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De Havilland Airplane Propeller and RadiatorC4%u2014August 15, 1923U.S. Air Mail Service InsigniaC5%u2014August 17, 1923De Havilland DH-4 BiplaneC6%u2014August 21, 1923Second Air Mail Series1923In August 1923, the Post Office changed the cost of Air Mail, and issued three new stamps. A new zone system was also implemented, with the U.S. divided into thirds. The rate was 8%u00a2 per zone, so for 24%u00a2, your letter could move across all 3 zones, or coast-to-coast. The 16%u00a2 stamp, was the first to bear the words %u201cAir Mail,%u201d which are shown on the Service Insignia. The Post Office Department acquired 100 De Havilland DH-4 biplanes from the Army in 1918, and retrofitted them with a 400 lb. watertight mail compartment. They served the Post Office until 1927, when the last Air Mail routes were awarded to private contractors.A mail truck waits to receive the mail from a De Havilland aeroplane at a Chicago hangar.