On 19 March 1931, Australia issued a set of stamps to commemorate
Kingsford Smith’s World Flights.
His 1928 flights included the first trans-Pacific flight
from the USA to Australia,
the first trans-Tasman flight from Australia to New Zealand
and the first flight in the reverse direction from
New Zealand to Australia.
In 1929, he flew from Australia to California via Great Britain
which, together, with his 1928 trans-Pacific flight meant that
he had flown round the world.
Charles Ulm was co-pilot on these flights.
Their plane was the Fokker monoplane Southern Cross
and it is depicted flying over two hemispheres.
They formed a company, Australian National Airways (ANA),
that flew a regular service between Brisbane and Sydney.
The 1d and 2d stamps have POSTAGE inscribed vertically
at the left and right while the
6d was an airmail stamp and is inscribed AIR MAIL SERVICE.
This cover is franked with the 1d and 2d values is postmarked
in Cloncurry 3 days before the date of issue, but this is likely to be due
to a mistake in the datestamp which is discussed further
here.
The example cover contains all three values and was flown
on the first official airmail
from Australia to England in 1931.
The Darwin to Burma leg was flown by Kingsford Smith and G U (Scotty)
Allan.
Charles Kingsford Smith was knighted in 1932.
The following external link
is to many examples of Kingsford flight covers
USA – Australia flight
In 1978, Australia issued a miniature sheet to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the trans-Pacific USA – Australia flight by Kingsford Smith
and Ulm.
The 1928 USA – Australia flight was via Fiji
which also issued commemorative stamps in 1978.
Trans-Tasman flights
Kingsford Smith
In 1958, both Australia and New Zealand commemorated the
30th anniversary of the first trans-Tasman flight in 1928 by Kingsford Smith and Ulm
using a stamp with a common design showing Kingsford Smith and
the Southern Cross.
There have also been Cinderella issues such as the ones by Stirling & Co.
in 1988 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the flight from Australia to New Zealand
in September 1928 and the return flight to Australia in October 1928.
Both these issues show an essay for a proposed New Zealand airmail issue in 1932.
Another essay is shown in the Cinderella commemorating the
60th anniversary
of the flight between Hokitika and Okuru in 1932.
The Southern Cross and the Faith in Australia are both
shown in another 1988 Cinderella miniature sheet, this time by the Air Mail Society of
New Zealand as part of their exhibition in Christchurch.
The Southern Cross was also shown in a 2001 issue by New Zealand Post.
Ulm
In 1984, Australia commemorated the 50th anniversary of
the first official trans-Tasman airmail
and the first flight from
Australia to New Guinea;
both flights were made by Charles Ulm and G U Allan
in the Avro Ten Faith in Australia.
The Australia to New Guinea flight was also commemorated by Papua
New Guinea with an issue showing Faith in Australia
To commemorate the anniversary, boomerang covers were flown from
Melbourne to Lae in Papua New Guinea and return with both
Australian and Papua New Guinea stamps.
Biographic Notes
Charles Ulm was killed with his crew
in December 1934 on a flight from America to Hawaii.
Charles Kingsford Smith was killed with Tommy Pethybridge
in November 1935 when his plane disappeared in the Bay
of Bengal on a direct flight from Allahabad in India to Singapore.
G U Allan
joined Qantas in 1934 and went on to take part in many of their
inaugural flights.
He became a Wing Commander in the RAAF
during the Second World War, a Commander of the British Empire (CBE)
in 1957 and retired from Qantas in 1961
as Deputy Chief Executive and Deputy General Manager.
He died in 1996 at the age of 96.
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