On 28 March 1921 the Air Navigation Act 1920 came into force, thus giving legal effect to the administration of civil aviation in Australia by the newly formed Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence. The 75th anniversary of the administration of civil aviation was commemorated in 1996.

On 28 March 1996, 18 air mail covers were flown aboard Airservices Australia Fokker 28 VH-ATG to commemorate this anniversary. Airservices Australia is one of the direct descendants of the CAB (see the organisational timeline) and in 1996 was the only one still operating aircraft in its own right.

The covers were flown from RAAF base Tindal (Katherine, NT) where the aircraft had been performing flight checks on the base's navaids, to Melbourne/Tullamarine where it was based. The crew comprised Captain Brian O'Shea, Co-pilot Ken Zuchetti, and Flight Surveyors Les Harbottle, Glen Seaton-Stewart, Alan Cousens and Dave Clark. The covers were postmarked on arrival at Melbourne Airport on 45c 'Keith and Ross Smith' stamps.

(Phil Vabre collection)

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