APRIL 22: MASBATE to MANILA
Postmarked APR 22 / 9 AM. Backstamped MANILA, P.I. / REC'D / APR 23 11AM.
Manila "RECEIVED BY AEROPLANE" cachet on front.
(David Chiong collection)

This is another unlisted flight in the David Chiong collection. The question that need to be answered is where did the airplane originate? Perhaps, the answer can be derived from Ed Nocom's cover and the following is proposed:

Based on Ed's cover, two airplanes took off from Zamboanga, one making the fight to Manila via Cebu and the second airplane making a stop at Masbate. This is a logical proposal since both covers arrived Manila on the same day and both have the same RECEIVED BY AEROPLANE cachet. The only difference between the two is the time of receipt: Ed's cover at 9:30 AM while David's cover, illustrated above, at 11 AM. 

Outbound flights were usually made in tandem. From the Southern Islands to Manila, the pilots were already familiar with the air routes and most important, the capability of the airplanes. This enabled them to take separate routes on the back flights.

I surmise that two planes flew to Zamboanga via Cebu. On the return trip to Manila, one flew via Cebu and the other airplane via Masbate. This would explain the time difference of arrival in Manila.

This would result in the following unlisted flights:

• MANILA to CEBU 
• MANILA to MASBATE (flown via Cebu and Zamboanga)
• CEBU to ZAMBOANGA
• ZAMBOANGA to MANILA (either flown via Cebu or Masbate)

As of now, we can only speculate.

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