Pilot Relives History, Landing At Forgotten Wyoming Airstrip

Meet Sir Drifto.

That's his YouTube name.

He's a pilot from Colorado that I met in Wheatland, Wyoming when he flew his custom-made plane into a local air show.

In his latest video, he was flying back to Wyoming on a historic mission.

He and 6 other pilots were exploring the original air-mail route across the west.

That meant a stop in Medicine Bow Wyoming at a little grass airstrip that was once one of the most important hubs in America.

Watch the video below as he flies from Colorado to Laramie Wyoming, then to Medicine Bow where he joins his friends.

We held the 1st annual Great Airmail Aviation Gathering. Some incredible friends showed up to one of the last complete airmail airports.
Enjoy the journey as I fly my vintage open-cockpit airplane between two states to this amazing little grass strip. (Sir Drifto).

This humble little grass airstrip helped shape America.

In the video below, you will see what this important airport looks like today.

Medicine Bow has always been a humble little town. But at one point it was an important stop on America's first coast-to-coast railway, its first coast-to-coast highway, and the nation's first airmail service.

The town was even made famous in the best-selling novel The Virginian. 

As if the Pony Express wasn't daring enough, next came the brave and slightly foolhardy men who first took the mail to the sky.

Using old and not-so-reliable World War I surplus planes, the United States Postal Service was determined to figure out how to fly mail from coast to coast saving up to a month of travel time if they were successful.

At the little Medicine Bow airport there is a cement arrow, pointing the flyers to their next stop. These arrows were placed across the nation for the pilots to see and follow from the air.

The only way to navigate was to fly low and follow the Union Pacific railroad tracks across the country and across Wyoming.

Cheyenne, Medicine Bow, Rock Springs, and other towns along the route were refuelling and repair points on the map.

Many planes crashed. Some men died.

The book "Wyoming Air Mail Pioneers" chronicles the men who were legends, heroes, and celebrities of their time. They had several stories written about them in newspapers across America.

"Wyoming Air Mail Pioneers" was co-written by Starley Talbott and Michael E. Kassel with a foreword by local Cheyenne flight school owner Doniv Feltner of Wings Of Wyoming. 

Ask for it at your local Wyoming bookstore or order it online.