THE OVERSEAS FLIGHTS



1928, 10 January

ATTEMPTED AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FLIGHT

By Lieutenant John Moncrieff and Captain George Hood flying a Ryan B-1 Brougham G-AUNZ, "Aotearoa". The monoplane left Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney at 2.45am on the first attempted aerial crossing of the Tasman Sea and intermittent morse signals were received in New Zealand up to 12 hours 8 minutes after take-off. The aircraft was never seen again and probably was forced down at sea. It is uncertain if any unofficial mail was carried.


1928, 10-11 September

AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FIRST TRANS TASMAN FLIGHT

By the Fokker F.VIIb/3m, G-AUSU "Southern Cross" commanded by Charles Kingsford Smith with C.T.R Ulm (co-pilot), HA. Litchfield (navigator) and T.H. McWilliam (radio). The "Southern Cross" left Richmond Aerodrome, Sydney at 5.25pm on 10 September, landing at Wigram Aerodrome, near Christchurch shortly after 8.00am on the next day.
An estimated 15 covers were flown and vary from those signed by the entire crew to others signed by only one or two members. Charles Ulm was sworn in as a Postmaster and delivered the mail to the Christchurch C.P.O. where the covers were hand cancelled 'CHRISTCHURCH N.Z 11 SP28. 5.15 PM'


1928, 13-14 October

NEW ZEALAND-AUSTRALIA RETURN FLIGHT

Of the "Southern Cross" commanded by Charles Kingsford Smith with the same crew. The Fokker was flown to Blenheim from Christchurch on 28 September and housed in a temporary hangar which had been erected on Fairhall's Farm. On 13 October at 5.00am the "Southern Cross" left Blenheim and after a flight of 22 hours 51 minutes landed at Richmond Aerodrome. Again a variety of an estimated 16 covers was carried including those posted at Blenheim and others posted on arrival at Sydney.

Internal Flights: 1929, 18 June / 1929, 21-22 June / 1929, 1-2-3 July


1930, From 1 June

NEW ZEALAND OVERSEAS AIR MAIL ACCEPTANCES

Were inaugurated in accordance with the London Air Mail Conference. These acceptances were announced by the N.Z. P. and T. Department as the services became available but the numbers of letters dispatched on the first acceptances were very small in most instances.

1 June - via Sydney-Melbourne by A.N.A

4 July - via Adelaide-Perth by A.N.A. and Karachi-London by Imperial Airways

4 July - via Sydney-Melbourne by A.N.A from Wellington / from Auckland)

8 July - via Melbourne-Sydney by A.N.A. (from Bluff)

11 July - via Karachi-London by Imperial Airways (by ship from Auckland)

5 July - via USA by Boeing Air Services from San Francisco to Chicago & National Air Transport from Chicago to New York;
- via USA air services & Trans Atlantic shipping to the United Kingdom & Europe
- via USA and Canadian Airways Ltd. from Detroit-Toronto-Montreal

29 July - via Canadian Air Services (Western Air Express) for onward sea mails to the U.K. and Europe:
- via Canadian and USA air services for Canada
- via Victoria-Seattle and USA air services for delivery in the USA
- via Victoria-Seattle and US and Canadian Air Services to Canada

Internal Flights: 1930, 6 Nov. / 1930, 22-29 Dec. / 1930, From 20 Dec.


1931, 7 January

AUSTRALIA TO NEW ZEALAND FLIGHT BY GUY MENZIES

In the Avro Avian IVA, G-ABCF "Southern Cross Junior" (previously owned by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith). Menzies flew from Mascot Aerodrome and landed in a swamp at Hari Hari on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, making the first solo Trans-Tasman crossing in 11 hours 45 minutes. Menzies had not applied for Civil Aviation permission for the flight but had intimated he was flying to Perth and his actual destination was not disclosed until he radioed from over the Tasman Sea. A message was dropped at Okarito before he landed at Hari Hari but this and any other letters have not been verified.


1931, 31 January

THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CANTERBURY (NZ) AVIATION CO.

First Christchurch-Timaru flight by Captain Euan Dickson. A special cover was printed with the co-operation of the Air Mail Society of N.Z. and approval of the Post Office. Covers were franked with a 4d stamp and postmarked CHRISTCHURCH 31 JA 31. As there was no appropriate flight in N.Z. at the time the covers were flown on the inaugural Cloncurry-Normanton flight in Australia. (backstamped Normanton 18FE 31) Covers are signed by Euan Dickson.

