November, 1962 Volume 34, Number 2 The American Air Society A Non-Profit Corporation Incorporated 1944 Organized 1923 Under the Laws of Ohio

PRESIDENT Official Publication of the Dr. James J . Matejka, Jr. AMERICAN AIR MAIL SOCIETY LaSalle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois SECRETARY VOL. 34, No. 2 Whole Number 390 Ruth T. Smith 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. TREASURER Contents ...... for November, 1962 John J. Smith 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. Canadian Flight Listings to VICE-PRESIDENTS Jan. 1, 1962 33 Joseph L . Eisendrath Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. The Saga of Herman Kleinert Pan American Grace Airways 38 Lester S. Manning EDITORS - Other Publications Society Reprinting American L . B. Gat chell Air Mail Catalogue 42 Geo. D. Kingdom Official Section 43 ATTORNEY George D . Kingdom Philatelic and Aeronautic 46 DIRECTOR OF What Shall I Collect Now? 47 FOREIGN RELATIONS Helicopter Flights at Fraga 49 Dr. Max Kronstein AUCTION MANAGER C.A.M. Cover Notes 50 Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. Annual Report of Sales Manager 52 ADVANCE BULLETIN SERVICE P aul Bugg South African 53 3724 Old York Rd. A. P . J. Ads Inside back cover Baltimore 18, Md. TRANSLATION SERVICE Roland Kohl Augusta-Victoria Str. 4 EDITOR Wiesbaden, West Joseph L. Eisendraih AUDITOR 350 No. Deere Park Drive, Highland Park, m. Stuart J. Malkin ASSISTANT EDITORS DIRECTORS Robert W. Murch Alton J. Blank, Herbert Brand­ Ernest A. Kehr L . B . Gatchell ner, Paul Bugg, Robert E. Har ­ ing, Dr. Max Kronstein, George DEPARTMENT AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS L. Lee, Narcisse Pelletier, Horace R. Lee Black, N. Pelletier, Florence L. Kleinert, D. Westbrooks. Dr. Max Kronstein, Richard L . Singley, William MEMBERSHIP DUES - $4.00 R . Ware, James Wotherspoon, John Watson, William T. Wynn, Frank Blumenthal, Samuel per year S . Goldsticker, J r., J. S. Langabeer. Include subscription to The Published monthly at Albion, Erle Co., Pa., U.S.A . AIRPOST JOURNAL. Appli­ cants must furnish two refer­ Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office ences, philatelic preferred. At at Albion, P a., Februar y 10, 1932, under least one must reside in Appli­ the Act of March 3, 1879. cant's home town. Applicants The AIRPOST JOURNAL is not conducted for under 21 years must be guar­ profit. The Editor and all others serve without teed by Parent or Guardian. compensation. Receipts from advertising, sub­ Membership may be terminated scriptions and contributions are applied to the by the Society in accordance betterment of the magazine and the promotion with its B y -Laws. of aero-. Correspondence concerning sub­ scriptions, back numbers and The Editor and Officers of The American Air bound volumes, address changes Mail Society assume no responsibility for the and other matters and all re­ accuracy of statements made by contributors. mittances should be sent to the Every effort is made to insure correctness of Treasurer. All general com­ all articles. munications and advertising Subscription Rates: $4.00 per year, 35c per copy. should be sent to the Editor. Advertising Rate Card available from the Editor. Canadia'n Flight Listings to January 1, 1962 By Don Amos Editor's Note - for many years, collectors• of Canadian flight covers have needed a comprehensive listing of flights made since the publication of the 1950 edition of the Canadian section in the American Air Mail Catalogue. This, on the face of it, might not seem to be a difficult task, but no one up to now has been able to com­ plete it, mainly because of the policy of the Canadian Post Office Department not to preannounce pending first flights, or to otherwise recognize the special occasion. Don Amos, himself long connected with the post office in Winnipeg, has for a number of years, slowly been gathering statistics. All flights listed here he has meticulously checked with post office files at Ottawa, and with Royal Canadian Air Force files. Finally he has completed his list, chronologically to the end of 1961. His work consists of two sections. The first is fill-ins for flights that took place during the period covered in the Catalogue, which for one reason or another, were not listed. The second section lists all known flights since the publication of the Canadian section. No attempt has been made to value covers, nor to price them. In no sense is this to be considered a continuation of the catalogue, primarily because so little is known about some flights, and because on many, no mail has been seen by him. Listings preceded by an asterisk .:. indicate that covers are known to exist. The numbers he has assigned for convenience in continuous numerical order. The numbers in the first section as 290/I indicate that the proper order is after 290 in the.catalogue. Similarly 339/1, 518/l, 529/1, and 622/I are so indicated. Please note that both sections contain Pioneer and Government flights. He has not completed his investigations of semi-officials as yet, and they will probably be listed later on. Jet flights, as such are not listed, unless they were actually the first flight between tl:te points mentioned. If members wish to contact Don Amos, his address is: 98 Greendell Ave., Winnipeg 8, Manitoba, Canada.

CANADA - PIONEER FLIGHTS ADDITIONS TO AMERICAN AIR MAIL CATALOGUE. VOL. 2, 1950 AI - 1913 - Hamilton, Ont. A Demonstration flight was made at Hamilton by Charles F. Walsh in 1913 but the exact date is not known. Although mail is reported to have been flown, none has come to light. No other details are known. OTHER COMPANY MARKINGS (Courtesy Flights). Ginger Coote Airways - Boxed Cachet "COURTESY - "GINGER" COOTE AIRWAYS LTD. - 515 HOWE STREET-TELEPHONE: SEYMOUR 9418-NIGHT CALL - BAYVIEW 6611Y. Lamb Airways - "COURTESY OF LAMB AIRWAYS.''

OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT FLIGHTS AIR MAIL SERVICES 290/ 1938 March 1 - Vancouver-Lethbridge-Regina-Winnipeg, and Return. Trans­ Canada familiarization flights began this date and experimental mail was carried. Some first class letters, prepaid at ordinary rates, were selected at each point from the P.O. sacks for delivery at the other three points. These covers had no special markings and were not backstamped, therefore were impossible to distinguish from the other mail which went by surface. The flight from Vancouver was delayed until the 3rd by poor weather. Pilots were R. M. Smith (West) and B. Middleton (East). March 1-2 - Winnipeg-Regina-Lethbridge-Vancouver a. March 3-4 - Vancouver-Lethbridge-Regina-Winnipeg CANADA - OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT FLIGHTS 296 1938 Dec. 1 - Winnipeg-North Bay-Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal and Return. Ex­ tension from Winnipeg of Trans-Canada Airlines Route. North Bay was the THE AffiPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 33 new point to receive mail service. No covers known. Winnipeg-North Bay-Toronto a. Toronto-North Bay-Wi;nnipeg • 322 1942 April 15 - Montreal-Trois Rivieres-Quebec and Return. Flown by Canadian Pacific Airlines .. 5 cents rate. Bilingual cachets showing Lockheed mail plane and Maple Leaf. A few covers are known from each leg. April 15 - Montreal­ Trois Rivieres. Backstamped 7 PM April 16. a. April 15 - Montreal-Quebec b. April 16 - · Trois Rivieres-Quebec. Pmkd. 2 PM c. April 16 - Quebec-Trois Rivieres. Backstamped 7 PM d. April 16 - Quebec-Montreal. Backstamped 10 PM e. April 16 - Trois Rivieres-Montreal. Pmkd. 2 PM 331 1944 July 1 - Fredericton, N.B. and St. John, N.B. added between Montreal and Halifax. Flown by Trans-Canad·a Airlines. No covers known. Montreal-Fredericton-St. John-Halifax a. Halifax-St. John-Fredericton-Montreal 339/1 1946 Nov. 26 - Tulsequah, B.C. - Juneau, Alaska and Return. Service performed by Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. No covers known. ' Tulsequah-Juneau, Alaska. ·353 1947 Sept. 8 - Vancouver-Penticton and Return. Flown by Canadian Pacific Airlines. Pilots Capt. J.J. Faires and F/O A.T. Moore. No covers known. Vancouver-Penticton a. Penticton-Vancouver 354 1947 Dec. 15 - Vancouver-Penticton route extended to Castlegar-Cranbrook­ Calgary. Flown by Canadian Pacific Airlines. No covers known. Penticton-Castlegar-Cranbrook-Calgary a. Calgary-Cranbrook-Castlegar-Penticton • 357 1948 June 1 - Yorkton, Sask added to Trans-Canada route between Regina and Winnipeg. No cachets from either point into Yorkton and no covers known. A few covers are known out of Yorkton to either point, postmarked 6-June 1- 1948. A cachet was provided by the City of Yorkton showing wheat in a circle with the wording around it "CITY OF YORKTON-SASKATCHEWAN." A plane is at the left of the design. Above the design is the wording "FIRST OFFICIAL FLIGHT - TRANS-CANADA " and below "REGINA - YORKTON - WINNIPEG." The design beneath the circle containing the names of the three cities in the form of a ribbon. The cachet is in black. Regina-Yorkton ...... (None Known) a. Yorkton-Winnipeg ...... (A few known) b. Winnipeg-Yorkton ...... (A few known) c. Yorkton-Regina ...... (A few known) 362 1949 Sept. 19 - Montreal-Val d'Or-Noranda and Return. Flown by Canadian Pacific Airlines. No covers known. Montreal-Val d'Or-Noranda a. Noranda-Val d'Or-Montreal

AIR STAGE SERVICES 518/l 1929 June 1 - Norway House-God's Lake-Island Lake-Oxford House and Return. As Norway House was the only Post Office at this time covers would bear no evidence of having been given airmail service, and none is known. This was a Government service. In May, from Norway House a flight was also made to these points by an R.C.A.F. plane but no covers have survived. Norway House-God's Lake-Island Lake-Oxford House a. Oxford House-Island Lake-God's Lake-Norway House • 529/1 1931 Aug. 12 - Aklavik - Herschel Island. Special flight made by Western Canada Airways. Very few covers are known, dated Aug. 11 at Aklavik and Aug. 12 at Herschel Island. Aklavik-Herschel Island • 601 1937 Sept. 8 - Page 1017. This flight dated Sept. 2 in cat. in error. Correct date Sept. 8 for flight both ways. Two stages not listed as follows, no cachet, and only one cover known each way. Postmarked and backstamped Sept. 8. d. Sturgeon Landing-Cumberland House ...... (1 Known) e. Cumberland House-Sturgeon Landing ...... (1 Known) 34 T=-:IE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 622/1 1945 July ? - Moosonee-Richmond Gulf and Return. Flown by Austin Airways Ltd. Exact date not known. No covers known. Moosonee-Richmond Gulf a. Richmond Gulf-Moosonee

SUPPLEMENT TO AMERICAN AIR MAIL CATALOGUE. VOL. 2, 1950 AIR MAIL SERVICES * 370 1950 May 1 - Edmonton-Great Falls, Mont., U.S.A. Postmarked Edmonton 6 AM May 1, backstamped Great Falls 9.30 AM same date. Flown by Western Air Lines, Inc. A few covers known but no record of number carried. Edmonton-Great Falls, Mont. 371 1950 May 1 - Vancouver-Tofino-Muchalat-Tahsis-Zeballos-Chamiss Bay. Zeballos previously served Nov. 28, 1938. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines Ltd. No covers known. May 1. Vancouver-Tofino-Muchalat-Tahsis-Chamiss Bay. a. May ? Chamiss Bay-Tahsis-Muchalat-Tofino-Vancouver 372 1950 June 2 - Vancouver-Sullivan Bay and Return. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines Ltd. No covers known. June 2. Vancouver-Sullivan Bay. a. June 2. Sullivan Bay-Vancouver. 373 1950 June 6 - Alliford Masset. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines Ltd. No covers known June 6. Alliford Bay-Masset. a. June ?. Masset-Alliford Bay. 376 1951 Jan. 1 - Nelson-Syringa Creek-Deer Park-Renata-Broadwater and Return. Pilot D. Duncan of Kootenay Air Service. 240 lbs. of all classes of mail carried each way. No covers known. Nelson-Syringa Creek-Deer Park-Renata-Broadwater Broadwater-Renata-Deer Park-Syringa Creek-Nelson 380 1951 Dec. 28 - Vancouver-Auckland, New Zealand. Pilots Capt. Leslie and Capt. c. H. Pentland of Canadian Pacific Airlines. No covers known. Vancouver-Auckland, N.Z. 385 1952 April 1 - Vancouver-Powell River and Return. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines Ltd. No covers known. April 1 - Vancouver-Powell River a. April ? - Powell River-Vancouver 387 1952 June 5 - Prince Rupert-Alice Arm-Stewart and Return. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines. No covers known. June 5. Prince Rupert-Alice Arm-Stewart a. June ?. Stewart-Alice Arm-Prince Rupert 389 1952 Aug. 14 - Winnipeg-Flin Flon Route Extended to Churchill, Man. flown by Canadian Pacific Airlines. No covers known. Aug. 14. Flin Flon-Churchill a. Aug. ? Churchill-Flin Flon 390 1952 Sept. ? - Trenton-Gander-Azores-England-Ireland. Service by R.C.A.F. All records of flight destroyed in R.C.A.F. Hangar fire at Montreal, Que. No. covers known. Trenton-Gander-Azores-England-Ireland 391 1952 Sept. 15 - Vancouver-Ocean Falls-Kitimat and Return. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines. No covers known. Sept. 15. Vancouver-Ocean Falls-Kitimat a. Sept. ?. Kitimat-Ocean Falls-Vancouver • 393 1952 Nov. 19 - Edmonton-Copenhagen, Denmark. First Exploratory Flight by Scandinavian Airlines System, Inc. Small mail carried. Covers bear map of route followed on flight. Postmarked at Edmonton and backstamped Koben­ havn, Lufthavn. Edmonton-Copenhagen, Denmark. 396 1953 Feb. 1 - Vancouver-Sullivan Bay Route extended to Minstrel Island and Alert Bay. Flown by Queen Charlotte Air Lines Ltd. No covers known. Feb. 1. Vancouver-Minstrel Island-Alert Bay a. Feb. ? Alert Bay-Minstrel Island-Vancouver 400 1953 June 14 - Gravenhurst added to Toronto-North Bay Route of Trans- THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 35 Canada Airlines. No covers known. Toronto-Gravenhurst a. Gravenhurst-North Bay b. North Bay-Gravenhurst c. Gravenhurst "Toronto 408 1954 Feb. 1 - Sudbury added to North Bay-Sault Ste. Marie Route of Trans­ Canada Airlines. No covers known. North Bay-Sudbury a. Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie b. Sault Ste. Marie-Sudbury c. Sudbury-North Bay

