Air Mail

Bollinger Airport

Picking up the mail at Bollinger Airport in 1946 by a 1946 Stinson V77 Reliant 

Photo courtesy of Benny Mallory

While the above image is also shown on the Bollinger Airport page, this page is about the air mail service that used aircraft to pick up the mail on the fly at both  Bollinger Field and a hilltop just off Bedford Road in South Hills.

 Airmail     


As you can see above, airmail started at Wertz Field which was located in Institute WV, about 5 miles West of Charleston. This was the Capitol city's airport until the Kanawha Airport was built in 1947.  However, there was a time when Wertz Field finally closed in 1942 that there was no airmail, until "All American Aviation" came up with a plan to pick up the mail "on the fly" where an airplane would fly over a selected area and grab a line attached to the mail.  That line was stretched across two poles, and the airplane had a hook to grab the line as it flew over.




Air Mail



Air Mail

I find it interesting that a very hilly area of South Hills, only an air mile or so from Bollinger was chosen for another pickup.  See the map below:

AIR MAIL



Air Mail




Air Mail



Air Mail



As you can see,  by 1947 the air mail was no longer going to be picked up by planes flying over two outstretched poles, but instead, now they were going to land at the new Kanawha Airport, which at the time, far from being finished. Also as a side note, the Bollinger Field pickup had already stopped, because the airplanes kept snagging the telephone and power lines as it flew over.


Air mail


Air Mail


Even Twin Engine Planes Were Used



Airmail




So 1947 was the end of the wild wild west of air mail pick up on the fly.


Air Mail



Back






All content including articles and photos on this website Copyright 2013 by J. Waters.  All images on this website are used with permission or outright ownership of J. Waters.

All newspaper articles are courtesy of the Charleston Gazette or Daily Mail for the express use of the author. You do NOT have permission to use any image, article or material without permission from the author.  You do NOT have permission to pull photos from this website and post them to Facebook or any other website.  Any material used without permission will be subject to creative copyright laws.