Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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I think in the end this is something created for collectors. KLM had just put the Lockheed Electra in service a month earlier, so this was probably a way of celebrating it? I have seen more of these covers that look exactly the same, so not that "special" I am afraid.
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From Wikipedia it looks like 1959 was the year that KLM started using this aircraft model.
"Beginning in September 1959, KLM introduced the four-engine turboprop Lockheed L-188 Electra onto some of its European and Middle Eastern routes."
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Interesting nice cover, with interesting stamped reverse marking!
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I read "Mystery Flight" and immediate thought of a Poirot story, Death in the Clouds, but that was a flight from Paris to London.
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Back in the late 1990's, and maybe earlier, Northwest Airlines used to offer "Mystery Flights" out of Minneapolis/St Paul. You bought a ticket, boarded the plane, and they flew you to the mystery location! They let you know the time of the return flight. A quick Google search shows that some airlines, such as Qantas and Lufthansa were offering something similar as late as 2021, but I don't know if any airline still does it.
It makes for an interesting philatelic opportunity, getting postmarks for the origin and destination of the flight. Even more fun if it is two different countries, as it appears on this cover (Netherlands and Turkey).
Just guessing that this is what was going on with this cover.
PP
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I posted an example of this cover on another forum in 2019 and asked if anyone could explain it. I got one response that said only the flight crew knew its destination, hence the "mystery flight." It was a flight similar to those described by pogopossum in the post just above. The 2019 poster also mentioned that it carried 25,000 of these covers on the flight. Istanbul, Turkey was obviously the destination.
DonSellos
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12:34:26am
It would be nice if you could show a scan. ( says the guy who does not have the scan equipment himself.) Even so, ........
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This is all quite interesting to me!
I have heard a little of these kind of flights, but have been skeptical up to now regarding the authenticity of their existence.
It would seem from PP's comments that these were in fact a real occurrence, which fascinates me.
And leave it to philatelists to create collectible covers for it!
How brave and adventurous someone would have to be to sign up for this....never knowing where in the world you might end up!
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"It would be nice if you could show a scan. ( says the guy who does not have the scan equipment himself.) Even so, "
Charlie:
I didn't see that a scan would add any information to the topic. My cover is nearly identical to that of the original poster at the top of the thread. I would add though, that these covers were flown round trip, as the original poster's scan of the cover's reverse and its Amsterdam receiving cancel indicates.
DonSellos
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I'm guessing the the 'mystery' wasn't a mystery to all the passengers on the flight. In other words was there in this case a regular flight to Turkey and passengers who had a mystery ticket were put on it? Does that make sense? On the other hand maybe you could fill a flight with mystery passengers, but flying was very expensive back then.
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01:49:31am
''... I didn't see that a scan would add any information to the topic...''
You may be quite correct, Don, or so I thought at first.
but then,
''... My cover is nearly identical to that of the original poster at the top of the thread....''
I thought of the thousands of ''nearly identical'' stamps that when viewed closely have a significant difference which greatly increases their value and collectability.
or about two ''nearly identical'', covers neither apparently worth a tinker's damn, one cancelled 11/22/19, the other 9/11/01. To an eagle eyed collector, the latter could form the start of an interesting topical collection, the former would be only interesting to me.
The pages of this comment forum are full of discussions of often strange esoteric subjects that appear ''nearly identical'' to most.
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Maybe this helps to solve a part of the mystery......
https://www.klmsafetyherald.com/mistery- ...
And click the enveloppe
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Mystery flights were a thing here in Australia in the not-too-distant past. I think it was a way of filling empty seats. Why you'd want to end up 3000kms away from home with a one-way ticket is a mystery though!
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cdj1122
Scans of my Mystery Flight cover per your request.
DonSellos
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This is a cover I found in a very large lot I bought a couple of years ago:
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re: What am I looking at?
I think in the end this is something created for collectors. KLM had just put the Lockheed Electra in service a month earlier, so this was probably a way of celebrating it? I have seen more of these covers that look exactly the same, so not that "special" I am afraid.