AIR STAGE SERVICES 680 1947 Nov. 1 - Dawson-Stewart River and Return. Pilot E. P. Gallison of Gallison Flying Service. No covers known. Dawson-Stewart River (600 lbs) a. Stewart River-Dawson (150 lbs) 681 1947 Dec. 19 - Sault Ste. Marie-Cockburn Island and Return. Pilot E. R. Dale of AirDale Flying Service. 200 Lbs. of all classes of mail carried each way. No covers known. Dec. 19. Sault Ste. Marie-Cockburn Island. a. Dec. ? Cockburn Island-Sault Ste. Marie. 684 1948 May ? - Toronto-Trenton-Winnipeg-Churchill-Hall Lake Resolute Bay­ Thule (Greenland). Services by R.C.A.F. No covers known. Toronto-Trenton-Winnipeg-Churchill-Hall Lake Resolute Bay-Ehule a. Resolute Bay-Hall Lake-Churchill-Winnipeg-Trenton-Toronto 686 1948 Nov. 25 - Aklavik-Reindeer Depot-Port Brabant and Return. Pilot M. Zubko of Aklavik Flying Service Ltd. No covers known. Aklavik-Reindeer Depot-Port Brabant a. Port Brabant-Reindeer Depot-Aklavik 687 1948 Dec. 16 - Churchill-Eskimo Point-Tavanee-Chesterfield Inlet and Return. Flown by Arctic Wings Ltd. No covers known. Dec. 16. Churchill-Eskimo Point-Tavanee-Chesterfield Inlet a. Dec. ? Chesterfield Inlet-Tavanee-Eskimo Point-Churchil). 690 1949 April 1 - New Glasgow-Pictou Island and Return. Pilot D. S. MacNeil of Gulf Flying Service. No covers known. New Glasgow-Pictou Island ...... (57 Lbs.) a. Pictou Island-New Glasgow ...... (6 Lbs.) 691 1949 April 20 - Wabowden-Nelson House and Return. Flown by E. T. Taylor Airways. No covers known. April 20. Wabowden-Nelson House a. April ? Nelson House-Wabowden • 692 1949 April 28 - Edmonton-Demarais-Wabasca and Return. Emergency flight by Associated Airways Ltd. 8 covers known each way, postmarked and backstamped on dates shown. All covers signed by Pilot A. N. Bell, also by the postmasters of the dispatching and receiving offices and by the Postal Inspector who accompanied flight. April 28. Edmonton-Demarais a. April 28. Edmonton-Wabasca b. April 29. Wabasca-Edmonton c. April 29. Demarais-Edmonton 693 1949 May 23 - Flin Flon-Snow Lake and Return. Flown by Central Northern Airways. No covers known. May 23. Flin Flan-Snow Lake a. May ? Snow Lake-Flin Flon 694 1949 June 4 - -Prince Albert-Snake Lake-Stanley Mission-Sandy Bay- Pelican Narrows-Southend and Return. Stanley Mission and Pelican Narrows served previously. Flown by Saskatchewan Government Airways. No covers known. June 4. Prince Albert-Snake Lake-Sandy Bay-Southend a. June 5, Southend-Sandy Bay-Snake Lake-Prince Albert (To be continued) 36 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 OUTER SPACE Informed Collectors Read The fantastic progress creates an ever increasing demand for space issues The Airmail Entire Truth on First Day covers. Supply is small and alert collectors will get them now. We offer: Russia '57 Sputnik I (6 stps) The only existing newsletter first earth satellite, a "Must" FDC $2.95 pertaining to aereograms, airmail Russia '59 - IR First Sun orbit, first off. rocket pmk.w. cachet $3.50 envelopes & airmail postal cards. dtto.w.Moscow pmk. 2.50 Mongolia '59 Lunik 59, first Moon shot. 1.50 E~CLUSIVE Czechosl. Gagarin I (2 stps) FDC 1.50 dtto.Gagarin in Prague,spec.pmk .85 Albania: Gagarin FDC,rare, 1.50 INFORMATIVE Togo Shepard & Gagarin FDC (4) 1.25 INDISPENSABLE Togo: Glenn black oveprint Sn cover 1.95 Czechosl. Cosmic Navigation (6) FDC It appears 3 times per year and 1.50 Russia Cosmic III w.spec. pmk. FDC is sent against a supply of 8 cent 1.­ Paraguay:Mercury capsule (5) FDC stamped and addressed legal size 1.­ dtto.Glen & Carpenter (3) imp. airs envelopes. FDC 7.95 Hungary Twin space filght, perf. FDC Pricelist 50 cents, deductible. $1.­ dtto. Imperf. rare FDC $3.75 Many others available. Also Pioneer LAVA . Please state wants. The Distributor of the Barbados Error Box l, Fort George station BELHAM EXCHANGE New·York 40, N. Y. Box 119, Ridgewood 27, N. Y. Airposts for over 30 years

fj1111111Clllllll111111ClllllllllllllClllllllllllllCllllllllllllltlllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllllllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllCJ'~ i N~~~~.?.~~ ~~c::n I Al'R POST STAMPS AND COVERS I AIR 'POST AERO POSTAL STATIONERY I I () I - e Especially Strong in .. I e Many Items in Quantities I I A SUBSTANTIAL PROPERTY I Also 19th and 20th Postal Stationery of World ·- Collections I - Specialties - Foreign Revenues, Interesting Items of Great I I Diversity. Write For Catalogue Now I I J o h n W. N i c k I i n I I llO WEST 42ND s:.ioneer Of Aerophilat~~w YORK 36, N. Y. i ~ClllUllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllCllllllllllllltlllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllCllllllll~ THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 37 The Saga of Pan American Grace Airways, Inc.-Part III The Struggle for Existence and Development from 1932 to World War II By Dr. Roberio Levi-Castillo

