''Miss Pittsburgh'' is a historic

Waco 9 The Waco 9 is an American-built three-seat biplane design that first flew in 1925. Development The Waco 9 was the first of the steel-tubed fuselage aircraft designs to be built by the Advance Aircraft Company, which became the Waco Aircraft Com ...

airplane, powered by a

Curtiss OX-5 The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, page ...

engine, known for making the first

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be t ...

flight from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to Cleveland, Ohio on 21 April 1927. ''Miss Pittsburgh'' was rediscovered and restored by OX 5 Aviation Pioneers, and is now displayed at the

Pittsburgh International Airport Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, is a civil–military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Located about 10 miles (15 km) west of downtown Pitts ...

Landside Terminal.

Design and performance

''Miss Pittsburgh'' was a Waco 9, built by the Advance Aircraft Company, latterly known as Waco, powered by a

engine. ''Miss Pittsburgh's'' fuselage was built from metal tubing covered with cotton cloth and the wings were made of spruce.Kristin B. Lloyd
FLYING THE CAPITAL WAY
Historic Alexandria Quarterly, Winter 997 Volume 2, No. 4 ''Miss Pittsburgh'' could transport up to 800 pounds at a speed reaching 100 miles per hour, usually at an altitude between .

History

''Miss Pittsburghs first owner was Clifford A. Ball, formerly an auto-mobile dealer who acquired several aircraft as compensation for unpaid storage charges at the Bettis Field, an airport near

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, in which he had a controlling interest. The first airmail flight took off at around noon, 21 April 1927, on a route from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cleveland, Ohio. The US Post Office Department awarded Ball Contract Air Mail No. 11 for this route, and he expanded Skyline Transportation Company by buying two more Waco 9s (''Miss Youngstown'' and ''Miss McKeesport''). Skyline Transportation Company acquired more aircraft, was renamed to Cliff Ball Mail Line and was later renamed Pennsylvania Airlines, Pennsylvania Central Airline, Capital Airlines and finally became a part of

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

. As the Waco 9s became obsolete, ''Miss Pittsburgh'' found its way to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where the airplane was used for advertising in the 1960s, eventually becoming derelict in New York. In 1993, the OX 5 Pioneers located the aircraft at the Rhinebeck New York Aerodrome. With the support of the

Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics The Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) is a private trade school focused on aviation-related programs with its main location in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The institution's headquarters is at the Allegheny County Airport and it has three ...

the group raised money to have the airplane returned to Pittsburgh and after renovation it was displayed at the

Landside Terminal.

Specifications (Waco 9 with Curtiss OX-5 engine)

Notes

a To be clear, ''Miss Pittsburgh'' was the first airplane to deliver

in the Pittsburgh and Cleveland region, but not the first in the world, nor even the first in the United States.

References

External links

Vintage photo of Miss Pittsburgh
* Greg Latshaw

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thursday, July 6, 2006 {{Pittsburgh History of aviation History of Pennsylvania 1920s United States mailplanes Pittsburgh International Airport