Transcontinental and Western Air First Flight Harrisburg PA

Description: This service was known as the Central Transcontinental Route and was scheduled to become operative simultaneously with Contract Air Mail Route 33, but the airline was not ready. Since the airway was not fully lighted for night flying, Kansas City was the operational layover city. The route was inaugurated in two major sections between the East Coast and the West Coast: New York to Kansas City, and Los Angeles to Kansas City. The flights from Newark overnighted at Kansas City and reached Los Angeles on the following day. In addition, an alternate westbound routing from Columbus was inaugurated between Saint Louis and Amarillo via Springfield, Missouri, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. This flight overnighted at Amarillo and reached Los Angeles on the following day. The first westbound airplane from Newark, piloted by Henry G. Andrews, carried six passengers including: Harris M. Hanshue, president of the airline, Postmaster Walter F. Brown, and Amelia Earhart. Charles A. Lindbergh, a technical advisor for the airline, was at Newark Airport to watch the departure. This was the first service to carry passengers on scheduled coast-to-coast service in the United States. Initial service along this 3,333-mile route was one daily trip each way.This cover was carried on the October 25, 1930 inaugural flight from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (where it was backstamped) and is listed in the Contract Air Mail Flights (CAM) Section of The American Air Mail Catalogue as 34E3.

Price: 4 USD

Location: Cranford, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-11-20T11:20:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 1.35 USD