The history of Canadian airmail (and aviation) picks up a few weeks after Peck and Mather’s June 24, 1918 flight. 1918 was a wonderful year for Canada’s fledgling ventures into the brave new world of airmail delivery. The potential for this new method of mail delivery was not lost on postmasters in Canada, including 2 who helped pioneer airmail in the western provinces.
A few weeks after the first flight from Montreal to Toronto, Alberta claimed three aviation 1sts:
- Canada’s first civilian airmail flight
- first airmail flight by a female pilot
- the first airmail flight to happen in western Canada.
Enter the Postmasters
!["George Clift King, Calgary, Alberta.", [ca. 1920], (CU1198368) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.](https://bittergrounds.com/wp-content/uploads/pa-1158-39.jpg "The history of Canadian airmail - introducing Katherine Stinson 3")
Calgary, Alberta postmaster George King and Edmonton Exhibition manager, Bill Stark, planned an airmail delivery to take off from the Calgary Industrial Exhibition and fly to the Edmonton Exhibition fair grounds on July 9, 1918. Edmonton postmaster G. S. Armstrong, and Calgary Ex manager Nat Christie were on hand to help with the venture. The airmail flight was a substitute for the annual crowd pleasing fireworks. In 1916, the government of Canada prohibited their use, because of wartime restrictions. The Edmonton Ex board of directors were casting around looking for an event to replace the fireworks.
“The Edmonton Exhibition Association had sixteen hundred dollars set aside for fireworks. The board found it could hire Katherine Stinson to fly her Curtiss bi-plane up from Texas for the same money. So Miss Stinson was hired to substitute her airplane for the missing fireworks.” The Edmonton story : the life and times of Edmonton, Alberta, Tony Cashman 1956, page 279.
They chose one of the most popular pilots of the era – American Katherine Stinson. She was already a legend in flying circles and had visited Canada previously for flying exhibitions. She was a guaranteed popular draw for any air show. It’s not clear at what point the decision was made to include an airmail delivery during her visit, but plans were coordinated and the added event was advertised.
The incredible Katherine Stinson
Stinson was incredible, in every sense of the word. She started barnstorming as a way to raise money to finance music studies in Europe, and help launch a career as a concert pianist. But aviation stole her away. She fell deeply in love with flying and never looked back.
Katherine Stinson, nicknamed the “schoolgirl pilot”, was the 4th female pilot to gain a flying certificate in the US (July 13, 1912 Aero Club of America Pilot’s Certificate No. 48). She convinced Max Lillie to train her at his flight school in Chicago, soloing in just 4.5 hours. In later years, she would confess that her solo flight wasn’t as easy as it appeared:
“She had barely gotten up when the motor stopped. She remembered thinking: ‘Here is Mr. Lillie [her trainer] down below, and he has the $250 [she gave him for lessons], and I have the plane in the air and not knowing how to get down.’” The Life & Times Of Record-Breaking US Aviator Katherine Stinson (simpleflying.com)
Katherine remained calm and safely landed, with no injury to either herself or the airplane. She went on to set records that included being 1st pilot in the US to fly at night, 1st female to fly in Japan and Canada, 1st female to deliver airmail in US as well as nonstop distance records, to name a handful of her achievements.
Stinson’s love affair with flying seemed to have infected her entire family. Her younger sister Marjorie, went on to be the 9th woman to a gain US pilot’s license and had a storied career in aviation herself. Brother Edward also became a pilot, and noted aircraft designer. Along with her mother Emma, Katherine set up the Stinson Aviation Company as well as a flying school and municipal airport in Texas, which is the 2nd oldest, continuously used airfield in the USA. The family helped shape American and Canadian aviation history.
Curtiss Stinson-Special
- Wingspan: 9.75 m
- Length: 6.91 m
- Powerplant: 1x Curtiss OXX-6 V8 engine (75 kW)
- Maximum Speed: 165 km/h
- Cruise Speed: 112 km/h
- Range: 1000 km
Katherine began her flying career in a Wright B Flyer. By 1918 she was using a modified Curtis biplane, the same model Captain Peck flew in his June airmail flight. The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company customized the 2 seater Curtiss Jenny-4 (renamed the Curtiss Stinson-Special) for Stinson. Among the changes was turning it into a nimble single seater. It was in the Stinson-Special that Katherine flew for the Alberta airmail demonstration.
