The airmail service of the United States only became a full time transcontinental service in 1921. The work horse of the service was the de Havilland-4B, surplus in this time of peace after WWI.
This is a beautiful photo of a DH-4B about to take off after an unplanned stop in Winnemucca. The route flew from Reno straight to Elko unless equipment failure or weather (really bad weather!) forced it down.
When it happened, postal employees brought gas and oil to feed the beast and prayers that when it took off it would stay aloft long enough to reach Elko. The stopover wouldn't have been very long. As soon as he could, the pilot eased open the throttle and sent his military surplus airplane down the bumpy field and into the air. His watchers might have envied him a little, but mostly they were sympathetic. He flew in all types of weather and the DH-4B was an open cockpit aircraft!
Compiled by Barbara Powell, nevadasdesertlegends.com, nevadaphotoarchive.com.
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