CAM Contract Air Mail First Flights CAM-26

aerodacious

web-catalog CAM Contract Air Mail First Flights CAM-26

Aerodacious

(Aviation + Audacious = Aerodacious)

eMail: Aerodacious

Page ccCAM026 (Revised 11/04/2007)

Background: The Air Mail Act of 1925 (Kelly Act) authorized the postmaster general to contract for domestic airmail service with commercial air carriers. It also set airmail rates and the level of cash subsidies to be paid to companies that carried the mail. By transferring airmail operations to private companies, the government effectively would help create the commercial aviation industry. Various routes were designated and contracts for carrying the mail over these routes were then awarded to many different private air service companies. The Contract Air Mail routes became known as CAM's.

CAM-26: CAM-26 was awarded to National Parks Airways. NPA was formed in Salt Lake City UT by Alfred Frank on December 30, 1927. On May 1, 1928 it began passenger service to Pocatello ID and on August 1, 1928 extended its route to Great Falls MT via Idaho Falls, Butte and Helena MT. NPA used three Fokker Super Universals and two Stearmans.
NPA was taken over by Western Air Express on August 1, 1937 as the California airline gradually began to expand its route network. On April 17, 1941 WAE was renamed Western Air Lines (WAL).

26S1	280801	Great Falls MT	NPA	Robert P Hopkins & AW Stephenson	$4.50
26S2	280801	Helena MT	NPA	Robert P Hopkins & AW Stephenson	$4.50
26S3	280801	Butte MT	NPA	Robert P Hopkins & AW Stephenson	$6.00
26S4	280801	Pocatello ID	NPA	Robert P Hopkins & AW Stephenson	$6.00
26S5	280801	Ogden UT	NPA	Robert P Hopkins & AW Stephenson	$4.50
26N6	280801	Salt Lake City UT	NPA	RT Elsmore & PV Wheatley	$4.50
26N6F	280801	Salt Lake City UT	NPA	RT Elsmore & PV Wheatley	$18.75
26N5	280801	Ogden UT	NPA	RT Elsmore & PV Wheatley	$6.75
26N4	280801	Pocatello ID	NPA	RT Elsmore & PV Wheatley	$9.00
26N3	280801	Butte MT	NPA	RT Elsmore & PV Wheatley	$15.00
26N2	280801	Helena MT	NPA	RT Elsmore & PV Wheatley	$22.50

CAM-26: On February 9, 1934 the Post Office Department canceled all contracts of operators flying mail on routes within the US to become effective on February 19, 1934. The reason given by the Post Office was that there was suspicion that the mail carrying contracts had been awarded through collusion during the previous Administration.
Cancellation of the air mail contracts held by established pioneer airline companies was accompanied by an executive order from President Franklin D Roosevelt stating that the Army Air Corps should now carry the mail. Three territorial zones were established for the Air Corps mail operations, Newark NJ, Chicago IL and Salt Lake City UT. The eastern, central and western zones each had branch routes to other feeder cities. It was a difficult assignment for the Army Air Corps as they did not have enough planes and the ones they had, did not have the latest instruments, landing, navigation, or cockpit lights. One of the aircraft they used was the Keystone B-4 bi-plane.
New commercial air mail carrying contracts were made in May 1934 and the mail was again flown by private contractors over re-designated revised Post Office Department routes in late June 1934.

CAM-26: After the February 1934 cancellation and reinstatement of new commercial air mail carrying contracts over re-designed revised Post Office routes in late June 1934, Salt Lake-Great Falls Airlines began flying CAM-26 air mail. SL-GF was operated by Alfred Frank over the same routes formerly flown by the National Park Airways. It carried airmail and provided both passenger and express service to and from Idaho Falls beginning on September 1, 1934.
The SL-GF Airline carried approximately 14 million pieces of airmail during its six years of operation. Passenger service transported nearly 13,000 travelers and over ten thousand pounds of express were carried over its routes.

R26N8	340901	to Idaho Falls ID by southbound plane	SL-GF		$6.00
26S7	340901	Idaho Falls ID	SL-GF	FS Nelson	$9.00
R26S8	340901	to Idaho Falls ID by northbound plane	SL-GF		$6.00
26N7	340901	Idaho Falls ID	SL-GF	AW Stephenson	$4.50

26N9	350721	Idaho Falls ID	SL-GF	Franklin S Nelson	$22.50
26N10	350721	West Yellowstone WY	SL-GF	Franklin S Nelson	$9.00
26S10	350722	West Yellowstone WY	SL-GF	AW Stephenson	$6.00
26S11	350722	Butte MT	SL-GF	Franklin S Nelson	$26.25

WAL

Lockheed Lodestar In 1944 Western Air Lines acquired a majority of stock in Inland Air Lines, formerly Wyoming Air Service. With the acquisition came a Lockheed Lodestar.

26S12	460705	Butte MT	WAL	Stanley J Cavill	$15.00
26S13	460705	Jackson WY	WAL	Stanley J Cavill	$2.25
26N13	460705	Jackson WY	WAL	WW Bankhoff	$4.50
26N14	460705	Idaho Falls ID	WAL	WW Bankhoff	$15.00

R26N16	460822	to Logan UT by southbound plane	WAL		$19.50
26S15	460822	Logan UT	WAL	JI Hoagland	$2.25
R26S16	460822	to Logan UT by northbound plane	WAL		$22.50
26N15	460822	Logan UT	WAL	William R Larzelere	$7.50

INDEX: First Flights by CAM Route #

INDEX: First Flights by AM Route #

INDEX: First Flights by Experimental Route #

INDEX: First Flights by AM Route #

INDEX: First Flights by Air Taxi Services Route #

eMail: Aerodacious