Background: Everything has a beginning. Birds have always flown and history documents that man has always wanted to fly like a bird. It would not be chance that would take men into the air. Scientific discovery understanding the forces of thrust and lift were critical factors that would lead the Wright brothers to accomplish controlled flight. From this humble beginning, men would build on the experiences of others to build pilotable aeroplanes making claim to successful movement through air. This beginning saw hazardous attempts at flight. Men wanted to document their progress, their success and choose the mails to date-stamp their accomplishments.
PIONEER Air Mail: Those pioneer flights date-stamped by flown mail or by
mail-postmark would chronicle the early beginnings of flight. This postal documentation would become the forerunner of air mail. These pioneer flights were un-official testimonials that would eventually become sanctioned by the Post Office. Below is an index of PIONEER first flights comprehensively compiled by the American Air Mail Society in their catalogues.
