Earle Ovington

Earle Ovington signed 1930 American airmail cover with his special flown cachet.

Earle Ovington (1879 - 1936) on 23^rd September 1911 piloted America's first airmail flight on his Bleirot monoplane from the Nassau Boulevard Aerodrome in Garden City, New York. He travelled for six minutes until he reached the New York village of Mineola and his journey became immortalised in aviation history. The mailbag contained 640 letters and 1,280 postcards, but due to the small size of the plane Earle had to balance the bag on his knees which made it impossible to land. He had to drop the bag to the postmaster on the ground, which subsequently split the bag open (not the most thought out part of the plan). All the mail was postmarked with a circular date stamp ‘Aeroplane Station No.1 Garden City Estate N.Y.’ Earle was a celebrity of his age and a true pioneer.