[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 21 (Thursday, February 10, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   COMMEMORATING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE WORLD'S FIRST AIRMAIL DELIVERY

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                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 10, 2011

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 100th 
anniversary of the world's first official airmail delivery, completed 
by Fred Wiseman on February 17-18, 1911. The private airman's 
pioneering voyage took him from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, California, a 
distance of only 14 miles, but a momentous step forward in the history 
of aviation and the United States Postal Service.
  Wiseman was born on a ranch in rural Sonoma County on November 10, 
1875, and he grew up fascinated by the mechanics of transportation--
bicycles, racecars, and of course airplanes. In the spring of 1910, 
less than seven years after the Wright Brothers built the world's first 
successful airplane, one of Wiseman's own projects was already taking 
to the air. The Wiseman-Peters, as his final pusher biplane design was 
eventually known, was a local collaboration between Wiseman and a group 
of fellow aviation aficionados, as well as one of the first planes 
built in California to fly.
  Throughout 1910 and early 1911, Wiseman practiced his flying, even 
taking part in an early 1911 air race in San Francisco. Then, on 
February 17, 1911, Wiseman loaded his plane with three letters, 50 
copies of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, and a bag of groceries, and he 
set out on his flight across Sonoma County. Total flight time was less 
than 20 minutes, but the journey included two forced landings and 
ultimately spanned two days. Wiseman's plane flew roughly 100 feet off 
the ground, reportedly at speeds of up to 70 mph.
  Although Wiseman did not continue making airmail deliveries, he did 
go on to fly in several other air shows in 1911, and his Wiseman-Peters 
would be redesigned for use in future exhibition flights. In September 
1911, the U.S. Postal Service would eventually hire its first official 
airmail pilot in New York.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in celebrating the centennial of 
the world's first airmail delivery. Fred Wiseman's independent spirit 
and passion for adventure live on in Sonoma County, and we are proud to 
mark this milestone in our history.

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