Unlike many other countries which issued stamps for the centenary of the Wright Brother's first flight in 1903, Australia Post has waited until 2010 to celebrate the centenary of powered flight in Australia.

Australia's first powered flight was undertaken by Colin Defries on 9 December 1909, though he crashed on landing. The first successful powered flight was made by Harry Houdini on his 1910 tour. He bought with him his Voisin biplane and made the flight at Diggers Rest, Victoria (near Melton) on 18 March 1910.

Issue Information
The issue consists of three stamps. The first two commemorate Australian aviation pioneers: Defries on the 55c and John Duigan on the $1.45. Harry Houdini's first flight is commemorated on the $2.10 stamp - which happens to be the airmail rate to the United States.

Gummed Sheet Stamps
The 55c and $1.45 stamps were issued in individual sheets of 50 stamps, with a very similar version in the Canberra Stamp Show miniature sheet.

   
Sheet stamps

Gummed Miniature Sheet Stamps
The 55c and $1.45 stamps also appear in the Canberra Stamp Show miniature sheet issued on 12 March 2010, and London 2010 miniature sheet on 7 May 2010. The miniature sheet stamps have thinner text when compared to the regular sheet stamps. This is due to a change in printer. There are minor shade differences between the

Canberra Miniature Sheet

London 2010 Miniature Sheet

Sheet stamp	Mini. sheet	Differences
		Text on miniature sheet stamp is thinner than the regular sheet stamp text.

Self-adhesive Booklet Stamps
The $1.45 and $2.10 stamps are issued in booklets of five self-adhesive stamps.

 
Self-adhesive stamps

Self-adhesive Booklets
Even though the booklets are printed with a clear cover, they are not rouletted to enable them to be folded in half. Booklets are distributed to post offices in chequebooks of 20 booklets. These are not listed on this website.

Booklet layout

Booklet covers

Postal Stationery
There will be two releases of postal stationery for this issue - the regular maximum cards, and a special flight postcard.

The special flight postcard was limited to 1785 copies and was flown on a mail flight re-enactment (more information is given on the postcard's back). This postcard was only available via mail order at a cost of $4.95, and was limited to one per customer. The postcard notes the re-enactment flight took place on 9 March, but was sent out by the Philatelic Bureau until 9 April! The postcard was only available addressed.

Maximum Cards

Limited Edition Postcard

Issue Summary
The table below summarises the above information. The cost of each item is given, along with a total for each section. In some cases the stamps are only available from self-adhesive booklets (sold at face value), or from prestige booklets, souvenir sheets or folders (sold above face value).

Item and Description	Cost
For the General Collector
Gummed sheet stamps 3 values from sheets (55c, $1.45, $2.10) Self-adhesive stamps 2 values from booklets ($1.45, $2.10)	$4.10   $17.75
Total	$21.85
For the Specialised Collector
Miniature sheet stamps 55c and $1.45 from Canberra or London sheet (thinner text) Booklets 2 booklets with philatelic barcode 2 booklets with general barcode Postal stationery Maximum cards Limited Edition Flight Postcard	$5.30   $17.75 $17.75   $6.35 $4.95
Total	$52.10
Grand Total	$73.95

References
Wikipedia, Harry Houdini and Diggers Rest, accessed 18 December 2009
Australia Post, Australian Stamp Bulletin, No. 303, March-April 2010

If you have more information, or spot an error, please e-mail me.