Internal Flights: 1931, 4-17 Feb. / 1931, 21 Feb. / 1931, 10 mar. / 1931, 11 Mar.-1932, Dec. / 1931, 24 Mar.-7 Apr. / 1931, 8 Apr.


1931, 28 March

FRANCIS CHICHESTER: AUCKLAND-LORD HOWE ISLAND VIA NORFOLK ISLAND


1931, 17 April

ACCEPTANCES OF N.Z. MAIL: EXPERIMENTAL DARWIN-LONDON AIRMAIL: AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AIRWAYS / QANTAS / IMPERIAL AIRWAYS

The New Zealand Postal Department announced on April 10th 1931, that final arrangements had been completed for the dispatch of New Zealand mails by two trial services from Australia to England. Correspondence from New Zealand was to be dispatched by the regular trans-Tasman mail steamers connecting at Sydney with the combined services of Australian National Airways, QANTAS and Imperial Airways. In fact, this was the return service of the flights recorded under '4/4/31', but as it transpired, the crash of the Imperial Airways airliner "City of Cairo" on April 19 at Koepang during its flight to Australia, made necessary some interesting changes to the itinerary.

Special air mail fees for each half ounce, payable in addition to ordinary postage were fixed as follows:- Strait Settlements 1/-, Burma and India 1/3, Great Britain and Europe 2/-. Letters were to have the official air mail label affixed and be suitably endorsed according to the service required.

The New Zealand acceptance consisted of 450 articles, 229 of those destined for England. The Christchurch mail closed on April 16 and was forwarded on the overnight inter island ferry steamer to Wellington where it met up with the Wellington mail on the 17th, departing the same day by the SS Ulimaroa for Sydney.

The Australian Postal Authorities had provided a special commemorative cachet and the New Zealand mail was conveyed to the G.P.O., Sydney, where it was treated in the same way as the Australian mail by having the cachet applied in violet. No other transit mark was used at Sydney but it appears that the New Zealand correspondence was integrated and sorted with the Australian mail, then bagged for delivery along the route.

From N.Z. via:-
Sydney-Singapore [backstamp only] [47 ordinary, 1 regd.]
Sydney-Rangoon [purple arrival cachet] [16 ordinary, 0 regd.]
Sydney-Calcutta [private cachet on few] [37 ordinary, 4 regd.]
Sydney-Athens [red reception cachet] [10 ordinary, 0 regd.]
Sydney-London [no backstamp] [229 ordinary, 106 regd.]

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1931, 25 April

ACCEPTANCES FOR NEW ZEALAND VIA SECOND EXPERIMENTAL AIR MAIL ENGLAND-AUSTRALIA-[N.Z.] - IMPERIAL AIRWAYS / QANTAS / AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AIRWAYS

The second of the two experimental air mails from England to Australia (see the entry 4/4/31 "Airmails of New Zealand Volume Two" for first dispatch) left Croydon Airport, London, on Saturday, April 25 1931, aboard the Imperial Airways Argosy II airliner G-AAEJ "City of Coventry", on the first stage of the established regular service to India, from which point special arrangements were made for extension of the service to Australia with provision for the acceptance and conveyance of mails for New Zealand, such correspondence to be forwarded by surface from Sydney to destination.

The inclusive [postage and air fee] charges from the United Kingdom were the same as for the first experimental air mail, namely 1/- per half ounce to the Straits Settlements and Malay States, and 1/4d per half ounce to Australia and New Zealand. On this occasion Imperial Airways Ltd did not issue souvenir covers as they had done for the first experimental flight.

The "City of Coventry" followed the same route across central Europe as that taken by the first experimental air mail, but on this occasion the mail was much smaller, the total number of letters for Straits Settlements, Australia and New Zealand being only about 5,000 as against 15,000 for the earlier flight.