Login to Like
this post
re: What am I looking at?
From Wikipedia it looks like 1959 was the year that KLM started using this aircraft model.
"Beginning in September 1959, KLM introduced the four-engine turboprop Lockheed L-188 Electra onto some of its European and Middle Eastern routes."
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this post
09:33:26am
re: What am I looking at?
Interesting nice cover, with interesting stamped reverse marking!
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re: What am I looking at?
I read "Mystery Flight" and immediate thought of a Poirot story, Death in the Clouds, but that was a flight from Paris to London.
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this post
10:17:54pm
re: What am I looking at?
Back in the late 1990's, and maybe earlier, Northwest Airlines used to offer "Mystery Flights" out of Minneapolis/St Paul. You bought a ticket, boarded the plane, and they flew you to the mystery location! They let you know the time of the return flight. A quick Google search shows that some airlines, such as Qantas and Lufthansa were offering something similar as late as 2021, but I don't know if any airline still does it.
It makes for an interesting philatelic opportunity, getting postmarks for the origin and destination of the flight. Even more fun if it is two different countries, as it appears on this cover (Netherlands and Turkey).
Just guessing that this is what was going on with this cover.
PP
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re: What am I looking at?
I posted an example of this cover on another forum in 2019 and asked if anyone could explain it. I got one response that said only the flight crew knew its destination, hence the "mystery flight." It was a flight similar to those described by pogopossum in the post just above. The 2019 poster also mentioned that it carried 25,000 of these covers on the flight. Istanbul, Turkey was obviously the destination.
DonSellos
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
26 Jun 2023
12:34:26am
re: What am I looking at?
It would be nice if you could show a scan. ( says the guy who does not have the scan equipment himself.) Even so, ........
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re: What am I looking at?
This is all quite interesting to me!
I have heard a little of these kind of flights, but have been skeptical up to now regarding the authenticity of their existence.
It would seem from PP's comments that these were in fact a real occurrence, which fascinates me.
And leave it to philatelists to create collectible covers for it!
How brave and adventurous someone would have to be to sign up for this....never knowing where in the world you might end up!
2 Members
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re: What am I looking at?
"It would be nice if you could show a scan. ( says the guy who does not have the scan equipment himself.) Even so, "
Charlie:
I didn't see that a scan would add any information to the topic. My cover is nearly identical to that of the original poster at the top of the thread. I would add though, that these covers were flown round trip, as the original poster's scan of the cover's reverse and its Amsterdam receiving cancel indicates.
DonSellos
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this post
re: What am I looking at?
I'm guessing the the 'mystery' wasn't a mystery to all the passengers on the flight. In other words was there in this case a regular flight to Turkey and passengers who had a mystery ticket were put on it? Does that make sense? On the other hand maybe you could fill a flight with mystery passengers, but flying was very expensive back then.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
01 Jul 2023
01:49:31am
re: What am I looking at?
''... I didn't see that a scan would add any information to the topic...''
You may be quite correct, Don, or so I thought at first.
but then,
''... My cover is nearly identical to that of the original poster at the top of the thread....''
I thought of the thousands of ''nearly identical'' stamps that when viewed closely have a significant difference which greatly increases their value and collectability.
or about two ''nearly identical'', covers neither apparently worth a tinker's damn, one cancelled 11/22/19, the other 9/11/01. To an eagle eyed collector, the latter could form the start of an interesting topical collection, the former would be only interesting to me.
The pages of this comment forum are full of discussions of often strange esoteric subjects that appear ''nearly identical'' to most.
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re: What am I looking at?
Maybe this helps to solve a part of the mystery......
https://www.klmsafetyherald.com/mistery- ...
And click the enveloppe
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re: What am I looking at?
Mystery flights were a thing here in Australia in the not-too-distant past. I think it was a way of filling empty seats. Why you'd want to end up 3000kms away from home with a one-way ticket is a mystery though!
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re: What am I looking at?
cdj1122
Scans of my Mystery Flight cover per your request.
DonSellos
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