Existing comment:
Planes, Operations and Challenges:
The types of planes flown by the air mail service changed through the history of College Park and through the service as a whole. Early on, the small JN-4 "Jenny" was used, as well as the specially designed Standard aircraft. DH-4's [sic], most acquired as army surplus, were the work horse of the air mail service because of their better performance.
The day-to-day operations of the service were important to delivering the mail on time. More importantly, these operational pictures and artifacts give a window into the lives of the pilots and ground crew.
Airplane technology was still new and less than perfect in the days of the air mail service. The pilots had to contend with cold and bad weather, as well as eccentric engines that stalled easily if the pilot was not careful. Additionally, the instruments sometimes were inaccurate, including the compasses, which meant that pilots navigating by flying as close to the ground as they could, which was dangerous in cloudy or foggy weather when visibility was cut to a few feet in front of the plane. |