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web-catalog        CAM Contract Air Mail First Flights CAM-30

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Page ccCAM030 (Revised 11/08/2007)

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-30: CAM-30 was awarded to Interstate Airlines. IA was formed in June 1928 to operate the CAM-30 mail route between Chicago IL and Atlanta GA. Mail and passenger services started in December between St Louis MO and Evansville IN, a stop on the Chicago-Atlanta run. Interstate was acquired by the Aviation Corporation (AVCO) towards the end of 1929. Interstate continued during 1930 with mail services only. Eventually, Interstate was integrated into the Aviation Corporation's operating airline, American Airways Company. American, through its Embry-Riddle Division, took over and reintroduced passenger services between Chicago and Atlanta, now routed via Indianapolis IN, Cincinnati OH and Louisville KY instead of via Terre Haute and Evansville IN.
IA
        Interstate boasted a fleet of twelve aircraft including seven Fairchilds and three Stearmans.

30S1 281119 Chicago IL IA EB Fricks & CH Shield Jr $4.50
30S1F 281119 Chicago IL IA EB Fricks & CH Shield Jr $7.50
30S2 281119 Champaign IL IA CH Shield Jr $6.00
30S3 281119 Terre Haute IN IA CH Shield Jr $9.00
30N4 281119 Evansville IN IA George I Meyers $4.50
30N3 281119 Terre Haute IN IA George I Meyers $4.50
30N2 281119 Champaign IL IA George I Meyers $4.50

30S4 281201 Evansville IN IA Earl Ward $7.50
30S5 281201 Nashville TN IA Earl Ward $7.50
30S6 281201 Chattanooga TN IA Earl Ward $4.50
30N7 281201 Atlanta GA IA EB Fricks & George I Meyers $4.50
30N7F 281201 Atlanta GA IA EB Fricks & George I Meyers $18.75
30N6 281201 Chattanooga TN IA George I Meyers $4.50
30N5 281201 Nashville TN IA George I Meyers $6.00

30W8 281201 Evansville IN IA Raymond D Harris $15.00
30E8 281201 St Louis MO IA Raymond D Harris $4.50

30W9 310605 Kansas City MO IA CM Bontrager $3.00
30W9F 310605 Kansas City MO IA CM Bontrager $120.00
30W10 310605 Salina KS IA CM Bontrager $4.50
30E11 310605 Denver CO IA HH Montague & Nicholas A Laurenzana $3.00
30E10 310605 Salina KS IA Nicholas A Laurenzana $3.00

CAM-30: 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.
Army Air Corps

        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-30: 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, Eastern Air Lines began flying CAM-30 air mail.
        Clement Keys who was a former financial editor of the Wall Street Journal and an untiring promoter of multimillion-dollar aviation corporations purchased Pitcairn Aviation in 1929 and sold it to North American Aviation, a holding company for a number of airline and aircraft companies.
        On January 17, 1930, Pitcairn Aviation's name was changed to Eastern Air Transport. The next year on January 1, 1931 EAT inaugurated its first combined passenger and air mail flight service. Eastern Air Transport had been re-structured and became Eastern Air Lines (EAL) in 1934.

EAL
Curtiss Kingbird
30S12 340601 Indianapolis IN EAL RG Chew $37.50
30N12 340601 Louisville KY EAL Frank J Andre $41.25

        In 1935, while still a vice-President of North American Aviation, former WW-I hero Captain Eddie Rickenbacker took over at the "new" Eastern Air Lines.
EAL
Douglas DC-3
30N13 480801 Bowling Green KY EAL SS Hayden $3.75
30S13 480801 Bowling Green KY EAL EW Reed $2.25

30S14 490201 Rome GA EAL WF Cleek $2.25
30N14 490201 Rome GA EAL Lynn J Nielsen $3.75

EAL
Boeing 720
30W15 670613 Saint Louis MO EAL WA Preissner $16.50
30W15f 670613 Saint Louis MO EAL WA Preissner $4.50
30W16 670613 Portland OR EAL McKean $90.00
30E17 670613 Seattle WA EAL JL Cousins $3.00
30E17f 670613 Seattle WA EAL JL Cousins $3.00
30E16 670613 Portland OR EAL JL Cousins $3.00

EAL
Boeing 727
30W18 700914 Saint Louis MO EAL HR Brown $10.50
30W18f 700914 Saint Louis MO EAL HR Brown $7.50
30NW19 700914 Omaha NE EAL HR Brown $6.00
30NW19f 700914 Omaha NE EAL HR Brown $6.00
30SE20 700914 Portland OR EAL RF Schmidt $7.50
30E19 700914 Omaha NE EAL LL Fitch $3.00
30E19f 700914 Omaha NE EAL LL Fitch $3.00

INDEX: First Flights by CAM Route #

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

INDEX: First Flights by AM Route #

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

INDEX: First Flights by Experimental Route #

1001 1002

INDEX: First Flights by AM Route #

49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
66 67 68 69 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 84
86 87 88 90 91 93 94 96 97 98 99 100 101 103 105
106 107 111 119 120 121 139 140 141 143 144 148 172

INDEX: First Flights by Air Taxi Services Route #

288 289 290 291 292 293 295 296 297 298
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