Editor's Notes It is suggested that before• reading this unusual story, one should, read, as background, the article on page 132 of The Airpost Journal for February, 1962. American readers may not be familiar with the great struggle hy which Pan American Grace Airways by adroit management and careful planning was saved from disaster, escaping the cancellation of air mail contracts and serious loss of rev­ enue in a critical period which resulted in saving the future life-line of America in World War II This writer believes that this article presents an exact picture of the importance of the role of Pan American Grace Airways Incorporated, in saving for the airlines of the United States of America their rightful place in Latin America, from the Nazi and Fascist conquest of the monoply of the Latin American airlines by future enemy interests, which would have placed in jeopardy the defense of South America and of the Panama Canal! The fight for survival started in 1931 as Pan American Grace Airways and its sister Pan American Airways could not continue their expansion. The large main­ tenance costs on almost all the basic system routes were covered by U. S. Govern­ ment contracts, paying the companies $1.80 to $2.00 per mile flown with air mail. The United States Post Office Department was having difficulties with finances because of the depression, and expansion of new routes were not encouraged. Pan American Grace Airways Incorporated was using the Sikorsky S-38 amphi­ bians, the •best planes for passenger and air mail transportation, but. they were short range ships which required stopovers to refuel and to be overhauled. In order to let the airplanes fly longer and to save fuel and extend their range, the amphibian had to be lightened to the last ounce, which made it possible to fly a ·bit further. In the early days the refueling was done from Talara to Guayaquil; from there the amphibian was flown to Salinas and left there overnight. Early in the morning it would leave for Manta, then make a ·hop to Esmeraldas and then on to Tumaco () where it stayed overnight. The next day, it would leave for Buenaven­ tura and Balboa. The Sikorsky S-38 carried only six passengers and a crew of three and sometimes to save weight this was reduced to two! The Sikorsky S-40 was somewhat better. It saved time and made more economi­ cal the transportation of mail and passengers. Flights were made into Ecuador from Talara to Guayaquil and then to Manta, Tumaco (Colombia). They arrived in Buenaventura at about 1:00 p.m. at the SCADTA air base, where planes were refueled. After lunch, they left for Balboa, arriving there at about 6:00 p.m., sometimes a bit later, but always within daylight hours. November 23rd, 1931 marked the first flight of Pan American Grace Airways Inc. in combination with the "American Clipper" of Pan American Airways from Cristobal to Miami. On March 25, 1932 Manta in the province of Manabi was chosen as a re­ fueling station for Pan American Airways amphibians. A special blue cachet was used showing an amphibian of PAN AGRA, then known as the American , and the customs building of Manta with the park and palms. The inscription says: 38 THE AIRPOST J'OURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 Primer Correo Aereol"PANAGRA"IManta, 25 de Marzo de 1932. Covers were sent to Guayaquil, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, . On March 26th, the first airmail was sent north from Manta with the same cachet, and the correct date. Covers were sent to Cristobal, Kingston, Havana, Miami and New York. These covers are very rare. On May 20th, 1932 the first flight was made between Guayaquil and La Paz ( Bolivia) and a special cachet was applied in black showing the statue of Marshal Antonio Jose de Sucre, with an amphibian of PANAGRA. flying above it, On both sides were the coats of arms of Ecuador and Bolivia. T he cachet had the in­ scription "PRIMER CORREO AEREO/ECUADOR - BOLIVIA/20 de MAYO de 1932". Covers arrived in La Paz by Ford Trimotor 5-AT-C on May 24th, and bear the receipt postmark of La Paz ( Bolivia). This flight was a combined flight of PANAGRA and the Bolivian airline "Lloyd Aereo Boliviano," a German airline then operating in Bolivia and taking the air mial from Lima on to 'La Paz. The first direct flight by PANAGRA from Guayaquil to La Paz was effected on May 28th, 1935 via Tacna in Peru, using the Ford Trimotors 5-AT-C of PANAGRA. In 1934 the political situation arising from the change of policy due to the depression years in the United States, made it necessary for President Roosevelt in February to cancel the mail contracts of the domestic airlines, causing most of them to stop operations for several months. In the meantime Pan American Grace Airways Inc, was operating at great loss of revenue. In May the United States Government offered new contracts on competitive bidding, for the most part at very much lower rates than previously. In the period of February to May, 1934 the Army Air Corps operated an skeleton air mail service in the United States, but in Latin America the contracts of Pan American were not canceled summarily. The general idea at the time was that if the U. S. Navy Air Corps would have been able to operate the full Pan American service they might have been canceled also. The foreign policy of President Roosevelt with respect to Latin America saved the day for Pan American Grace Airways and Pan American Airways, because of the "GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY". The Department of State would not allow anything to interfere with this excellent change in policy to Latin America, as it anticipated diplomatic repercussions which could accompany the U. S. Navy operating air in Latin American countries. The political outlook of a 1better understanding between the United States of America and the countries of Latin America would have been 1bad if Panagra and Pan American would have suspended operations. German and Italian airlines were doing their best to take over all the air mail operations in case such a suspension would occur. The best policy was to consider the struggle for airways in Latin America. Pan American thus was given the opportunity for a public hearing on January 3, 1935, to determine whether its contracts should rbe continued or definitely canceled. However, Pan American let this opportunity go by and as a consequence the Post Office Department of the United States in a letter dated January 11th, 1935 reported on the results of the investigations in the particular case of Pan American, concluded that all the contracts might be canceled just "Because they were awarded as a result of negotiation and not by competitive bidding as provided by law". It continued: "It is not believed, however that the cancellation of these contracts would be in the public interest, as such action would

THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 39 probably disrupt American air service to the Latin American countries and might result in great harm to our trade relations with these countries..•.. There is no other air company in the United States that can immediately render comparable service in these countries". . . . • . . • (The investigation of air mail and ocean mail contracts and the letter from the Postmaster General to the Chairman of the special committee to investigate air mail and ocean mail contracts was published by the U. S. Senate Committee Reparts, 7 4th Congress, First Session.) The report continued that; "Our country should have an efficient and success­ ful American air transport system to the Latin American field to compete favorably with companies of England, Germany, France and other countries". It came to the conclusion that the mail payments under existing contracts were "consider­ ably in excess of what should be paid''. · A recommendation was made to make a 25 % reduction in rates; yet happily for the cause of Democracy and for the future triumph against Axis countries in World War II on the Latin American front, such a reduction was never made. · Arrangements had to be made by Pan American Grace Airways so that the mail revenues were reduced by more than 10%, but they did not get a cancellation of contracts, which in that critical period would have brought a serious loss of revenue and a probable collapse of the Latin American operations. The amphibians were expensive to operate, although by 1936 small profits were realized by restricting operations and eliminating certain routes. However, they did not return to a profitable operation until 1939. The situation was very difficult for Pan American Grace Airways because of the competition of trunk lines under sponsorship of £~reign governments. A very significant number of local air transport companies, as well as the Latin American governments were eager to operate and profit from their own airlines. In Ecuador the Military Air Force started operations to establish a military air mail system and a probable passenger airline. At the time no private concern was interested in the costly operation and the Army of Ecuador was the only source of trained personnel. The beginning of a growing nationalism fostered the creation of such military airlines. It served the dual purpose of providing air trans­ portation of mails and future operations with passengers, in a country without roads at the time, as well as giving the military pilots additional flying experience. It is necessary to give the background pertaining to the operational situations and difficulties of Pan American Grace Airways, in order to explain why we find in the period 1929-1932 so many first flights of this airline in Ecuador. From 1933 to 1938 we find that PANAGRA did not start any new routes, nor did it enter into local competition with the domestic airlines of Ecuador. In 1937 the Condor Syndicate of Brazil, subsidiary of the German Lufthansa, started looking for a concession in Ecuador, to establish a sister air line, under German patronage and management. They sought total domination of the airports located in the vicinity of the Panama Canal Zone, which could be used in future bombing operations in case the hostili­ ties would be initiated between the Axis countries and the United States. Pan American Grace Airways was a factor towards the defeat of the Axis in the struggle for the airlines in Ecuador. The efficiency of the American personnel, the safety of its operations, the rapid transportation of its modern aircraft and the in­ troduction of the Douglas DC-3 in 1937 gave PANAGRA a great edge towards the defeat of the German competition. With the installation of new equipment, schedule frequencies were stepped up. In July, 1937, PANAGRA transferred its trunk ser- 40 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 vice in Northwestern South America from the coastal route of Balboa - Buena­ ventura - Tumaco - Manta - Guayaquil to the more direct Balboa - Cali (Colombia) route. In November, 1938 first flights took place within Ecuador between Guayaquil and Quito and vice versa. The first air mail from Quito to the outside world was carried on November 18th, 1938. A special shield-like cachet was used to postmark the stamps with the inscription in 7 lines in black ink: "CORREO - AEREO - PANAORA - PRIMER VUELO - INTERNACIONAL - QUITO - MIAMJ - NOV. 19 - 1938." The first air mail taken to the south of the South American Contin­ ent left Quito on November 20th, 193S and the same type of cancellation was used with a shield-like cachet in six lines in black ink: "CORREO AEREO - PANAGRA - PRIMEH VUELO - INTERNACIONAL - QUITO-MONTEVIDEO - NOV. 20 DE 1938. A contract was made with the Government of Ecuador to start a new subsidiary airline of PANAGRA to fly the domestic routes of Ecuador, with the name "Aerovias del Ecuador PANAGRA" with Douglas DC-2 airplanes, under American pilots, and with mixed personnel of American and Ecuadorian crews. In July, 1938 new legislation changed the relationship of the United States Government to foreign air transportation. The new law, the "Civil Aeronautics Act," that later converted the original "Civil Aeronautics Authority" into what is now known as "Civil Aeronautics Board," changed the economic situation of P ANAGRA and Pan American, because it established a comprehensive and economic regulation for American airlines. The American government's policy became broad and constructive because PANAGRA received a certificate of convenience and necessity on their routes in August, 1940. They continued to operate under the mail rates set by their original contracts with the United States Post Office Department. The new policy protected the inroads of foreign-owned airlines into the United States and until after World War II, the United States Government gave a full protection of landing rights in American territory only to P ANAGRA and . The start of World War II limited the operations of the European airlines in Latin America. The American government by diplomatic maneuvering, with the full cooperation of the Latin American governments, brought about the elimination of Axis countries' air transportation. In Ecuador, the German-owned company SEDTA ( Sociedad Ecuatoriana

