1-1 | Barnham Air Lines | Curtiss Eagle III | 1921-1928

Following the conclusion of the Great War, a young Joseph Daley Barnham would return home finding himself with a newfound interest in the growing world of aviation. Barnham would relocate to Buffalo in the following months, landing a job with Curtiss for a time before eventually returning to his home of Indianapolis in 1920 to care for his father before his passing. Fueled by his father’s small fortunes, a growing love for an industry yet to come to its full potential, and a searing hate for the USPS’s lack of service into the heart of Indiana; Barnham would look to found his own airline to compete with the post office to deliver mail from Ohio into Indiana via air.

Barnham Air Lines would be founded in April 1920, with Barnham using his own JN-4 to run mail from Bryan, OH down to Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. Customers would have their mail sent to one of Barnham’s associates in Bryan, a stop on the post office’s transcontinental airmail route. Barnham would then collect the parcels and fly them down to Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, having other friends deliver the mail locally if necessary. His service would catch on quickly with the more elite class of Indiana, valuing the importance of fast and efficient parcel movement between them and the urban metropolis of the Northeast and Chicago. Barnham’s service would continue to grow greatly throughout the year, eventually necessitating the need for a potentially larger aircraft. Using his connections with Curtiss, Barnham would acquire an Eagle III from the manufacturer for a relatively cheap price.

With some painting work done, Barnham’s maroon Curtiss Eagle III would become a staple of the Indiana skies, symbolizing a new age for aviation in the midwest as a whole. The singular Curtiss Eagle III would serve until 1928, when a particularly rough landing would cripple the gear of the aircraft. The Eagle III would sit in storage at Fort Wayne until the late 50’s, when it would be restored by Barnham himself and placed on display at Indianapolis.