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During the 1920s and early 1930s, making a profit in commercial aviation was very difficult without a lucrative airmail route contract. In July of 1927, Pan American Airways was awarded the overseas airmail route from Key West, Florida to Havana, Cuba with a deadline to start service by October 19, 1927. The company acquired a Fokker F.VIIA-3m to fly the 90-mile route; however, various issues including rainy weather conditions delayed the construction of a suitable runway for the aircraft in Key West. Pan American then found and hired West Indian Aerial Express's pilot Cy Caldwell and their Fairchild FC-2, which had been fitted with floats, to carry the mail for them. Thus #onthisday in 1927, Caldwell, took off for Havana from Key West in the Fairchild FC-2, named La Niña, with seven bags of mail, inaugurating Pan American's first ever service. Nine days later, Pan American's Fokker F.VIIA-3m took over the route, inaugurating scheduled service. #TDiH #PanAm #EarlyAviation #AirMail #AviationHistory #PanAm West Indian Aerial Express Fairchild FC-2 La Niña photograph 1927 SFO Museum Collection Gift of Jon E. Krupnick 2008.056.1009
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