First flight cover
This experimental flight, originally scheduled for June 8, 1918, was flown on June 11 by Lt. Torrey H. Webb, who carried sixty-four pounds of mail at the twenty-four cents rate. Covers received a large, circular postmark with a three-line killer. Dateplugs on June 8, 9, and 10 have been reported in this combination cachet and canceller. Officials in New York backstamped the majority of covers on June 11.
A card from Frank P. Brown Co., Boston, to Franklin Stamp Co., Philadelphia, appears here. It bears a handwritten notation - "Via aeroplane to NY" - and a large, circular postmark with the departure city and state - "BOSTON, MASS." A small oval sits within the circle, reading, "AIR MAIL / JUNE 9, 1918 / FIRST TRIP." Killer bars cancel the 24-cent Jenny airmail stamp, issued a month earlier, and a 1-cent embossed overpayment.
