Earle Lewis Ovington

Who was Earle Lewis Ovington?

Earle Lewis Ovington was an American aeronautical engineer, aviator and inventor, and served as a lab assistant to Thomas Edison. Ovington piloted the first official airmail flight in the United States in a Blériot XI in 1911. He carried a sack of mail from Garden City, New York to Mineola, New York. He circled at 500 feet and tossed the bag over the side of the cockpit and the sack burst on impact, scattering letters and postcards. He delivered 640 letters and 1,280 postcards, including a letter to himself from the United States Postal Service designating him as "Official Air Mail Pilot #1."