Again the quantities of letters dispatched to New Zealand for each point were not recorded. Although mails are known to have been uplifted from Karachi, Delhi, Allahabad, Calcutta and Rangoon, those from Calcutta and Rangoon are the only ones from these five points known for certain to have included letters for New Zealand. Others no doubt exist, whilst it is possible that covers may exist from any one of the many dispatch points between London and Karachi which would have connected with the experimental extension to Australia. The known existing sectors to New Zealand by the 2nd experimental airmail are:

Via:-
London-Sydney [5,000 for all points on extension]
Calcutta-Sydney [Quantity not recorded]
Rangoon-Sydney [Quantity not recorded]
Singapore-Sydney [Quantity not recorded]

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1931, 29 April

(UK)-AMSTERDAM-BATAVIA-AUSTRALIA-(NZ)

British and Dutch acceptance of N.Z. mail for the first Amsterdam-Australia airmail. The KLM Fokker F.VIIb-3m PH-AFS "Specht" (Capt. M.P. Pattist Capt. J.J. Moil) flew from Amsterdam to Batavia where KNILM Fokker F.VIIa-3m PK-AFC "Abel Tasman" carried the mail to Wyndham-Brisbane-Melbourne, arriving there on May 19. Mail for NZ was off-loaded for Sydney and forwarded by trans Tasman steamer. Postage rate of was two shillings and sixpence (2/6) from the U.K. Special cachets were applied at Amsterdam to mail posted there and to most of the mail from the U.K.


1931, 10-11-12 November

NEW ZEALAND FIRST AIR MAIL ACCEPTANCES - AUSTRALIAN, BRITISH, CANADIAN, & U.S.A. AIR SERVICES

In accord with the London Air Mail Convention. A set of three air mail stamps was issued by the N.Z. Post Office on 10 November and a number of the covers carried on these acceptances and the flights on the 12th were also First Day of issue covers. (Prices are based on covers with standard franking and any 1931 Air stamps should add to these valuations).

via Karachi-London service
via N.Z. Flight and Karachi-London service
via Adelaide-Perth and Karachi-London service
via Adelaide-Perth service to U.K. and Europe
via N.Z. Flight and Adelaide-Perth service
via USA air mail services
via N.Z. Flight and USA air mail services
via Canadian air services
via N.Z. Flight and Canadian air services
via USA and Canadian air services
via Adelaide-Perth services to Western Australia
via Sydney-Brisbane air service (11 Dec 1931)
via Launceston-Whitemark-Launceston (26 Jun '32)
via Melbourne-Launceston-Whitemark (2 Sept 1933)
via Melbourne-King Is. service (18 Sept 1932)

Internal Flight: 1931, 12 Nov.


1931, 12 November

NEW ZEALAND ACCEPTANCES FOR FIRST "ALL-AUSTRALIAN" AIR MAIL [N.Z.]-AUSTRALIA-ENGLAND CHRISTMAS AIR MAIL - AIR TRAVEL / AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AIRWAYS LIMITED

By Australian National Airways Sydney-London flight. When the Australian Post Office contracted with ANA to fly a mail to arrive in London before Christmas the N.Z. Post Office also contracted for a New Zealand mail to be included. A fee of one shilling (1/-) was charged for a standard letter and a large rectangular cachet was applied to covers, Mail was uplifted at Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Blenheim by Squadron Leader McGregor on the flight of 12 November and together with Wellington mail, was forwarded by the SS "Maheno" from Wellington to Sydney.

The mail picked up at Palmerston North and New Plymouth by McGregor and the Auckland mail was sent from Auckland to Sydney by the SS "Ulumaroa". It was loaded into the Avro Ten, VH-UNA "Southern Sun" and flown by Captain G.U. Allan to Alor Star, Malaya where he crashed on landing. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith then flew VH-UMG "Southern Star" to pick up the mail and continued to London via Bangkok, Karachi, Calcutta, Aleppo, Le Touquet to Croydon.

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Internal Flights: 1931, 13 Nov. / 1931, 10 Dec. / 1931, 24 Dec. / 1932, 20 Jan. / 1932, 20 Feb. / 1932, 21 Feb. / 1932, 16 Mar. / 1932, 29 Mar. / 1932, 9 Apr. / 1932, 30 Apr.


1932, 28 June

FIRST NEW ZEALAND ACCEPTANCE VIA - LAUNCESTON-WHITEMARK (FLINDERS ISLAND) AIR MAIL SERVICE

On 28 June 1932, New Zealand mails were flown on the service of Captain MacKenzie Johnson via Launceston-Whitemark-Flinders Island.


1932, 30 June

FIRST REGULAR NEW ZEALAND ACCEPTANCES FOR - PERSIA, IRAQ, PALESTINE and EGYPT via the Karachi - London Air Route BY IMPERIAL AIRWAYS LIMITED.

In June 1932, the New Zealand Post Office Dept. announced that additional air mail services to overseas countries would be provided.

