Dates

• Existence: 1889 September 2 - 1932 February 2

Biographical Note: John W. Sharpnack

John W. Sharpnack was a pilot in th 1920s and early 1930s on the West Coast of the United States.

John W. "Jack" Sharpnack was born in Nebraska on September 2, 1889. His aviation career began in the army, flying at the end of World War I. After the war he barnstormed throughout the Pacific Northwest. Then he joined the airmail service in 1920. He flew a leg from Reno, Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah on the first airmail shipment from the west to east coast. On August 1, 1927 he flew the first air express out of San Francisco, California, carrying a piece of bacon to President Coolidge in an event commemorating the signing of the contract between American Railway Express Company and Boeing Air Transport. In 1928 he piloted the first tri-motor plane to carry passengers at night. He continued to work for United Airlines until his death. Sharpback died in a crash in the early morning of February 2, 1932 seven miles north of Rio Vista, California on a flight during a storm from Oakland, California to Reno, Nevada. His plane and mail were destroyed by fire.

Sharpnack had married Katherine Weiler of Salt Lake City on December 11, 1931 who herself had a strong interest in aviation.