The flight was coordinated by postmaster George King and Calgary Industrial Exhibition’s manager Nat Christie on the Calgary end and for Edmonton, W. J. Stark, Edmonton Exhibition manager and G. S. Armstrong, postmaster. The plan was to have Stinson take off in the early afternoon of July 9, 1918 with a mailbag holding 259 letters, each bearing a special purple cancel reading “Aeroplane Mail Service, July 9, 1918, Calgary, Alberta”.
The flight was a publicity stunt, much like the Montreal to Toronto one was. Part entertainment and part proving aircraft could be modified for commercial uses. Stinson was a shrewd choice. Her “schoolgirl” appearance was a wholesome antidote to the horrors of the war still raging in Europe.
Katherine Stinson Night
AT EDMONTON EXHIBITION
Everybody turn outline
SATURDAY NIGHT
and pay a much deserved tribute to the little girl who added a brilliant chapter to Western Canadian History last Tuesday when she carried 259 regularly posted letters over the first AERIAL MAIL ROUTE into Edmonton.
A RECEPTION will be given to Miss Stinson by the Public after her flight on Saturday Night.
Edmonton Ex advertisement for Katherine Stinson Night Photographer: NAPOTA/Tony Cashman Courtesy City of Edmonton Archives
Reference code: CA EDM MS-56-EA-10-3181-4-3
Follow the trains
The best route was the simplest, Stinson would follow the Canadian Pacific Rail tracks that ran from Calgary to Edmonton. Once over the city, Stinson would make her way to the Edmonton Exhibition grounds (now Borden Park) and hand over the mailbag in a nonstop flight.
CPR telegraphs that dotted the route readied to send flash reports on Stinson’s progress. Stark and Christie arranged for updates to be posted around the fair grounds so the eager public could be kept up to date.
Katherine arrived at the Exhibition grounds in the morning, anticipating a 12:00 takeoff and arrival in Edmonton before 3:00. Mechanics who were preparing the airplane realised the engine needed more “tuning up” than anticipated and the flight was delayed. According to a July 9, 1918 Calgary Herald report, the engine was not the same one used during Stinson’s aerial displays in Calgary. It was decided to use a different engine, the one used extensively during her US long distance flights. This decision would prove to be problematic during the first stages of the trip.
Finally at 12:30, everything was ready. Stinson dressed in her flying clothes, did a final visual check of the airplane and climbed into the cockpit, grasping a copy of her planned route on a page torn from a school notebook. George King handed off the mail bag and by 12:45, everything was in place. The crowd was moved back and the propeller was swung and the engine roared into life. Stinson bumped along the ground, mechanics following closely, holding the wingtips as she guided the Special to takeoff position. Mechanics noticed a few more issues with the engine and performed a few adjustments, once again delaying the flight.
At 1:03 pm, Katherine took off and headed to Edmonton.
“When final preparations were made for the start about 12:30 o’clock it was found that minor adjustments had to be made and the actual start did not take place until 1.03 o’clock this afternoon. After making a graceful skim along the open prairie the aeroplane rose gradually from the ground and headed southeast on circular flight in order to gain altitude. After circling to the north-eastern outskirts of the city, Miss Stinson turned her plane and headed due north. The crowd remained at the starting grounds until the hum of the engine ceases and the dark object gradually disappeared in the misty air.” Calgary Herald Newspaper July 9, 1918
Flight in jeopardy
Stinson settled in for the 315 km (196 miles) journey, which was expected to take approximately 2 hrs. In 1918, that same trip, according to the Edmonton Journal would take nearly 2 days to drive. She was making good time when she was hit with more engine troubles, just outside of Calgary, 11 km (7 miles) north of the Exhibition grounds. Katherine was forced to make an emergency landing on a farm in Beddington, near what is now the northwest tip of the Calgary International Airport.
Word was sent to the organisers who rushed mechanics to the farm. Luckily the problem was quickly diagnosed as a lose bolt that interfered with the fuel flow to the engine. It took a several hours to repair, and by this time the Edmonton Grandstand was already filling up with people eager to watch Stinson’s historic landing. By 5:55 pm, the Stinson-Special rumbled back to life. Katherine was determined to make the nonstop flight, and make an entrance that would be remembered. She turned the airplane south to the Calgary Exhibition fields, circled the field and turned north once again. She planned to land in time for the 8 pm evening Grandstand performance. (Calgary Herald Sunday Magazine p14, Jul 6, 1986.)
