The pilots were JR Renton and A Nancekivell and the plane was a Simmonds Spartan which belonged to the Westland Aero Club.
This survey flight from Hokitika to Okuru via Waiho Gorge (near Franz Josef Glacier) took place on 28 September with the return flight on 29 September.
An official airmail was carried with the total number of items flown being around 3,000. Special First Flight cachets were applied.
As the surface rate was now 1d, the total postage rate was 4d
instead of the 5d of the earlier survey flights.
The example cover is one of 977 flown from Hokitika to Okuru and is signed by the pilot, JR Renton.
As the cover did not have routing instructions, an official Hokitika-Okuru routing cachet was applied in dull blue, the same colour as the First Flight cachet.
The cover was backstamped on arrival in Okuru. There are two different Okuru backstamps. Most of the mail was philatelic and the covers were returned to Hokitika.
Some of the mail was not postmarked or backstamped at Okuru and this
was corrected at
Hokitika where a relief Okuru backstamp was used.
This additional backstamp is on the left.
The next cover is one of 308 flown from Waiho Gorge to Okuru. It has a pair of Okuru backstamps like those shown above.
There is also a faint purple Okuru First Flight cachet on the back. This was used as a backstamp on some of the incoming mail.
The Waiho Gorge First Flight cachet on the front
should be pale mauve, but is instead dull blue.
That means that the cachet was not applied at Waiho Gorge,
with the mistake being corrected when the cover was returned to
Hokitika.
Hence the Waiho Gorge cachet is in the colour of the Hokitika cachet.
Waiho Gorge is shown on the 9d Peace issue of 1946.
A regular airmail service between
Hokitika and Okuru was
set up in December 1934 by Air Travel (NZ) Ltd.
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All scans were made by the author.
Information on this page is taken from:
Airmails of New Zealand, volume 1 (1955) compiled by Douglas A Walker,
and the New Zealand Airmail Catalogue, (2nd Edition, 1994)
by James Stapleton.
Both are published by the
Air Mail Society of New Zealand