First Flight - Air Mail AM-77 Burns to Boise
I learned something I never knew because of this envelope.
In the fall of 1959 West Coast Airlines added service to Burns and Lakeview.
The Kelley Act, also known as the The Air Mail Act of 1925 was the start of Air Mail service in the USA. This was referred to as a Contract Air Mail route or CAM. CAM 1's initial flight was on July 1, 1926 between New York and Boston Massachusetts with an interim stop in Hartford Connecticut.
Postal mail covers carried on the inaugural flight between each point of landing and take-off are collectible and are known as CAM-1 covers. Source: aerodacious.com
West Coast Airlines was awarded contract AM-77 for the Northwest originating out of Seattle. By this time the contracts had been revamped and the C of CAM was dropped. The first flight for AM-77 was on December 5th, 1946 and was designated 77S1.
Over the years additional airmail routes were approved and added. According to the Airpost Journal of September, 1959 additional extensions of AM-77 were granted. In an article by William R. Ware the additional service locations and routes are detailed.
On September 15, 1959 the inaugural flight was made and routes 77E59, East to Boise and 77W59 West to Lakeview made their maiden flights using a Fairchild F-27 turboprop aircraft. A year previous to this flight West Coast Airlines purchased the first Fairchild F-27 for use in the United States. Depending on the source West Coast had 13 or 14 of these planes over the years.
La Grande Observer, La Grande, Oregon, Tuesday September 1, 1959
West Coast Airlines Proposed Routes April 1959
Source: timetableimages.com
West Coast Airlines Finalized Routes February 1960
Source: timetableimages.com
West Coast Airlines service ended to Burns in between 1966 and 1968.
