The first flight made in Alaska was on July 3, 1913 by James V. and Lilly Martin from San Francisco. Lilly had been the first European woman to fly a plane. The plane flew over Fairbanks at an altitude of 200 feet with speeds up to 45 miles per hour, just fractions of what airplanes can do now. They made five flights in three days while in Alaska. Before leaving, Lily and James unsuccessfully tried to sell their plane.
In July of 1924 Noel Wein founded Alaska's first scheduled airline. He was the first pilot to make a non-stop flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage. He was also the first pilot to fly from Fairbanks to Nome, to fly across the Arctic C ircle, to fly from Alaska to Siberia, and to fly an injured person to a hospital.
Also in 1924, pilot Carl Eilson and a high school science teacher, flew an experimental airmail flight between Fairbanks and McGrath. Using an airplane only took a few hours compared to the three weeks taken by dog teams.
In 1928 interest in aviation was high enough to open a school of aviation in Fairbanks. Also in 1928 two annual airmail flights were established between the Alaska railroad and the Seward peninsula. This was to provide transportation in the spring when it was too late for dog team mail and too early for boat mail.