But when a crash, exhaustion, and a snowstorm ground three of the planes, Jack Knight becomes the races only hope. Knight’s departure was delayed by a mechanical problem and he took off at 10:44pm, arriving at Omaha at 1:10am the next morning. Outraged officials and pilots want to prove that flying the mail is best, so they concoct a plan-a coast-to-coast race. Pilot Frank Yager flew the eastbound mail from Cheyenne to North Platte, NE where pilot Jack Knight was ready to fly it on to Omaha. Flying after dark is risky and crashes are too common, so lawmakers decide to cut funding for the US Air Mail Service. For the past few years, biplanes like Jacks have been flying the mail only during daylight hours.

Is Jack transporting a famous passenger? Is he ferrying medicine for a sick child? Nope-Jack has six sacks of mail. When Jack Knight takes off in his biplane from North Platte, Nebraska, in 1921, hundreds of people crowd the airstrip. A mail official summed up the Air Mail's daring feat saying, 'Last night's flight means the speedy revolution of mail methods throughout the world. He was a physician in Omaha, NE and also a retired Col. Due to the heroic efforts of pilot Jack Knight, who flew an extra route, fighting storm and darkness, over unfamiliar terrain from North Platte, Nebraska, to Chicago, the demonstration succeeded. High-flying history is brought to life in this suspenseful story of an unknown and daring pilot named Jack Knight, who in 1921 flew his biplane straight into a blizzard over Americas heartland and saved the US Air Mail Service in the process. From collection of Lester Bishop Courtesy of David Balanky Physician to the Pioneer Airmail Pilots via email from Pat Heese, 4-29-05 My mother's step-father was Dr.

Jack knight air mail pilot