What:

On May 10, 1912, Glenn Martin made a successful water landing flight, in his self-built seaplane, from Balboa Pier to Catalina Island then back to Balboa. On the return to Balboa, Martin was asked to transport mail for the Avalon post office.

To commemorate the 110th anniversary of Martin’s flight, the United States Postal Service in conjunction with Building Bridges, have created five pictorial postmarks to celebrate the historic voyage. The celebration will host five events over five days, beginning at Balboa Pier, then onto Avalon (Catalina Island) and ending at the LAX Flight Path Museum; events commence on May 10, 2022, and end on May 16, 2022.

Martin made history by successfully being the first to achieve the longest over-water aviation flight in 1912 off the coast of the Pacific. The flight beat the previous record holder covering 68 miles in 37 minutes.

Martin tested his biplane with the boat attached to the bottom, becoming the first “seaplane” to make a water takeoff and water landing, from the water near Balboa Pier to the water near Avalon on Catalina Island.

Another first, was the transporting of US mail via air travel, from Avalon back to the mainland.

Who:

Rafael Ibanez, Newport Beach Postmaster (officiating)
Karen Earle Lile, Art Director
Stephen Tucker, PSA Young Falcons & Young Eagles, CAL DART

When:

Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 8 am

Where:

Balboa Pier (Glenn Martin Historic Marker)
50 Main Street
Newport Beach, CA 92661

Trumpet solo performed by Chris Tedesco, “Break Free on Wings of Music”.

The partnership between USPS and Building Bridges began in 1996 in No. California, with Karen Earle Lile as Art Director and Executive Producer of the series working with Postmasters across the decades to create USPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellations. Illustrations by Aneka Bean of the Glenn Martin plane, and the Building Bridges Logo by Karen Lile and Kendall Bean. Stephen Tucker has arranged for a helicopter to follow the flight path of Glenn Martin. Raw video footage will be available for media of the flight path by end of day.

Media: Please contact Natashi Garvins via email at natashi.l.garvins@usps.gov and Karen Earle Lile at karenlile@comteams.com or phone at (925) 360-3527 to arrange for interviews and recording of the event.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.

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