1926 - 1927 ARMY PAN AMERICAN GOOD WILL FLIGHT POSTAL

THE SUCCESS OF THE U. S. ARMY'S FIRST PAN AMERICAN GOOD WILL FLIGHT, DEC 1926 AND MAY 1927, PROVED THE PRACTICALITY OF PROVIDING AIRLINE AND AIR MAIL SERVICE BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA VIA THE CARIBBEAN AND MEXICO.

This is an extraordinary account of the flight that was commanded by Major (later Brig General) Herbert A. Dargue, U. S. Army Air Service--as told through the 50 or so airmail covers that each of the ten pilots carried while flying in five Loening OA-1A amphibian aircraft.

Readers of this book will have a greater appreciation of the contribution of aerophilately to the development of the world's aviation, airline, and postal industries during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

NOTE: THE FLIGHT COVER SHOWN ABOVE IS FOR PICTORIAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT A PART OF THIS OFFERING, BUT IT APPEARS IN THE MONOGRAPH AS DO THE OTHERS LIKE IT.

CANAL ZONE POSTAL HISTORY COLLECTORS WILL BE ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN OBSERVING THE CANAL ZONE POSTAGE DUE, 2 CENT ON THE ABOVE COVER, WHICH IS REPORTED HERE OR ANYWHERE FOR THE FIRST TIME. ALSO, THIS IS A TRIPLE CRASH COVER. NO DOUBLE OR TRIPLE CRASH COVERS HAVE EVER BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH CANAL ZONE AEROPHILATELY.

Dargue's aircraft NEW YORK collided in mid-air with DETROIT over Buenos Aires. Both planes were totaled, and DETROIT's pilot and co-pilot trapped and unable to open their chutes died with her.)

Dargue was later killed in an air crash, in the mountains of California, while he was enroute to Honolulu, Hawaii to relieve General Short (who suffered some of the blame for the naval disaster at Pearl Harbor).

The book's 132 pages, on an 8-1/2 x 11-inch easy to read format, are heavily illustrated with philatelic contents, covers, aircraft, and people, among the latter being Captain Ira C. Eaker, later Major General, Commanding the Eighth Air Force during WWII, who surfaces prominently.

Eaker's aircraft, the SAN FRANCISCO, was the only one to complete the gruesome five month flight around Central and South America, including the Panama Canal Zone, and through the West Indies and Cuba intact. For her epic feat in aviation history SAN FRANCISCO has been enshrined at the U. S. Air Force Aviation Museum, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, since 1928. (SAN ANTONIO and ST. LOUIS were the names of the other two Loenings.)

The Pan American Good Will Flight was eventually responsible for the beginnings of these other airlines throughout Latin America and the West Indies: West Indian Air Express ( WIAE ), Aerovias Centralesde Mexico, Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, Pan American-Grace Airways ( PANAGRA ), Chile Airways ( LAN CHILE ), Peru Airways ( AEROPERU ), New York, Rio, Buenos Aires Lines ( NYRBA ), UMCA, Compania Nacional Cuba de Aviacion, Alaska Airways, China National Aviation Corporation, Servicios Aeros de Guatemala, Lineas Aereas de Nicaragua, Aervias Nacionales de Colombia, Aerovias de Venezuela, Bahama Airways, Compania Dominica de Aviacion, COPA ( Panama ), TACA, and Servicio Aero de Honduras.

The Army flight was also indirectly responsible for Pan American Airways eventually purchasing the Colombia airline SCADTA.

This fascinating, author signed, book, which is not available in stores, is truly a must for any historian or student of aviation or an aerophilatelic enthusiast. It has received 11 national and international awards at philatelic literature exhibits.