Air Mail Protest Against Corruption, Climate Change

Mailman Doug Hughes lands his gyrocopter on the U.S. Capitol lawn, carrying protest letters to Members of Congress.

In April 2015, a mailman concerned about climate change and political corruption decided he needed a dramatic way to bring attention to those issues, which he believes threaten our country, indeed the world.

So, he decided that air mail delivery was the only way -- not by just dropping letters to Congress in a mailbox and forgetting about it, but by personally flying those letters to the U.S. Capitol himself.

So, after learning how to fly, he trailered a 250-pound flying contraption called a gyrocopter from Florida to Pennsylvania to stage his one-man protest. He flew 70 miles south from Gettysburg across Maryland, turned left at the Potomac, and two miles up the Capitol Mall, past the White House and past the Washington Monument to land on the lawn of the US Capitol Building.

The man’s name is Doug Hughes and he’s our guest on the Lean to The Left podcast to recount his story, which he has detailed in a memoir, "FLIGHT PLAN: A Mailman’s Aerial Excursion and Special Delivery."

Hughes succeeded in gaining attention, of course. His exercise of free speech eventually cost him four months in jail, but he doesn't regret that and during our interview offers concrete ideas about how the political system should be changed to eliminate corruption of those we elect to represent us.

Listen to our interview.