. In addition, he had a slight instability built into his airplanethat helped keep him focused and awake. The FédérationAéronautique Internationale (FAI, the World Air Sports Federation) is the sole organizationauthorized to certify aeronautical and astronautical world records worldwide. Thecertification of Charles Lindbergh's flight required several documents to provethe performance. A sealed barograph, an instrument working with atmospheric pressure,was loaded on the aircraft; its six-hour cylinder recorded the altitudes flown andproved that the flight was uninterrupted.

Immediatelyafter Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight, newspapers began comparing it to the Wrightbrothers’ first flight in 1903 and Charles Lindbergh used his fame to promote thedevelopment of aviation. He continued to influence aviation throughout his life.In 1931, with his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, serving as co-pilot and navigator,Lindbergh charted international air routes for new commercial airlines flying acrossCanada to Asia.

It is highly probable that the Bellanca aircraft, as a competitorfor the Orteig Prize, may well have come about as a result of the actions of CharlesLindbergh. Pilot Clarence Duncan Chamberlin aspired to win Orteig prize. The "MissColumbia" registered N-X-237 was the monoplane Wright-Bellanca WB-2 which Chamberlinwould use to break the endurance record for flight in 1927 and later that same yearmake his famous trans-Atlantic flight. However, when Lindbergh took off for Paris,Chamberlin, on the other hand, was still grounded by the court injunction and badweather. Eventually, Chamberlin and Charles Levine took off from Roosevelt Field,Long Island, New York on 4 June 1927. Their goal was to surpass Lindbergh’s flightto Paris. They headed across the Atlantic and landed safely, out of fuel, at Mansfeldt,Germany, completing a record flight of 3,911 miles in 43h; it was the first transatlanticflight with a passenger to set a new long-distance record.

The AtlanticOcean had been flown from west to east a number of times; the reason for thiswas a combination of prevailing winds from the west helping them along with atailwind and the low power of the airplanes of those days. That was now changedin 1928; the aircraft used by two Germans Capt. Herman Köhl and Baron Günthervon Hünefeld and an Irish navigator James Michael Christopher Fitzmauricejointed their forces by using a Junkers W-33 named Bremen. For 1928, the Bremenwas considered ahead of its time with blended winglets. In the early hours of12 April 1928, their Junkers W33 registered D-1167 took off from Baldonnel,Ireland and touched down on Greenly Island, Canada, the following day.Duringthe flight, the instrument panel lights failed, the compass malfunctioned, anda fuel-line break caused fumes to fill the cabin. Strong winds took them northof their intended destination, which was to have been New York; they put downnear the first settlement they found. Even though they did not reach theirdestination, the three men had crossed the ocean; thus, the flight had to beconsidered a success. No mail was officially carried. Several philatelic items existcommemorating the event. See hereafter.

On 11 October 1928 at 07:54,Hugo Eckener, commandingtheGraf Zeppelinairshipas part ofDelag's operations,began the first non-stop transatlantic passenger flights, leavingFriedrichshafen,Germany and arriving atNAS Lakehurst,New Jersey, on 15 October 1928.

On 1-2 September1930, Dieudonné Costes with Maurice Bellonte, flew a Breguet XIX Super BidonPoint d'Interrogation from Paris to New York, as the firstheavier-than-airaircraftto reach New York in the more difficult westbound direction between theNorthAmericanandEuropeanmain lands, thus repeating Lindbergh’sflight in reverse. A total of 30 covers were flown from Paris to New York.

AfterCharles Lindbergh’s first-ever non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927,the world was fascinated with what was called the “Atlantic fever.” Pioneers soughtto draw international attention to their homeland by flying non-stop from NewYork to their home country; they would then become a national hero or theywanted to put their country of birth on the aviation map. In the lattercategory, we find two Lithuanian-Americans Steponas “Stephen” Darius and Stasys“Stanley” Girenas. In 1932, they started raising the money necessary to purchasean airplane, a BellancaCH-300 Pacemaker, in the hope of completing atransatlantic flight, and to pay the flight expenses.

In theearly morning of 15 July 1933, they headed out from New York over the Atlantic;all went well over the Atlantic. However, they ran into unfavourable weatherconditions over Germany, combined with defects in engine operation, which werelikely to have contributed to the crash. Both men were killed; the planecarried 983 letters.

On 16 September 1936, the first woman aviator to cross theAtlantic east to west, and the first person to fly solo from England to NorthAmerica, wasBeryl Markham in a Percival Vega Gull aircraft.Her flightlasted 20 hours.

Although Alco*ck and Brown first flew across the Atlantic in1919, it took two more decades before commercial flights could becomepractical. The North Atlantic presented severe challenges for aviators due toweather and the long distances involved, with few stopping points. Withincreased confidence in its new plane Boeing B-314Yankee Clipper,Pan American finally inaugurated the world's first transatlantic passenger serviceon28 June 1939, between New York and Marseilles, France; by the beginningof World War II, Pan American, with its considerable experience in Pacific andSouth American operations with the famous Clipper service, dominated thetransatlantic routes. Commercial services during World War II were intermittentat best. It was from the emergency exigencies of WWII that crossing theAtlantic by land-based aircraft became a practical and commonplace possibility.

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