The American Air Mail Society has in• production a reprinting of the popular and long unavailable Editions of Volume I and II of the American Air Mail Catalogue. Volume I was first published in 1947 and its companion Volume II in 1950. They have long been out of print and collectors have been paying substantial premium prices for them whenever copies could be located. A pair of the coveted books recently sold in a New York Auction for $45.00. The reprinted books are being reproduced by photolithography. Each volume contains over 400 pages, bound in blue fabrikoid with silver stamping. The reprint­ ing is being undertaken to give the many new collectors who have been attracted to the hobby since 1950 the benefit of the exhaustive and valuable historical data included in the books, even though the originally established prices are in many cases now obsolete. Some should be raised - some lowered, but they can be used as an indication of value range for any given item. The committee in charge of publication also points out that advertisements included in the two books are also obsolete. The Society recognizes that it would have been preferable to completely revise the books. However, such a revision would have put the cost of the books beyond the reach of the avemge collector, and could not have been accomplished for several years. Volume I, first published in 1947, includes U.S. Air Mail Stamps, specialized, edited among others by the late Max G. Johl, the recognized authority in the field, U.S. Pioneer Flights, U.S. Governmental Flights, U.S. "Contract" Air Mail Flights thru 1946, Airpost Dedication Covers thru 1946, Interrupted Flight Covers, famil­ iarly known as "Crash" Covers, also thru 1946, Historical Flight covers up to time of going to press and other Sections. Volume II, first published in 1950 includes Foreign Air Mail Flights under U.S. jurisdiction, Zeppelins Trans-Ocean Flights, Canada and Foreign Pioneer Flights of the World. Also a complete "dated" Index of both Volume I and II. So that these two Volumes may be quickly placed in the hands of the greatest number of collectors, the Society which, of course, is a nonprofit organization, has placed a price on them which barely covers the cost of reproduction of this strictly limited edition. Those desiring these books-either one or both may be purchased-are asked to send their money now at the rate of $6.25 for each volume desired. This is an all inclusive price, delivered, except that those who reside outside the United States are asked to send $6.50 per volume to cover postage and handling charges to George D. Kingdom, P.O. Box 37, Conneaut, Ohio. A third volume, published in 1959 supplements Volume I and II and brings them up to date insofar as the Sections on U.S. Airpost Stamps, Pioneer Flights, Govern- - mental Flights, C.A.M.'s, F.A.M.'s Dedication and Crash Covers are concerned. Copies of Volume III are still available also at $6.25 post free in the U.S.A., $6.50 to foreign destinations. All three Volumes are necessary to the serious collector. Those ordering Volume III will also receive the four pamphlet Supplements to it which have been issued since 1959. Collectors who already have Volume I and II will not need to order these re-prints, unless they have use for an extra set as a check list media for their collection. They will be exactly the same as the original printings. This project is under the direction of the Publications Committee of the Society. L. B. Gatchell and Geo. D. Kingdom, both Past~Presidents are co-chairmen of the

42 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 committee. Gatchell is also editor in chief of the catalogue and Kingdom is business manager. Other members of the committee are Joseph L. Eisendrath, Editor of the Airpost Journal and Vice-President, John J. Smith, Treasurer, Grace Conrath, Past­ President, and Dr. Perham C. Nahl. More than 40 experts in all air mail fields collaborated in the editing of the Catalogue. Delivery is anticipated in time for the Christmas season. OFFICIAL SECTION AMERICAN AIR MAIL SOCIETY

MONTHLY REPORT From the Secretary Ruth T. Smith, 102 Arbor Road, Riverton, New Jersey November, 1962 NEW MEMBERS 4943 Bolle, William, 34 Grove St., Brooklyn 21, New York 4944 Malcolm, D.McK., (Dr.), 63 Bath Rd., Glenwood, Durban, South Africa 4945 Tours, Elliott c., (Major). 1015 Camellia Dr., Alameda, Calif. 4946 Toro, Arturo, Jr., 5a Avenida 11-70 Z.l, Guatemala City, Guatemala 4947 Kriska, Jerome S., 900 West End Ave., New York 25, N.Y. NEW APPLICATIONS Hite, Nola E., (SP. 5), (Mr.), 219 W. Michigan St., Evansville, Ind. Age: 39 U.S. Army AM AU FD By: R.T. Smith Greer, Hazel C., (Mrs.), 600 N. 23rd St., Waco, Texas Age: 59, Housewife By: G.D. Kingdom Ibsen, Henry G., 4143 Park Ave., Bronx 57, N.Y. Age: 39 By R.T. Smith Kerst, Herman, 310 Woodbridge Rd., Des Plaines, Ill. Age 54 By R.T. Smith Bechberger, Karl, PO Box 276, Donnelsville, Ohio Age: 31, Teacher Z lD PIX By: E.W. Headley Reggel, Emmanuel M., 690 Fort Washington Ave., New York 40, N.Y. Age: Legal Broker By: Johnson/Lee Haring Glassey, William H., M.D. 26, Lacey Field, Newburgh, N.Y. Age: 53 Serv. Stat. Owner AM AU U20 UC CF lD By: G.D. Kingdom Sass, Charles H. Jr., 1821 Colden Ave., New York, N.Y. Age: 24, Tab Operator AU SC PB APS X By: H. Sandholm Rosenblat, Daniel G., 660 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, Calif. Age 41, Broker AS CF - Canadian Pioneer & Semi Official airs By: J.J. Matejka RE-INSTATEMENTS 4439 Larson, Arnold V., Route #1. Twisp, Washington RESIGNATIONS 3850 Hornberger, Henry, Baltimore, Maryland CHANGE OF ADDRESS 4649 Carah, John M .. (Maj.), 1464 CAPEHART, APO 334, San Francisco, Cal. 4783 Newirth, Otto F., PO Box 640, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 4767 Saavedra M., Alfredo, Training & Visitors Section, Bur. of Reclamation, Rm. 52D, Bldg., 53, Denver Federal Center, Denver 25, Colorado 4678 Weiss, Lane E., (Capt.), 3654 Michael, Lincoln AFB., Nebr. 4792 Collins, George B., Jr., 1115 Buckly Place, Liverpool, N.Y. 3343 Bugg, Paul, 3724 Old York Road, Baltimore 18, Md. 4135 Krauss, Alfred N., 425 E. 69th St., New York 21, N.Y. 420 Wight, Royce A., 185 S.E. 14th Terr., Miami 32, Fla. 4771 Ledoux, Roger A., (T/Sgt.), 42nd Bomb.Wg., Loring AFB., Maine 4779 Durant, F.C. HI, 109 Grafton St., Chevy Chase 15, Md.

