Autogiro over the Washington, D.C. mall on May 19, 1938
A rural letter carrier made news when he landed his gyrocopter on the US Capitol grounds in a protest call for campaign finance reform. The carrier was immediately arrested and did not have a chance to deliver his protest mail. This was not the first time such a device was used to carry the mail. Although it was the first wildly unsanctioned one.
An autogiro has been on the Capitol grounds before, although on the other side of the building. In July 1931, James Ray, of the Autogiro Corporation of America took off from the east side of the Capitol building carrying Senator Hiram Bingham (R-CT) as his passenger, although they carried no mail.
The autogiro has a long history with mail and the post office. In 1937 Congress approved money for experimental aircraft, called “windmill” planes in the bill, to carry mail. On May 20, 1938, pilot Johnny Miller made a demonstration flight from the Bethesda, MD postal station to the main DC post office (now home to the National Postal Museum), as well as a trip from the DC post office to the Washington airport. DC postmaster Vincent Burke told reporters that there had not been time to mark the mail Miller carried in any special way, no doubt crushing the hopes of airmail philatelists everywhere.
Autogiro test flights were common through the 1930s in the United States. At least two such flights involved the US Capitol and the mall, although only one of those involved carrying the mail.