Dave Bartlet presents a comprehensive 2 frame exhibit of the early pioneer airmail era of Canada and Newfoundland at ORAPEX 2026.

Keywords

Pioneer airmail; Brian Peck; Katherine Stinson; Aero Club of Canada; Flight labels; NC-4; Alcock–Brown; Newfoundland; Toronto–New York air race; Devere Aviation.

Summary

This two-frame exhibit traces Canadian and Newfoundland pioneer airmail between 1918 and 1920 through covers, letters, flight labels, photographic postcards and maps. Opening photographs establish the Curtiss JN-4 Canuck’s place in wartime pilot training, before the display turns to flights that carried mail between Canadian cities and attempts to cross the Atlantic from Newfoundland (exhibit). The arrangement places domestic experiments beside the contemporary pursuit of transatlantic flight. (Frames 1–2)

Captain Brian Peck’s Montreal–Toronto flight of 24 June 1918 is represented by covers, including a registered letter and its enclosure, alongside later commemorative material. Katherine Stinson’s Calgary–Edmonton flight of 9 July 1918 follows, illustrated by a Calgary Industrial Exhibition folded letter, a specially marked flight cover and photographic postcards documenting the pilot, aircraft and mail handling. (Frame 1)

The Toronto–Ottawa flights introduce the Aero Club of Canada’s labels and their postal use during August and September 1918. Covers illustrate the labels without denomination and with “25” added, while a tête-bêche pair, cachets, postal markings and an aircraft photograph support the account of flights by Arthur Dunstan and Edward Burton and fundraising for Royal Air Force prisoners of war. (Frame 1)

Photographic postcards introduce NC-4’s Atlantic crossing, followed by Hawker and Grieve’s unsuccessful attempt, represented partly by a clearly identified 1940 reproduction of a flight cover. Original Alcock–Brown covers and correspondence document the first nonstop Atlantic crossing in June 1919, while further covers illustrate the unsuccessful Kerr–Brackley and Raynham–Biddlescombe ventures, distinguishing their mail from that carried successfully across the ocean. (Frame 2)

The final section includes Toronto–New York air-race covers and a red label die proof, a postcard of Ernest Hall’s aircraft at Vernon, and a Truro–Charlottetown flight cover with Devere Aviation’s promotional letter. An epilogue presents the October 1920 trans-Canada flight narrative alongside a Regina–Calgary cover, concluding the exhibit’s progression from individual demonstrations toward wider geographical ambitions for Canadian aviation. (Frame 2)