The 24¢ cost eight times the regular postage rate. Equivalent to $14 in 2024. The stamps simply said US Postage, the words AirMail not included.

The Curtiss Jenny in Washington D.C. preparing for its inaugural flight of the U.S. Air Mail Service

First flight take off plus the inspection by President Woodrow Wilson

On the second day of service was marred by another crash of the mail plane. The pilot escaped with a cut hand.

The first scheduled U.S. Air Mail service began on May 15, 1918, using six converted United States Army Air Service 150-horsepower Curtiss JN-4HM “Jenny” biplanes flown by Army pilots under the command of Major Reuben H. Fleet and operating on a route between Washington, D.C. (Washington Polo Grounds) and New York City (Belmont Park) with an intermediate stop in Philadelphia (Bustleton Field). Among those who were on hand for the departure of the first flight from Washington, D.C., were President Woodrow Wilson, U.S. Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. Army 2nd Lt. George L. Boyle was selected to pilot aircraft #38262 on the first northbound flight which, unfortunately, turned out to be a somewhat less than successful initial venture.

The 24¢ Curtiss Jenny biplane flown by Lieut. Boyle, was be-deviled with mishaps. As if it was a bad omen, the plane refused to start and after keeping the president and the crowd waiting for a long time it was realised that there was no fuel in the tank, despite the fuel gauge indicating otherwise. The next problem was that there was no gasoline on the airfield, fuel had to be siphoned off other airplanes. Due to a faulty compass the crowd watched Lt. Boyle fly off in the wrong direction (South). Lt. Boyle flew 25 miles/18 minutes following southbound and not northbound railway tracks. Upon realising he was lost he landed with the intention of determining where he was. He landed in Waldorf Maryland. Unfortunately the field was soft, the plane nose dived into the ground, tipped over causing it to be upside down and the propellor to break, thereby ending the flight. Eventually, the 3,600 pieces of mail, weighing 140lbs, on board were loaded onto a truck and delivered two days late.

Fate also played a hand, as the unintentional landing was recreated by the unintentional printing of the plane upside down on the first airmail stamp.

Both the head of the airmail service, Captain Lisner and the pilot of the first flight, Captain Miller resigned three weeks after the first flight. The First flight had been flown by army pilots in army planes. However as the first world war had ended makers of airplanes foresaw a decline in airplane orders and persuaded the postmaster that they needed new special planes designed for the purpose. There were plenty of army aircraft and pilots now available and because of this interference in the Captains agreed plans for the airmail service, they resigned.

Lieut. George L. Boyle

There were six pilots chosen to be the pilots of this new service. Most had considerable flying experience, except one. Lieutenant George L. Boyle with a mere sixty hours flying as a student under his belt. With some alleged string pulling he was selected to be the first pilot. Probably due to his experience the mishaps and crashes occurred. Two days later he crashed another air mail plane, this time he was relieved of duty