Jack Knight
With the goal of having a coast-to-coast airmail system that would connect the country, Jack Knight was part of a relay team that flew 2,629 miles, guided by gasoline drums, railroad flares and the burning light of day. Knight ushered in
a new era of progress by proving that airmail could travel through dark of night and bad weather.
With deep snow preventing a landing at Des Moines, Knight put down at an emergency landing site at Iowa City, Iowa, using the light of railroad flares which were set out by the field’s night watchman, the only person there at the time. (from National Postal Museum)