MONDAY MAIL RUN #11: Cheyenne to Rawlins (via Sherman Summit)

[Storm]

This is the highest elevation we reach on our reenactment of the transcontinental mail route: Sherman Summit.

Beacon on Sherman Summit...

Week 11: Cheyenne, WY to Rawlins, WY via Laramie, WY. (Note the original flights did not normally stop at Laramie, except in emergency; that is just for our convenience.) Depart: KCYS (Jerry Olson Field, Cheyenne). Original 1920s airmail departure airport, that had "Jerry Olson" appended to its name in 2004. Intermediate stop: KLAR (Laramie). Arrive: KRWL (Harvey Field, Rawlins). Nearby to original 1920s airmail destination. Aircraft: Junkers F.13s and Ford Trimotors only (your choice which). Both aircraft are my OneDrive, in the Vintage hangar. Flight plan:

Our progress so far:


Route map (from right to left, this week following the I-80 exactly):


Airport maps:

[Coast]

I thought a vintage postcard would be appropriate for this flight. I wonder what those aircraft are?

"Airmail Planes, Cheyenne Transcontinental Airport, 1927"

-Coast

[ak416]

Found some more info. According to this, they are Airco DH.4's, assuming that's what they meant by "De Havilland Fours".

Forgive the text errors, some characters didn't seem to like being copied over from the .pdf.

This postcard illustrates the linking of the nation through the U.S. Air Mail Service. The  rst air mail service began in May 1918 with fi ights between New York and Washington, D.C. During the next two years the service moved slowly west and on September 8, 1920, the country celebrated the beginning of the transcontinental air mail service. On that day, planes fi ying east and west landed in Cheyenne, one of the main stops along the route. Flying east out of Cheyenne, the De Haviland Four biplanes landed in North Platte, Nebraska, on to Omaha, eventually to New York. Flying west, the planes stopped in Rock Springs to refuel, next to Salt Lake City, and ended their fi ights in San Francisco. According to a newspaper report of the time published in the Casper Daily Tribune, “the transcontinental daily air mail is the most dif cult fi ying project yet undertaken. It involves daily operation over a route nearly 3,000 miles long with fi ying frequently under most trying conditions.” The account also discussed the weather, an important consideration for the pilots fi ying the biplanes, and stated “the greatest dif culty in this respect . . . will be encountered by westbound planes between Cheyenne and Laramie.” Of course, it was the wind which provided the greatest obstacle. Because of the air mail service, Cheyenne became an important stop on the transcontinental

http://uwyo.coalliance.org/fedora/repository/wyu:2890

[Storm]

Thank you Coast. They are British Airco DH-4s, created by Airco's chief designer Geoffrey de Havilland before he formed his own company in 1920, and widely used for US airmail after the Jenny. (I had a renovation project to salvage a freeware DH-4, and nearly managed it except that it wouldn't restart after shutting the engine off.)

A vintage postcard needs a vintage postage stamp. So here is the famous 5 cents stamp based on the Sherman Summit beacon above. Notice the airplane has been changed! This particular stamp has been signed by famous aviator Richard Byrd. This seems very appropriate for our flight, as not only will we fly past Sherman Summit, but Byrd used to fly Trimotors, notably the Ford, which he flew to the South Pole.

Question: What do you think the square motifs are in the top corners?

Edit: ak beat me to it. But he is right: they are DH-4s.

[Storm]

Reminder! Bring your Ford Trimotor or Junkers F.13 to KCYS, departing 9pm. If you choose the F.13, that'll be its last flight on these mail runs. (High-speed Lockheed model 9 Orions next week.)

Answer to trivia question above:

What do you think the square motifs are in the top corners?

It's not possible to say for sure, but these are thought to be overhead views of the Ames Monument, a 60 ft pyramid located just one mile south of our route this evening at the highest point of the original transcontinental railroad (8,247 ft a.s.l.) and close to the beacon at Sherman Summit portrayed on the postage stamp.

[4d]

[Kenos1223]

Thank You Storm For This Amazing Group Flight !!!

[Prdude62]

Here are my pics for Monday mail run enjoy.http://imgbox.com/g/S0KJV7bmPM

[Storm]

Thanks everyone for great screenshots! Please read my post elsewhere about FS Genesis US landclass. I'm recommending it for future Mail Runs (though of course not insisting on it!). Thanks to N404_mike for bringing it to my attention. :eagerness: