It is often underestimated just how much the medium in which we send letters and parcels shapes them and transforms them.

This does not necessarily extend to a McLuhanist conclusion that the medium is, in fact, the message, but it certainly means that the way in which products are packaged will be shaped around the most common and most cost-effective delivery systems.

This is part of the reason why custom cardboard boxes are shaped to store products and stock-keeping units as tightly as possible; the boxes are designed to fit as nearly as possible into the delivery medium in question, whilst also protecting it from the rigours of multimodal shipping.

This approach became increasingly necessary as postal services were capable of delivering parcels faster and further, and one of the pivotal moments in this regard was a 13-minute journey from the City of Allahabad to the city of Naini, both in the Indian region of Uttar Pradesh.

This flight, despite its short length and relatively small payload, would change the world of parcel delivery forever.

The First Aeromail Flight Of Sir Walter Windham

A guiding pioneer of British Aviation, Sir Walter Windham was the first man to receive a letter sent to him via airmail, coincidentally enough arriving across the English Channel by the first man to attempt to cross it via aeroplane, Hubert Latham.

He had innovated as a King’s Messenger, being the first man to transport foreign dispatches via motor car, and through his founding of the Aeroplane Club would serve to shape the use of aircraft in Great Britain.

He advocated for the use of heavier-than-air flight in opposition to the rise of airships and the zeppelin mail and would to that end advocate strongly for the development of a fast, efficient airmail service that would ideally be able to carry correspondence throughout the empire.

He got his chance to show just a sample of its potential in 1911.

From Allahabad To Naini

In Allahabad, Upper Pradesh, then part of British-occupied India, the United Provinces Exhibition was taking place to showcase the rapid developments of the aviation world, amongst other commercial and cultural events.

This exhibition included a range of events, but the centrepiece was set to be a demonstration flight of a Humber-Sommer biplane, an English-built clone of the French Sommer 1910, one of the first aircraft built in significant numbers by a young pilot named Henri Pequet.

Sir Walter was there as a captain of the Royal Indian Navy and had organised the aviation exhibition. However, when he was asked by the chaplain of the Holy Trinity Church to help fund a youth hostel, he adjusted the flight itinerary to make the flight more than a demonstration run.

After receiving permission from the Postmaster Generals of India and the United Province, he set up an official airmail service from Allahabad to the nearby township of Naini.

This was a distance of just eight miles and was chosen because it was the next stop on the Bombay-Calcutta railway line. 

Members of the public were invited to send mail on the plane for six pence (or six annas), which would help to fund the hostel.

In total, 6500 letters were posted, each of which became a collector’s item once it hit its destination, similar to the first flights of Zeppelin postal services and eventually the first letters taken into space.

In total, over £16,000 adjusted for inflation was raised by the letters themselves, but it became a major landmark event for proving the viability of airmail.

The Coronation Of Airmail

Following this successful test flight, Sir Walter would organise a very similar set of flights to mark the coronation of King George V on 22nd June 1911.

Much like the flight from Allahabad, the Coronation Aerial Post would send specially franked and stamped envelopes and postcards from London to Windsor.

Compared to the 6,500 letters on the first airmail flight in India, over 75,000 were loaded onto the initial flight of a planned 16, which was said to weigh over 600lbs, highlighting already the practical capabilities of flight.

The initial series of flights lasted from 9th September up until the 26th. A bed was endowed at King Edward VII Hospital in Windsor to celebrate the accomplishment.

The Legacy Of Flight

At the time, the future of airmail was believed to be via airship, but this small set of flights would show the future direction not only of airmail but also of global parcel delivery, with a huge number of packages and boxes relying on flights made possible by Sir Walter Windham.