Telegram from Gerston on September 5, 1918

Louis Gerston, senior Post Office Department pilot, wrote a Western Union telegram to the Post Office Department’s Superintendent of Airmail Service, Benjamin Lipsner, in Chicago informing him that Max Miller had not arrived in Cleveland as expected, but that he would rush him through the process of getting in and out of the Cleveland airfield so that he could continue his pathfinder flight.

Miller began his New York-to-Chicago pathfinder flight piloting a new Standard JR-1B biplane. He departed Belmont Park, New York, on September 5, 1918, at 7:08 am. He flew for over two hours then let down in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, but didn’t get away from there until 6:10 pm because of a leaky radiator. Twice on his way to Cleveland he was forced to land for water to refill the radiator. This kept him from arriving in Cleveland until 8:25 pm, where he spent the night. Miller wasn’t able to leave Cleveland for Chicago until 2:15 that afternoon because he had to fly to the nearby Glenn Martin Factory where his radiator could be repaired.

Reference:

Lipsner, Captain Benjamin B. The Airmail Jennies to Jets. Chicago, IL: Wilcox & Follett, 1951.

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