The American Philatelist May 2018

the airfield all took place in the farm fields; no residential
properties were ever involved. The site is now occupied by
the Bellefonte Area High School and the Centre County office
of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, separated
by a street named Beaver Farm Lane. A state historic
marker recalling the Bellefonte Air Mail Field was placed in
front of the high school and dedicated in 1969.
Speeding along, ground was broken early in the week of
November 18 and the contractor began to pour concrete on
November 20 for the foundation of a wooden building large
enough to house three airplanes and mechanics’ space. The
local newspapers predicted that the whole structure would be
completed by December 10. Things were set for an especially
exciting and hectic three-day stretch just before Christmas.
The Pilots Arrive
The imminent arrival of four pathfinder planes for the
proposed route on December 16 was announced by telegram.
Departure was set for 11 a.m. from Elizabeth, New Jersey,
with arrival Bellefonte at 1:05 p.m. One pilot, C. (Carl) B.
Smith crashed soon after takeoff and was killed, thus becoming
the first fatality of the new east-west airmail service.
The first pilot to land in Bellefonte was Carroll C. Eversole,
of Chicago, described by the Centre Democrat as “an old
timer (he was 26 years old), with a wooden leg and a grouchy
way.” Also landing December 16 were Dan Davison and Julian
Sykes. One of Sykes’ wings struck a tree at the edge of the
field, the left tire punctured and the plane nosed over badly
damaging the propeller and radiator. All of the local press
Figure 4. Max Miller, left, with pilot Trent Fry in 1919
stand before the original hangar at Beaver field.
had dashed to the airfield for the event, as they
continued to do regularly for the next few years.
All was in readiness for the grand occasion
on Wednesday, December 18: the first scheduled
flight of New York-to-Chicago airmail
route. The Bellefonte Republican of December
19 described the day. “Delays disarranged the
scheduled stops at Bellefonte. The plane from
New York arrived here at 11 o’clock and left at
2, being several hours late. The operator lost
his bearings and landed at State College … The
plane from Chicago, leaving there at 7 a.m., was
due here at noon, but had not shown up last evening.”
A United Press wire service story datelined Altoona, December
18, was published widely around the country: “The
first New York-Chicago mail aeroplane arrived in Bellefonte
at 11:15 this morning. The pilot experienced trouble from
dense fogs and at first landed in State College by mistake at 10
o’clock. He started again and flew the remaining twelve miles
to Bellefonte. From there he resumed his trip westward, in a
relief machine, at noon.”
The Times, the weekly newspaper of State College, ran a
first-page article on December 21 headlined, “Aerial Mail Pilot
Lands at State College,” and reporting as follows: “It was
an odd concident (sic) that while Bellefonte has been making
much ado about the aerial mail service having a landing at
that point that the first pilot coming this way should choose
State College for his landing place. Of course, the excuse of
the pilot was that he had lost his map, but we rather think he
was pleased with the looks of our town and under the impression
that this must be the place selected by the government as
a landing point for this new air service, since it was so admirably
adapted for that purpose. But, however it happened, the
large crowd of people who soon gathered thoroughly enjoyed
his brief stay.”
The American Air Mail Catalogue, produced by the American
Air Mail Society, is unfortunately incorrect in its listing
of the December 18, 1918 flight. The seventh edition, 2016,
of the AAMC repeats the errors of earlier editions, stating
that there are no flown covers from Bellefonte on December
18 that “Pilot Leon D. Smith left New York with 226 pounds
AUSTRIA
YEAR SETS
Years Mint NH Used
1960-1969 $85.00 $75.00
1970-1979 $125.00 $100.00
1980-1989 $210.00 $170.00
1990-1999 $300.00 $285.00
www.DonSCal.com
Don S. Cal
PO Box 1732 • Port Angeles, WA 98362
Tel: 250-383-6211 • E-mail: dcal@victoriastamp.com
Dealer member APS since 1985
450 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / MAY 2018