First Airmail Flight Ever in U.S. Began in Pasco, April 6th 1926

The Pasco Aviation Museum is getting ready to emerge from 'COVID' on April 23rd when it re-opens to the public. But today, April 6th marks a huge day in mail delivery history and it began in Pasco.

The first ever commercial airmail flight in the U.S. left Pasco Today in 1926

You may not know of the big aviation history in our region. Hundreds of WWII Navy carrier pilots learned their skills at the Pasco Naval Air station. That's why farmers are still digging up 'bombs' and other munitions even today in remote fields in the Mid-Columbia.

But an equally big event happened today, April 6th, 1926.  A biplane contracted to Varney Airlines left the Pasco Airfield with a load of mail bound for Boise, Idaho. It was the first time commercial (public-business) mail had been flown from one city to another.

The U.S. Government had been flying some mail on the east coast a few years earlier, but it was not public. According to the Pasco Aviation Museum on Facebook:

"On this day in 1926 in Pasco WA, Varney Airlines pilot Leon Cuddeback took off in a small biplane, full of mail making history as the first Commercial Air Mail flight in the entire United States. Varney Airlines succeeded and eventually merged with other small airlines to become United Airlines."

After landing in front of a huge crowd in Boise, Cuddeback then took another load of mail and took off for Elko, Nevada.

Fed Ex, UPS, and other courier services that fly mail and packages all over the world owe their origins to the humble flight that left Pasco this morning, some 96 years ago.

To read more about this big historical event in our area history, click on the button below.  (images courtesy of Pasco Aviation Museum-Facebook)