Lot 71406 – 1920 (Feb) Handley-Page « Pioneer » flight crash mail cover

1920 (Feb) Handley-Page « Pioneer » flight crash mail, envelope from Cape Town to Beaufort West, endorsed « Per Aerial Post » with « CARRIED BY / AEROPLANE. » cachet in red alongside, very faint « THE HANDLEY-PAGE SOUTH AFRICA TRANSPORT COMPANY / AERIAL / POST » hs in violet at foot, with hand-drawn illustration of the plane at lower left, some staining and cover faults (strengthened inside by being affixed to card), very rare, with only 422 letters carried and very few thought to have survived (Nierinck 200217).

Also include is a small piece of the wooden propeller and two images of the plane; one at take off and one showing the damage at beaufort West.

Note: The first scheduled flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg departed on the morning of 15 February with a crew of three, Major Meintjies, Capt. Venter and Mr. Askew plus seven passengers. After a forced landing 8 minutes after take off the flight was abandoned at Beaufort West due to extensive damage to the machine.