The flight was hours behind schedule and now the wind had picked up, buffeting Stinson’s plane about in the sky. As she flew past each town and village along the route, CPR telegraph operators tapped out quick reports for the anxious organisers. Despite all the setbacks, Katherine was making steady progress towards Edmonton.
Each town sent a report off as they watched Stinson fly past. First Balzc and then Airdrie. The winds continued, but she kept flying north. Crossfield, Carstairs. Didsbury, Olds, Bowden and Innisfail joined in the watch, excited to share this moment. And Red Deer had their chance to report, slightly saddened that Katherine had to turn down their earlier invitation to land there on her way to Edmonton. Next came reports from Lacombe and Morningside. Exhibition attendees rushed to read the latest bulletins, as they were posted. And finally the last reports came in from Ponoka, Wetaskiwin, Millet and Leduc. When she flew over Leduc Katherine was less than 40 km from her final destination. The crowds were growing, waiting, straining to hear the tell tale sound of the Curtiss V8 engine.
Edmonton … at last
“Here she comes!” shouted a thousand voices, and many times that number of necks were craned upwards, and twice as many again of eyes stared into the grey-blue depths of the southern sky. Far away, looking like some great bird, but approaching with the speed and steadiness which differentiated it from any bird, was what at first was little more than a mere speck in the heavens. As it drew near it assumed the familiar shape of an aeroplane. Then the outstretched wings of a biplane was discernable and the up-curling rudder, marked with a big red cross. Edmonton Bulletin July 9, 1918
When the airplane was spotted, there was a race among the organisers to see who could reach it first. Everyone piled into cars and barreled out onto the temporary landing strip to greet a happy and relieved Katherine Stinson. Although he didn’t reach the plane first, Calgary’s postmaster (and former mayor) George Armstrong took possession of His Majesty’s mailbag. The flight had taken 2 hours and 5 min, travelling at an average speed of 96 mph. Despite the engine issues and the wind, Katherine Stinson had successfully flown the first civilian airmail delivery in Canada.
And not a stamp in sight
What happened to the covers? The majority of them have disappeared into the mists of time. People shoved them into drawers, threw them out, lost them. According to aerophilately.ca some 20 covers are known to still exist:
More than twenty covers (i.e. pieces of mail) from Stinson’s July 9 1918 flight have survived, almost all of which are now in the hands of collectors.
Five are ordinary postal envelopes; one is a folded map sealed with red legal stickers; most of the others are folded letterheads, also sealed with
red stickers Katherine Stinson’s Flights in Canada- (aerophilately.ca) p. 11
There may be covers lurking in attics and old boxes of family archives, but they rarely, if ever pop up for auction.
As far as stamps, well, neither the USA nor Canada has seen fit to honour this pioneering aviator with a stamp of her own. I scoured the archives looking and found none. There have been a number of commemorative covers and cachets but no stamps. In 2006, a special cover was issued to commemorate the Alberta Aviation Museum’s completion of a (non-flying) replica of the Curtiss Stinson-Special. The covers were numbered (259 issued) and included a replica of the original cancel with a 2006 date substituted, rather than 1918.
Aside from the above mentioned cover, collectors can search for postcards (some signed) and photos. As for philatelic collectables, both Fleetwood and Colorado released covers dedicated to Stinson. Both were issued as part of a larger set on aviation pioneers.
Bit of a bibliography
The Life & Times Of Record-Breaking US Aviator Katherine Stinson (simpleflying.com)
YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Katherine Stinson and the Curtiss Special — Vintage Wings of Canada
Katherine Stinson’s Flights in Canada- (aerophilately.ca) has one of the best deep dives into the covers and philatelic items about Stinson. Top marks.
Both the City of Edmonton digital archives and the University of Calgary digital archives both proved to be treasure troves of invaluable images and newspaper clippings.
Aviation museum heralds arrival of 96-year-old letter | Edmonton Journal
The Edmonton story : the life and times of Edmonton, Alberta, Tony Cashman 1956
Glenbow Museum
Home – Alberta Aviation Museum
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