Identifying A Cam Flight

I just picked up this CAM-36 cover, and am trying to decide if it's an eastbound or westbound cover. The CAM-36 route connected Dayton OH, Ft. Wayne, IN and Chicago, IL. The cover is cancelled in Ft. Wayne, addressed to Detroit, but has no backstamp. So, I'm trying to decide if it went from Ft. Wayne to Chicago to Detroit, or Ft. Wayne to Dayton to Detroit. Is there any way to make a reasonable determination?

Without a backstamp, I see no way to identify whether this cover was flown east or west from Fort Wayne.

The plane on the cachet is headed East


(just kidding, of course)
Don

Your flight cover appears to be American Air Mail Catalog number 36E2 on CAM 36 going from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis, eastbound, and then on to its addressee in Detroit which is further north and east of Indianapolis. As you mentioned, there were only three cities involved in this first flight: Dayton, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Chicago Illinois. Detroit was not a city that was involved in the first flight among the three cities. The person who prepared this cover happened to live in Detroit and he addressed it to himself there. Many first flight covers are addressed to collectors at their home addresses and such addresses are normally unrelated to the first flights unless that collector happens to have lived there or know someone who did. I think it makes more sense to have gone to Indianopolis than going west to Chicago and then back east to Detroit.

I am not familiar with this particular set of flights among these three cities on that day, but speaking in general terms first flights are supposed to have back stamps applied on their arrival in the city to which they were flown. Unless it is known that no back stamps were provided, the normal assumption is that a cover was not flown on the first flight if there is no correct back stamp, even if there is a correct cachet. If covers from the Indianpolis bound legs of this flight are known not to have back stamps for some reason then this cover will be good, however, if Indianapolis is known to have applied back stamps then this cover would be questionable. One would not expect an additional Detroit back stamp as that city was not involved with this first flight.

While this is a common and very low catalog valued cover I think it is really nicely done and attractive with its orange airmail stamp paying the correct postage, neatly typed address, on a clean undamaged red and blue edged airmail envelope, and large and readable blue rubber stamped cachet. Covers like this one are very affordable and make collecting first flights of this era fun, historically interesting, fascinating to research, and won't break the bank.

Your logic is excellent, Kimo, but your geography if off. Detroit and Michigan are EAST of Chicago.

So, 51studebaker's idea is not looking too bad. After all, lots of important decisions get made on far less evidence.

OOOOPs!!! My bad. You are correct - I don't know what I was thinking. I have now gone back and edited my post to avoid creating confusion. Many thanks!

Perhaps you could blame it on lead in your drinking water, Kimo...