The New Zealand Post Office Department arranged with the Indian authorities to sort New Zealand mail and rebag with their own outgoing mails to countries on the Karachi-Cairo route operated by Imperial Airways Ltd.

Both DH-66 Hercules and the much larger Handley Page H.P 42 airliners were employed over various sectors of the route depending on the standard of the aerodromes serving the various cities and intermediate landing grounds.

Imperial Airways had now separated their London-Karachi and London-Cape town routes at Athens rather than Cairo as was previously the case, whilst Gaza had been replaced by the stop at Tiberias westbound, with a short car journey to Haifa on the Mediterranean coast. The new U.P.U. world air mail route maps of April 1932, reveal that the Rutbah Wells stop after leaving Baghdad for Tiberias had been deleted and this would indicate that the 4-engined Handley Page H.P. 42 airliners were now being used on the non-stop flight from Baghdad to Tiberias.

Mail for Egypt

Commencing with the Imperial Airways service which left London for Karachi on April 16 1932, the Short S17 flying-boat G-ABFB "Sylvanus" operating the Brindisi-Haifa section of the route, called at Limassol, Cyprus for the first time and after delivering its passengers and mails to Haifa, continued south to Alexandria, thus inaugurating a new service between Cyprus and Alexandria on April 19.

This Kent flying-boat service also connected the Karachi-London route with the London-Cape Town route of Imperial Airways by way of the Haifa-Alexandria link and it was by this service that the New Zealand mail finally reached Egypt. From Alexandria the mail was railed to Cairo at which point all mail for Egypt was backstamped:- "Cairo Par Avion - 30 JL.32.4-5P".

First regular New Zealand acceptances via:-

Karachi-Teheran via Baghdad for Persia )
Karachi-Baghdad for Iraq ) 48

Karachi-Haifa via Tiberias for Palestine (24)

Karachi-Cairo for Egypt )
Karachi-Aswan via Cairo for Egypt ) 50

via Karachi-Persia-Iraq-Palestine-Egypt (Cairo) (77)

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1932, 30 June

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS LIMITED FIRST NEW ZEALAND ACCEPTANCES FROM AUCKLAND via KARACHI -- CAIRO -- CAPE TOWN SERVICES TO AFRICA: CONNECTING WITH SOUTH-WEST AFRICAN AIRWAYS (PTY) LIMITED KIMBERLEY -- WINDHOEK SERVICE

By June 1932, the New Zealand Post Office Department had completed arrangements with the Indian Postal Authorities for the acceptance of mails from New Zealand (in accordance with the regulations established as a result of the Air Mail Convention of the Universal Postal Union held in London in 1929) to be sorted at Karachi and rebagged with the Indian dispatches for countries south of Egypt on the London-Cape Town route of Imperial Airways Limited.

Toward the end of June 1932, the New Zealand Postmaster-General, the Hon. A. Hamilton, announced that commencing with dispatches from Auckland on June 30, and from Wellington on July 15, air mail correspondence would be accepted for the following countries served by the Egypt-South Africa section of the Imperial Airways service:- Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa, South Africa and South-West Africa.

Because of the irregular services by mail steamers between Australia and Africa it would be difficult to estimate the saving in time which would result in the use of the new air mail service for correspondence to the African countries served, but it was believed that in most instances a saving of at least two or three days would be made.

It was stressed that letters for dispatch by the new service should have one of the special air mail labels affixed to the top left corner, whilst the Post Office provided distinctive air mail stamps for such services and on this occasion would also apply a special commemorative cachet to all correspondence included in the inaugural dispatches from both Auckland and Wellington.

Most existing covers from the Auckland dispatch were cancelled with the datestamp of the Foreign Mail Branch, measuring 25mm diameter and worded:- "AUCKLAND F.M.B. - N.Z. 29.JE32 10-AM". The Auckland cachet was applied in violet and carried the following inscription:-

"NEW ZEALAND-AFRICA / First Official Air Mail / (device of a single-engined biplane in flight) / From Auckland, 30th June, 1932 / By INDIA-EGYPT, EGYPT-SOUTH AFRICA / AIR SERVICES".

The mail left Auckland on June 30, and was conveyed by surface transport to Karachi where it was sorted, rebagged, and dispatched on the same Imperial Airways aircraft which carried the mails mentioned in the previous chapter, so that from Karachi to Cairo the aircraft used and the route traversed, were identical to those recorded in that chapter.

The Cairo-Cape Town Itinerary

Following is the day-to-day itinerary of the sections flown and the types of aircraft used on the overall Cairo-Cape Town service delivering N.Z. mail.

