Opportunity beckons in this box including a very fine Harry Butler PPC with 'MINLATON' d/s, 1940 from Dutch Indies with 'RECOVERED FROM/LOST FLYING BOAT' cachet, 1946 & 1949 Mornington Island parachute mails, 1949 wrapper to GB with 'FIRST FLIGHT/Second Class Air Mail' vignette, 1951 Australia-Chile multi-franked covers x2, 1930s array including with signatures of pilots "H Purvis", "F Neale", "N Brearley", "J Chapman", "O Denny", "Harold O Cook", "HF Broadbent", etc, some with better frankings, etc, generally fine to very fine. (200+)

Estimate AU$1,000

Annotated collection with some better items including 1934 Hewitt Kay & Stewart NSW-NZ-NSW, Imperial Airways group including to SWA, 1935 Jubilee Flight to NZ, 1941 Adelaide-Timor & Timor-Adelaide, 1942 Sydney-New Hebrides (stained), 1946 & 1947 Mornington Island Christmas flights with Qantas vignettes, 1947 Australia-NZ & Australia-GB both with Field Marshall Montgomery aboard, 1949 uprated wrapper with Qantas/BOAC 'Second class Air Mail' vignette, 1961 non-stop flight Australia-GB per 'Vulcan' signed by the crew, etc, some inwards covers including 1934 from Argentina by Zeppelin to Germany, 1934 from Hong Kong, 1934 from Switzerland, 1941 RAAF Delivery Flight Noumea-Sydney intermediate, 1946 per 'Mosquito' from NZ, 1947 Nauru flight to test the island's Homing Beacon, etc, condition variable but most are fine to very fine. Ex Neil Russell. (150+)

Estimate AU$1,000

1926 Darwin-London AAMC #101 per Alan Cobham to his wife with typed/handwritten 'DEPARTED ("Sept 4th 1926"/ARRIVED ("Oct 1st 1926" & signed "Alan J Cobham" in the same hand, 'DARWIN NT/3SE26AUSTRALIA' cds & on arrival GB 1½d tied by light 'HAMPSTEAD SO' cds, minor flap fault & slightly reduced at left when opened otherwise very fine, Cat $2750 (2008). With a typewritten certificate headed "New York City, January 3rd 1927" & signed "Alan J Cobham" in which he states this is #9 of only 9 covers flown. [There was no example in the collections of John Cress or Tom Frommer. John Crowe's example sold in 2019 for £1320]

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$2,000

1927 (Oct 12) Leeds Printing Co (Iowa) cover to Victoria endorsed Via/Aviation Flight/San Francisco Oct 15" with 5c Roosevelt & 10c Air tied by 'SIUOX CITY IO' cancels, San Francisco transit b/s of OCT13/1927, then carried by sea & docketed "Recd 10.XI.27", some soiling. With the intriguing letter "I have little idea if I can get this letter on the flight...leaving San Francisco Oct 15, for Australia via Hawaii..." [Presumably, it was intended to travel with Kingsford Smith on his trans-Pacific flight but that did not occur until 31.5.1928] (2)

Grade B/A (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

1934 MacRobertson Air Race annotated group including per Scott & Campbell-Black (Cat $1250) registered back to GB, per Roscoe Turner, and per Hewitt Kay & Stewart signed "Cyril E Kaye", then a group per 'Uiver' including intermediates & return to Holland plus propaganda printed on reverse of unseparated Dutch 'POSTGIRO' form (unused), plus 1934 (Dec) 'Uiver' crash cover & planned return cover with 'UIVER/BATAVIA-C' cds but carried per 'Ysvogel', generally fine to very fine. A good lot. Ex Neil Russell. (13 items)

Estimate AU$750

1938 Clouston & Ricketts covers from GB x3 one forwarded to New Zealand, the first two signed by both pilots, two covers from NZ with Blenheim & Darwin cds, also an uprated ½d Wren Postal Card - apparently the only example recorded from this flight - similarly cancelled & signed "AE Clouston", and a contemporary PPC of the aviators. Ex Neil Russell. (7 items)

Grade A/B (Image1)

Estimate AU$500

1945-53 Re-Opening of Services with covers to & from New Guinea (1945, and 1947 intermediate from Port Moresby), Fiji, Ceylon, Norfolk Island, GB per Constellation, Japan & Hong Kong, plus 1945 developmental flight to Singapore and new services to & from Canada, South Africa, Dutch Indies and Christchurch, also a few intermediates, almost all with appropriate cachets &/or Qantas vignettes - plus four loose vignettes - & many are pilot-signed. Ex Neil Russell. (38 items)

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,000

1949 (Dec 19) TAA Christmas land-plane flight to the mission at Mornington Island signed by the pilot & with TAA roneo'd letter re the flight, a different TAA cover from Cloncurry & return, and a privately prepared cover for the flight, also an unlisted return flight cover appropriately endorsed but cancelled at 'TENNANT CREEK/21JA50/NT'. Apart from the first item, these are the only examples we have seen. Ex Neil Russell. [Also includes 1976 letters between Neil Russell & Ernie Crome with comment on the Christmas flights.] (5 items)

Grade A/A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$500

MORNINGTON ISLAND PARACHUTE MAILS: Qantas Christmas flights 1939 ex Sydney, 1941 ex Sydney & Brisbane, 1942 ex Sydney & Brisbane, 1943 ex Sydney & Brisbane, 1946 ex Sydney, 1947 ex Sydney & 1948 ex Sydney, all with appropriate labels &/or autographs, plus an unmounted set of the six Qantas labels. Ex Neil Russell. (16 items)

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$500