Aviation meet postcard
Flights were planned for both days of the Rock Island, Illinois, Aviation Exposition, held August 14-15, 1915. The Post Office Department had authorized the route as No. 635,005. Pilot Harry J. Weber, flying for Patterson Aviators, was to make the proposed fights. Inclement weather grounded the flight planned for August 14, but the following day (Sunday, August 15), Weber flew 490 pieces of mail from Exposition Park to Rock Island's post office, circled at an altitude of 5,000 feet, and flew back to the park. The mail was then offloaded and taken to the post office and dispatched. A three-line cachet with the date of August 14 was used on all mail.
The postcard shown here, addressed to a Miss Wall, Rock Island, Illinois, bears the cachet used on all mail carried by Weber at the August 14-15 meet. The cachet reads, "ILLINOIS' FIRST AEROPLANE MAIL / ROCK ISLAND EXPO PARK / AUG 14, 1915 / Carried by Patterson Aviators." Weber carried no mail on the 14 th, but the accumulated mail was flown on the next day. The circular postmark reads, "ROCK ISLAND / AUG 15 / 4:30 PM / ILL." Killer bars cancel the 1-cent Washington stamp.
