Charlotte welcomes ‘intrepid air flier of the night skies’

On this day in 1930: A throng estimated at 30,000 to 50,000 is on hand for Charlotte’s first air mail delivery. The carrier is Eastern Air Transport, later to be Eastern Air Lines.

The story in the next day’s Observer begins: “Roaring out of the darkness of the south, Gene Brown, intrepid air flier of the night skies. . . . “