Earle Ovington: Difference between revisions

'''Earle Lewis Ovington''' (December 20, 1879 &ndash; July 21, 1936) was an [[United States of America|American]] aeronautical engineer, aviator and inventor, and served as a lab assistant to [[Thomas Edison]]. Ovington piloted the first official [[airmail]] flight in the United States in a [[Blériot XI]] on September 23, 1911.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/early_years/early_years02.cfm|title=America by Air|publisher=}}</ref> He carried a sack of mail from [[Nassau Boulevard Airfield|Nassau Boulevard aerodrome]], [[Garden City, New York]] to [[Mineola, New York]]. He circled at 500 feet and tossed the bag over the side of the cockpit and the sack burst on impact, scattering letters and postcards.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=E. L. Ovington Dies. First Mail Pilot. Flew the Initial Consignment From Garden City Estates to Mineola, L. I., in 1911. |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F7081EFF355B1B7B93C1AB178CD85F428385F9 |quote=From Garden City Estates to Mineola, L. I., in 1911. Covered Ten-mile Route. Studied at Bleriot School at Pau, France. Owned Air Terminal at Santa [Barbara]|work=[[New York Times]] |date=July 23, 1936 |accessdate=2008-12-23 }}</ref> He delivered 640 letters and 1,280 postcards, including a letter to himself from the [[United States Post Office Department]] designating him as "Official Air Mail Pilot #1."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airmailpioneers.org/history/milestone3.html |title=Earle Ovington |accessdate=2008-12-23 |quote=<!--Ovington was duly sworn in as the first U.S. airmail pilot, then handed a load of 640 letters and 1,280 postcards in a mail bag. With hardly enough room in his little cockpit to hold the bundle, he tucked it between his legs and at 5:26 p.m. took off. In flight he balanced it on his knees so he could steer with his feet. Five and a half miles later, a distance he covered in six minutes, he arrived over Mineola. His wife remembered that he had sworn to "guard and protect" the mail, and so he did to the best of his ability. He circled at 500 feet, took aim, tossed the bag over the side and hit the mark dead center, but the sack burst on impact, scattering letters and postcards thither and yon. Rapidly retrieved, they were sent on their way by regular post. -->|publisher=Airmail Pioneers |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724085241/http://www.airmailpioneers.org/history/milestone3.html |archivedate=2009-07-24 |df= }}</ref><ref name=EarlyAviators/>