Transoceanic Airplane Mail Flown - Attempted Intended Flights Bought · Sold · Exchanged KRINSKY 250 E. 96th St. Brooklyn 12, N.Y.

THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 43 LONG ON SERVICE At Your Service Delp at Auction

Regardless of whether you are buying or Each month you may acquire fine phila·

selling, you will likely find The Depart­ telic properties in our Mail Auction Sales. ment Store of Philately able and willing The current sale includes numerous air- to help you. mail stamps as well as covers which may

Your inquiries coupled with your A.A.M.S. he of interest to you. membership number will he welcomed. A large and varied stock of stamps, seals If you receive catalogs regularly, he sure and covers will he found as close to you as to scan the offers and mail your hid sheet your mailbox. A complete line of albums, today! If you do not have the current catalogs and supplements is maintained in catalog, ask for your Free Auction Catalog the Elbe, Scott, Minkus and White Ace and look it over! line. You may send your orders for prompt attention: all orders of $2.00 or more sent Postfree anywhere in The U.S.A. All bidding is done by mail and you have Interesting covers are always available on equal opportunity to obtain these stamps, approval. As you know, you can't buy covers and collections! covers from a price list! You'll find un­ u>'ual and even unique covers in Long's We have held more than 350 monthly stock, available to you on approval on sales over the past thirty years. Let me request. Write today! know how I can he of help to YOU!

Life Member: 2 2 NORTH 2:NID> STo' AAMS IEILMIER Ro IL({))~

44 TSE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 45 Philatelic and Aeronautic By Art Schmidl:-615 E·asi Front St,, Plainfield, New Jersey It was my privilege and extreme good • field is located 27 miles west of Wash- fortune to be a guest of Trans World ington at Chantilly, Va. Cachets will Airlines at the pre-dedication open house undoubtedly be provided by the govern­ of their fabulous new Flight Center at ment. Dedication collectors, please note New York Idlewild Airport. The TWA that only Washington and Chantilly Flight Center designed by famous arch- covers will be listable. itect Eero Saarinen is not only the most beautiful in New York or anywhere else Winona, Minn. honored their home in the USA but has ·been acclaimed by town boy, Max Conrad, by re-dedicating those who know as tops in the whole the municipal airport as Max Conrad Field. To obtain this famous flier's world. This magnificent structure, bold autograph on your dedication cover (AH- and dramatic and full of luxurious com­ 79) try reaching him in care of Piper fort offers every functional innovation Aircraft, Lock Haven, Pa. Of course to pamper the air traveler. The grace and you'll include a stamped addressed re­ beauty of flight are captured in the turn envelope. sweep and flow of the design which sug­ gests a great bird in flight, symbolic of A flight to end all dirigible flights out the limitless potential of space transpor­ of Lakehurst N. J. was commemorated tation. Space simply will not permit a with a cachet about a year ago after the detailed description or review of the U. S. Navy made its decision to close out many interesting statistics. One must all blimp activity at this famous old see it to believe it! Also worth visiting Naval Air Station. Now the New York are the four restaurants serving passen­ Times reports that Vice Adm. Charles E. gers and visitors which represent the Rosendahl, Ret., on August 31 was a• four major world capitals of TWA's board the last Navy Blimp to take off international routes - The Lisbon Loun­ from Lakehurst. The former commander ge, the London Club, the Paris Cafe and of that base, in a scrappy mood, took an Italian snack bar. The many guests in advantage of the occasion to blast "the attendance also had the pleasure of in­ Navy's deliberate extermination of air­ specting this airline's newest jet liner, ships." Will there now be another last­ the Star Stream. flight cover out of Lakehurst, and how Topping off the royal entertainment authenic is the first? during the open house was the gay fes­ tivity around the massive buffet. For We are looking for an alert airport lunch and dinner the traditional dishes dedication collector located in the Los of many' lands were there - roast beef Angeles area, and in British Columbia from England, potato salad from Ger­ who will keep tabs on the development many, quiche lorraine from France, cur­ of new airports and heliports. If inter­ ries from India and Ceylon, baked las­ ested, please write us at the above ad­ dress. agne· from Italy, not to mention exotic delicacies from the Philippines, Tunisia, We spent several days of our vacation Thailand and Iraq. Truly an occasion mounting a back log of first flight, ship­ never to be forgotten! Don't miss a visit to-shore, jet, and other covers, some of to TWA's Flight Center. Better still, which were acquired at the convention plan your arrival there on your next in Miami Beach. Arranged on special flight to or through New York. pages and with transparent overlays, Dulles International, the first complete interspersed with air labels and some of airport designed specifically for jet travel, the airlines' full color artwork they make will be dedicated on November 17 & 18. an unusually attractive appearance. Now Owned and operated by the FAA, the they're ready for showing to friends! 46 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 What Shall I Collect Now? By Harry A. Gordon Tempus does fugit. Many of us recall • thing connected with the seven astro- the early days of aviation, famous pilots nauts. and inventors, as well as early first In business it is an old adage that flights between two cities that one can "the customer is always right." If this cover in a modern jet in five minutes is what he wants, there will he collectors today. and dealers who will supply the material on every phase of space covers now. It The airmail cover collector has gone does seem ridiculous that pre-war flown through many phases, as well as classes rocket covers are not in demand any of airmail covers. We've collected when more, nor any type of jet cover. That the postmark of the flying day was im­ latter field appears to be so "dead," portant. We've been interested in airport now that it se ms as if every airline has (often unflown) dedication covers, made every connection between cities CAMs, F AMs, airship covers, Zeppelins, and countries with their jets. There has dirigibles covers, across one ocean and been a lack of new first flight jet covers then another, speed flights, air races, and all summer long. This has been true of finally rockets and jet aircraft around the foreign first flights as well as do­ the world. mestic. Looking about and talking to collect- The space covers are unflown. But so ors at our clubs and at stamp shows we are the airport dedication covers which find that the modern and current trend are listed in the AAMS catalogues. With­ is solely for anything in the field of .out the unflown souvenir space covers, what is now called "space covers." This, there would be only newspaper clippings of course, is always unflown mail. After and photos to record the events. Does all, we do not as yet have any airmail it not still give you a thrill to see a service to the moon or any of the other signed Col. Glenn cover postmarked the planets. By the early 1970s no doubt this day he made his flight? How about a will have changed. But as of now, in photo of the TELSTAR marvel that view of the many historic flights, espec- gave you immediate TV live shows from ially by Project Mercury, soon to be Europe the same evening it went into followed by Project Gemini, we find that orbit? Such marvels were once only the collector wants space covers of the known to the science fiction fan; now big events such as Telstar, Tiros, Echo the news is front page and the collector 1, Saturn giant rocket firings, and every- does want a souvenir cover. Thanks to

,,...,, . ··:,,.,,, :J/llllT ,'''''~'ff:~":61//T':~ ~·· ~ . ~ - PROJECT MERCURY -

-CMDR. WALTER M. SCHIRRA, JR. 3rd AMERICAN !N ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH - IN MA-8 ~·sfGMA-7" ~ . ~;;·;~ ~.:, .... ~. ~ . THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 47 competition this is usually around the Thanks To ... dollar marks; so it does not compare to the prices asked for such items as the The Philatelic Agency of the Roy­ flown first missile mail from the submar­ aume du Burundi for a first day use of ine Barbero. With these prices, and the their first set of stamps; Robert W. colorful cachets of all sorts made up for Murch, cover on the Louisiana "Codfish the many, almost daily space shots, it is Airline," to Jesse Johnson for an air no wonder that the modern collector has stationery cover; to Roy Votow for A. A found an interesting new field for his Stagg lOOth birthday cover; (how did he desires and albums. Who can say that know we were on Stagg's team at the these will not merit great awards in University of Chicago?); UAR philatelic future airmail shows? At least it is a agency, first use of Independence of New Frontier for cover collectors. When Algeria stamps; p~ilatelic agency of shall we get flown space mail? That is Guinee for f.d.c. wild animal set; and up to NASA and the US Post Office. We alphabetization set; R i c h a r d Singley hope such space covers will not ·be too for t h r e e crash covers; E r n e s to long in the future, but it will come, Quiros A. for Costa Rica first day cover; sooner than many of us may think. Werner Kuemmelberg for several Lu­ Editor's note - When you differentiate posta covers from Berlin; Ernest Kehr between flight and history, it seems to and the FISA organization for covers us that we could just as well make a from the Prague exhibition; Captain scrap book of newspaper clippings rep­ Milton Stern for first day of South Africa resenting the event. Settlers Monument stamp; Egyptian Why a cover, if no mail is involved? philatelic agency, covers on Egyptian As the author states, when mail is car­ Table Tennis Championship Matches & ried, our collections will be implemented. 30th world shooting contest; Linn's Cl Weekly Stamp News F.D.C. Dag Ham­ BOOK REVIEW- marshjold. The Black Honduras, The World's Rarest -By Irving I. Green. Published by the Collectors Club, 22 E. 35th St., New York 16, N.Y. 1962 pp 32, available from the AIR POST NEW ISSUES publishers at $1.00. This 13th in the series of Collectors Club Handbooks will give any careful reader an enjoyable half hour. The OF THE ENTIRE story of this unusual rarity has been told and retold many times, but never such thoroughness and orderly presentation WORLD as shown by Mr. Green. The history of all individuals connected with the pro- duction, use and authentication of this stamp is interestingly set forth and the PAMPHLET UPON REQUEST continual reference to various letters and documents makes the tale unfold like a crackerjack detective story. The use of illustrations and photographs adds much to an engaging dissertation. To detail what's in the handbook, we Nicolas Sanabria Co. Inc. feel, would destroy the pleasure of reading it: so we'll just say that the A. MEDAWAR, PRESIDENT modest cost and few minutes needed to read it are well worth while. We recom­ 521 Fiftb Ave., New York 17, N. Y. mend it highly for anyone's philatelic library, especially an aerophilatelic one. 48 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 Helicopter Flights at Praga '62 clerks obligingly affixed a violet cachet, then placed them in a light-weight sack. One of the most unusual features of Praga-1962 International Philatelic Ex­ The service was one of the more hibition, was the daily scheduled flight popular and usually drew a huge crowd of a Czechoslovakian helicopter which of several thousand visitors when it carried mail from the exhibition to the landed. On opening day, to make a postoffice a few miles away. dramatic picture, a stage coach which used to carry the mails under the Aus­ Each morning, visitors prepared their trian Empire more than a century ago, cards and envelopes at tables furnished and drawn by four horses with coach­ for the purpose, in the lobby of the men in original nineteenth century main exhibition hall in the "Cultural postal uniforms, carried the sacks from Park" of Prague. To have a cover carried the pavilion to the helicopter. in this manner, it was necessary to pur­ -Ernest A. Kehr chase a special poster stamp, printed in red and black, and depicting a helicop­ ° Flights were cancelled on a few ter, for 50 haleru (about 7 cents) and days because of gusty winds. affix it to the cover in addition to the • normal franking required. The Entire Truth Promptly at 4 p.m. each day°' the whirlybird whopped in from the west, Lava, Box 1, Ft. George Sta. New hovered a moment and then landed in York 40, N.Y. has issued the latest "Air a precise circle painted on the cement Mail Entire Truth." This is free to walk. Sacks containing the covers mailed readers who send an 8 cent stamped and since morning, were loaded aboard and addressed envelope. The current issue off it went, whirring into the skies. of this air stationery bulletin features Covers, with this adhesive affixed, Liberia, Portugual and Russian aero- were taken to a separate desk where grammes. THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER. 1962 49 C. A. M. COVER NOTES By William R. Ware, P. O. Box 595, Malden, Mo.