Date - Sections covered each day - Aircraft Used

July 31 - Cairo-Asyut-Aswan-Halfa / AW Argosy
Aug 1 - Halfa-Atbara-Khartoum / AW Argosy
Aug 2 - Khartoum-Kosti-Malakel-Juba / Calcutta f/boat
Aug 3 - Juba-Port Bell-Kisumu / Calcutta f/boat
Aug 3 - Kisumu-Nairobi / DH-66 Hercules
Aug 4 - Nairobi-Moshi-Dodoma-Mbeya / DH-66 Hercules
Aug 5 - Mbeya-Mpika-Broken Hill-Salisbury / DH-66 Hercules
Aug 6 - Salisbury-Bulawayo-Pietersburg-Johannesburg / DH-66 Hercules
Aug 7 - Johannesburg-Kimberley-Victoria-West Cape-Cape Town / DH 66 Hercules

Port Bell was the alighting area for the Short S.8 Calcutta flying-boat serving Kampala and was the only stopping place in Uganda. The actual flying-boat used on this flight would almost certainly have been G-AASJ "City of Khartoum" which operated the Khartoum-Kisumu service for a considerable period. Mail for Uganda was backstamped "KAMPALA UGANDA 4PM 3 AU 32" within a double-lined circle measuring 30mm in diameter.

At Kisumu the mails were transferred from the Calcutta flying-boat to the DH-66 Hercules landplane which flew on to Nairobi, the overnight stop for Kenya and destination for the mail bag made up for that country. Covers were backstamped "NAIROBI KENYA 12.30PM 4 AU 32" within a 30mm circle.

Departing Nairobi on the morning of August 4, the Hercules airliner flew south over the Kenyan border into Tanganyika Territory, calling at Moshi before proceeding to Dodoma, the mail delivered to that point including correspondence from New Zealand. There was some delay in handling the mail there but covers were eventually backstamped "DODOMA 630PM 4 AU 1932", the postmark consisting of concentric circles measuring 28mm overall. The night stop on the 4th, was made at Mbeya just inside the southern border of Tanganyika.

The following morning the DH-66 flew south over the border into Northern Rhodesia, calling at Mpika before continuing to Broken Hill where New Zealand correspondence was included in the mail delivered. Covers were backstamped "BROKEN HILL NORTHERN RHODESIA - 5AUG 32 4-0PM" contained within concentric circles measuring 29mm in diameter. The airliner continued to Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia for a night stop but New Zealand covers to Salisbury have not been reported but they may exist.


1932, 15 July

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS LIMITED FIRST NEW ZEALAND ACCEPTANCE FROM WELLINGTON VIA KARACHI -- CAIRO -- CAPE TOWN SERVICES TO AFRICA: CONNECTING WITH INAUGURAL NAIROBI -- ZANZIBAR AIR MAIL SERVICE TO COASTAL EAST AFRICA BY WILSON AIRWAYS

Reference to the chapter recorded under June 30,1932, (Airmails of New Zealand, Vol. 2, African Services), will reveal that the New Zealand Post Office, in announcing the inauguration of acceptance of air mail correspondence for conveyance over the combined air routes via Karachi- Cairo and Cairo-Cape Town, indicated that the Department would provide special commemorative cachets for both the first Auckland dispatch and the first Wellington dispatch.

Covers from the Wellington dispatch are much scarcer than those from the Auckland acceptance as will be seen by comparing the respective checklists, whilst it has been reported that the Wellington dispatch did not include correspondence for Egypt, Sudan, Tanganyika, Mozambique or South-West Africa.

First acceptances from Wellington via:-

Karachi-Cairo-Port Bell for Uganda )
Karachi-Cairo-Nairobi for Kenya )
Karachi-Cairo-Nairobi-Mombasa for Kenya ) 55

Karachi-Cairo-Broken Hill for Northern Rhodesia )
Karachi-Cairo-Salisbury for Nyasaland )
Karachi-Cairo-Bulawayo for Southern Rhodesia ) 46

Karachi-Cairo-Cape Town for South Africa ) 155

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Internal Flight: 1932, 28-29 Sept.


1932, 8 November

N.Z.-MUSCAT AND BAHRAIN

By Imperial Airways reopened route from the Persian side of the Gulf to the Arabian side on the Karachi-London service. Although the N.Z. Post Office announced acceptances for this service and provided special cachets, only very small mails were received.

via Karachi-Muscat (21)
via Karachi-Bahrain Is. (33)

Internal Flight:1932, 24 Dec.


