• The World's First Scheduled Airline
• The Post Office Begins Flying the Mail
• The Curtiss JN-4D Jenny
• Regularly Scheduled Air Mail Service Begins
• Air Mail Service Takes Root
• Flying the Mail at Night
• A Daring Demonstration
• How Did Air Mail Pilots Find Their Way?
  • Wild Bill
  • What Was It Like To Fly?
• Early Airlines
  • Who Flew?
• Early Aircraft Technology
  • Engine Technology: Water-Cooled Engines
• Airlines Take Over Carrying the Mail

Compass Used on First Scheduled Air Mail Flight

On May 15, 1918, Lt. Howard P. Culver navigated between Philadelphia and Belmont Park, near New York City, using this liquid-filled compass installed in his Curtiss Jenny.
Gift of Mrs. A. Paul Culver

Image number 2007-13179
Credit: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum

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