Experimental Air Mail And First Flight

I was going through a box of covers and found these, and thought they where interesting. The first one says "experimental service" and the second one says "first official flight". They are both sent from the same person, so I am guessing he had something to do with the Canadian Air Mail program?

I guess between July 31 and September 2, they judged the experiment a success. Nice covers. Terrific pieces of Canadian postal history!

Hello Mystic

Here is the information I have regarding this flight:

These flights were made in connection with the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Sydney, Nova Scotia. The Post Office Department authorized special cachets to be applied at both Halifax and Sydney, the cachets being differently designed for each day of the six days this flight was done. Service was performed by Canadian Airways pilot Walter Fowler. Halifax applied two postmarks and backstamps most days.

While my reference book lists your brown cachet for this service, it says nothing about it as 'experimental', as shown on your cover. This is not unusual because there are cachets in my collection from different flights that are not listed either. There were 2317 covers flown on that day. The dates were from July 29 to August 3, 1935.

The Major C.F. Houghton I think was just a collector of these FFC but was not a participant.

Your other cachet for September 2 is listed. Goldfields was established as a post office on this date. The first flight into Goldfield was made by pilot Z.L. Leigh of Canadian Airways, who also returned the mail on the same day. Official cachets were provided to both points and were applied in blue-black ink to covers prepaid at the air mail rate of 6 cents per ounce.

The values given for for these flights in listed at $3.00 but I have seen them sell for $5.00 to $7.00 apiece, sometimes less on occasion too.

Hope this helps?

Chimo

Bujutsu

Bujutsu, what book are you using to reference these? I have tons of these airmail covers, as well as postcards and propaganda leaflets, from all over Canada and Europe, mainly during WWII. Is there a good reference guide that would cover all of them?

Thanks for the information on these ones, the "experimental" one is actually unopened and has something inside. I am trying to decide whether to open it or keep it a mystery!

First flight covers were quite common (and for a time, the rage) from the twenties through the sixties, not only for domestic flights but also other types such as you have. My comment on an earlier thread concerning the addressees:




Having said that, ffc's for doestic flights are certainly the most common.
Concerning your covers, they are very nice covers and certainly collectable. Most likely the insert in the one cover is just an insert to stiffen the cover. I have covers with cutout pieces of cardboard from all kinds of sources. I would not disturb the envelope.

Like ncbuckeye states, I too would not open the cover. As stated, the insert is most likely a stiffner. I have many FFC in my collection with cardboard and paper stiffners.

Thr reference book I am using is titled "The Air Mails Of Canada and Newfoundland / A Volume in the Sixth Edition of the American Air Mail Catalogue".

Hope this helps

Chimo

Bujutsu

Very nice covers - leave them closed up.

Bujutsu: I'm curious about Major Houghton. Would he be on the move and using Nakina (I think that's what I see) just as a mailing address? Or is he actually stationed in Nakina and has sent this on by some means to be postmarked from Halifax. If it's the latter can you think of a reason he would be stationed in Nakina in 1935? I know it was one of a number of emergency airstrips situated about every hundred miles along the mainline railway for Trans-Canada flights following the railway tracks between Toronto and Winnipeg. Any opinion given your military knowledge.