1933, 11 January

SYDNEY-NEW PLYMOUTH

Second Trans Tasman flight by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in the Fokker F.VIIb/3m. VH-USU "Southern Cross" with Captain P.G. Taylor (co-pilot and navigator), John Stannage (radio), and passengers S.E. Neilsen, and Jack Percival. The Fokker took off from Gerringong Beach and landed at Bell Block aerodrome carrying approximately 20 to 23 unofficial covers. Most covers are signed by one or more members of the crew.

Letter addressed to N.Z Prime Minister (Aust. stamps)
Covers posted New Plymouth on arrival-12 JA 33
Covers posted Gisborne 19 Jan. (overlooked on arrival at New Plymouth)
Covers posted Sydney 9 JA 33 signed Kingsford Smith and S.E. Neilsen

Note: A special post card was printed to commemorate the arrival of the "Southern Cross" at Bell Block Aerodrome. Some are postmarked NEW PLYMOUTH 12 JA 33 but were not flown.


1933, 2 March

EXTENSION OF N.Z. ACCEPTANCES

For Australian service via Port Moresby for Wau and Salamaua, New Guinea. Only small mails were received for the first acceptances. (N.Z.) Port Moresby -Wau (41)-Salamaua (36)

Internal Flights: 1933, 4 Mar. / 1933, 23 Mar.


1933, 26 March

KAITAIA-SYDNEY RETURN FLIGHT

The return flight of the Fokker F.V1lW3m VH-USU, "Southern Cross" piloted by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith with Captain P.G. Taylor (co-pilot and navigator), John Stannage (radio) and J.T. Pethybridge (engineer) with H.M. Mackay a passenger. An unofficial mail of approximately 50 covers was carried including about 30 prepared by the crew at the Waipapakauri Hotel while preparing for the flight. A batch of 16 covers was also printed by Colonel Allen Bell and posted at Rawene while 4 covers were carried from Christchurch.


1933, 31 March

FIRST NEW ZEALAND ACCEPTANCE FOR KUWAIT

On the imperial Airways Karachi-London service the N.Z. Post Office applied a 4 line cachet to the 39 letters on the first acceptance and these were backstamped KUWAIT 27 APR 33

Internal Flights: 1933, 4 May / 1933, 29-30 May


1933, 23 August-18 November

FIRST N.Z. ACCEPTANCES VIA HART AIR SERVICES PTY. LTD. MELBOURNE-WHITEMARK-LAUNCESTON SERVICE AND THE MATTHEWS AVIATION PTY. LTD.

Melbourne-King Island service.

21 Aug: Launceston-Whitemark-Melbourne
2 Sept: Melbourne-Whitemark-Launceston
14 Oct: Currie-Melbourne
18 Nov: Melbourne-Currie

Internal Flight: 1933, 7 Sept.


1933, 3 December

SYDNEY-NEW PLYMOUTH TRANS TASMAN FLIGHT

By the Avro Ten, VH-UXX "Faith in Australia" piloted by Charles T.P. Ulm with G.U. Allan (co-pilot), R. Boulton (radio) and Mrs C. Ulm and Miss K. Rogers as passengers. The "Faith in Australia left Richmond Aerodrome, Sydney at 5.27pm and landed at the Bell Block Aerodrome, New Plymouth at 9.47am the following morning. An unofficial mail was carried consisting of: Large covers printed for C.C. Wakefield & Co. Ltd and addressed to their distributors. These were posted when the plane visited Napier on 7 December, 1933 (25 flown).

Plain white covers stamped with the rubber stamp cachet showing details of flight and postmarked New Plymouth on 5 December.

Souvenir Post Cards printed in blue on white card and stamped with Ulm's special cachets in black and red.

C.C. Wakefield covers Sydney-New Plymouth (25)
Covers with Urn's cachets (10)
Special Post Cards flown Sydney-New Plymouth (200)*

* Note: 100 of the special Post Cards were retained by Ulm and flown Kaitaia-Sydney on 12 February, 1934.

Internal Flight: 1933, 17 Dec.




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Acknowledgement to the Publisher

Kind permission for their material to be used on this website has been granted by:

THE AIR MAIL SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND Inc,

Box 29-144, Fendalton,
Christchurch,
New Zealand

Air Mail Society of New Zealand website