• 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

Wild Bill

William Hopson, better known as "Wild Bill," was a popular early air mail pilot. He flew the mail for eight years before he died in a crash in 1928.

Image number 75-7024
Credit: National Air and Space Museum Archives

Return to previous page