CHRONICLE - • em Airlines in the Southern Transcon­ Continuing with our record of the tinental Service Case in order to provide flights as a result of the awards in the direct service from Florida points to Dal­ Southern Transcontinental Service Case, las and Ft. Worth where connections we will use our allotted space this month were made with other carriers to the towards completion of our chronicle of west coast. The service involves direct flights involved with this important route over water flights between Tampa and expansion of the various Carriers involv­ New Orleans. ed. The inaugural flight from Tampa was AM ROUTE #4 - NEW SEGMENT made by Capt. R. C. Young on June 11, HOUSTON, TEXAS TO LOS ANGE­ 1961, as Flight #202. Only a small num­ LES, CALIF., VIA SA!N ANTONIO, ber of covers thought to consist of 50 to TEXAS. A new segment was awarded to 60 pcs were postmarked at Tampa at 7 American Airlines which provided ser­ AM, June 11th, and backstamped at New vice from Houston via San Antonio, El Orleans at 4 PM, same date. Continuing Paso, Phoenix and San Diego to Los An­ on to Ft. Worth this flight handled 1060 geles. The purpose of this routing was pcs of mail from New Orleans, 1249 pcs to provide direct service by American from New Orleans AMF, 347 pcs from from Houston ano San Antonio to Los Dallas and 360 pcs from Dallas AMF. Angeles. With this in mind, the De­ Postmark times were 8:30 AM at New partment recognized service to the latter Orleans, 8 AM at New Orleans AMF and three cities with official cachets. 1 PM at Dallas and Dallas AMF. This The inaugural Westbound flight was mail was backstamped at Ft. Worth AMF made by Capt. Stanley M. Fleener, at 3 PM, same date. Flight #661 out of Houston on June 11, The inaugural Eastbound flight was 1961. He carried 1223 pcs of philatelic made by Capt. A. H. Comer flying Flight mail from Houston, 1303 pcs from Hous­ #205. 1100 pcs of mail came from Fort ton AMF and 1027 pcs from San Antonio Worth postmarked at 3 FM, 905 pcs which was postmarked 10:30 AM, 12 from Ft. Worth AMF at 3 PM, 780 pcs Midday and 1 PM, June 11, 1961 and from Dallas at 4 PM and 891 pcs from was subsequently backstamped at Los Dallas AMF postmarked at 4:30 PM. At Angeles AMF at 8:30 PM, same date. New Orleans 57 pcs were boarded from The inaugural Eastbound flight was New Orleans postmarked at 5 PM and 60 made via Flight #662 by Capt. J. C. pcs from New Orleans AMF which were Chittick. He carried 1164 pcs of phil­ postmarked at 6 PM. Mail from Ft. atelic mail from , 1097 pcs Worth and Dallas was backstamped at from Los Angeles AiMF and 500 pcs New Orleans AMF at 6:30 PM, same from San Antonio. Postmarks of 7 AM at date with that from New Orleans and Los Angeles, 7:30 AM at Los Angeles New Orleans AMF at Tampa at 10:30 AMF and 1 PM at San Antonio were PM. used. This mail was backstamped at Official cachets of the map-type were Houston AMF at 6 PM, same day on applied in green at New Orleans, black June 11th. at New Orleans AMF, blue at Dallas, Official map-type cachets were used at magenta at Dallas AMF, green at Ft. all points, purple at Houston, green at Worth and black at Ft. Worth AMF. Of­ Houston AMF, black at San Antonio, pur­ ficial cachets were not provided at Tam­ ple at Los Angeles and green at Los An­ pa or applied to mail flown on the in­ geles AMF. augural Eastbound flight from New Or­ AM ROUTE #10 - EXTENSION leans and New Orleans AMF to Tampa. TAMPA, FLA. VIA NEW ORLEANS Although the official cachets used carry AND DALLAS TO FT. WORTH, TEX­ the designation "AM 5'', service involved AS. This service was awarded to East- was actually Route #10 service. 50 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 AM ROUTE #39 - EXTENSION flight did not stop at San Diego, the ini­ HOUSTON, TEXAS TO LOS ANGE­ tial Eastbound dispatch from this point LES AND SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. was made via Flight #266 on June 12, In the Southern Transcontinental Service which was flown by Capt. H. B. Mc­ Case, National Airlines was av;arded two Donald. This dispatch consisted of 1496 segments to the West Coast. One oper­ pcs postmarked at San Diego at 1 AM, ated from Houston to San Francisco via June 12, 1961, receiving a Houston AMF Las Vegas while the other was from backstamp of 7 AM, same date complet­ Houston to Los Angeles via San Diego. ing this service. This service was inaugurated on June 11, Official cachets were used at all 1961 except for the Eastbound flight points: purple at Houston, green at from San Diego which was made the Houston AMF, black at San Francisco, next day. green at San Francisco A

Annua·I Report of our Sales Manager Her.man Kleinert This report covers the period May '1, 1961 to. April 30, 1962. Sales have again increased as a total, over the previous years. Covers have reached a new high in sales but stamps have dropped again. Covers when reasonably priced will sell. I feel that if Stamp material had been available, better sales very definitely could have been made. This situation is clearing up and good material is being made available. During the past year circuit requests were received from only 27 members. There are 81 active participating members using the Sales Department. A total of 561 circuits was mailed out this year. Material new in the Department and promised for the near future indicates a very good sales year ahead. Airmail stamps BREAKDOWN OF SALES Sales for the year ...... $1597.52 Payments made on a/c to Various Owners ...... $ 738.96 Fire Insurance ...... 10.50 Insurance Account ...... 34.83 Commission ...... 200.47 ------TOTAL $ 984.76 $ 984.76 Balance on ihand to be distributed ...... $ 612.76 Sales Book Account Balance on hand 5/1161 ...... $2479.27 Received 105 Books, Net Value ...... 3389.99 TOTAL $5869.26 $5869.26 Less Books Returned ...... $1061.89 Less Sales from Books ...... 1597 .52 TOTAL $2659.41 $2659.41 NET BALANCE $3209.85 Covers Sales for the year ...... $·3036.20 Payments made on a/.c to Various Owners ...... $11989.94 Fire Insurance ...... :18.00 Insurance Fund ...... 38.28 Commission ...... 633.56 ------TOTAL $2679.78 $2679 .. 78 Balance on hand to be distributed ...... $ 356.42 Cover Pack Account Balance on Hand 5/1/61 ...... $3680.12 Received 180 Packs, net value ...... 3767.88 TOTAL $7448.00 $·7448.00 Less Packs Returned ...... $1678.50 Less Sales From Packs ...... 3036.20 TOTAL $4714.70 $4714.70 NET BALANCE $2733.30 52 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 South African Airmails A Chronological Listing, Indicating The History and Development of the Airmails of South Africa and South West Africa (continued) By Capt. M. F. Stern, A.R.I.B.A., F.R.G.S. (Coypright reserved) .

November 3 to IL 1932 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer• Films flight: Hongkong- J ohannesburg: On November 3 the American Lockheed Orion cabin monoplane 'The Spirit of Fun', piloted by Capt. J. Dickson, with A. M. Loew, vice-president of M.G.M. Films, and J. Rosthal, a New York attorney as passengers left Hongkong and completed a memorable trip in eight days arriving at Germiston on November 11. This was a ·business trip. The route was Hongkong-Hanoi-Calcutta-Bombay-Kara­ chi-Baghdad-Assouan-Khartoum-Dodoma-Salisbury-Germiston. The speed can be appreciated when it is realized that South Africa was reached in just over three days after leaving the Indian border and within four days from Bombay. This machine earlier in the year had created a record of just over 141h hours from New York to Los Angeles. It then put up a record from Austrialia to Hongkong in flying Sydney to Hongkong in four days, the record being the trans-Australian flight in about 7 hours. Two letters are known to have been carried from China to South Africa. The one in the possession of the author is autographed by Loew.

November I December 1932: .. Mrs. Amy Mollison's Record Flighfs: Flying the same D. H. Puss Moth renamed 'Desert Cloud' used ·by her husband on his record flight to the Cape, Mrs. Mollison left Lympne on November 14, and flying via the West Coast, reached Cape Town in 4 days 6 hrs. 54 mins. The return flight commenced on December 11, hut delayed by bad weather, Mrs. Mollison did the journey in 7 days 7 hrs. 5 mins., which beat the record for the

THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 53 northbound trip set in 1930 by the Duchess of Bedford. A 'few covers were carried by the aviatrix as personal souvenirs. November 13. 1932: .. Victor Smith's attempted flight Cape-London: On November 13, Victor Smith, South Africa's youngest pilot, left Cape Town in a Gipsy Moth. After splendid progress he had to make a forced landing near Dori, between Niamey and Timbuctoo. Croyden was reached on November 24. January 2, 1933: Opening of Rand-Durban Service by Union Airways: Union Airways established a tri-weekly air mail service between the Rand (Johannesburg) and Durban. The mail· from Durban ( 416 articles to Joburg and 21 to Germiston) was flown by G. W. Bellin. From the Rand to Durban, there were 352 articles from Joburg and 71 ifrom Germiston also flown by Bellin. Mails from other points were also included: from Cape Town, Victoria West> Upington and Kimberley, (carried to J ohanneSiburg iby Imperial Airways). These items however were only on the second flight, Johannesburg to Durban, being b is Durban 5. Jan. January 2, 1933: 'City of Jodhpur' accident: Rand airport: A fire developed in the engine a few minutes before leaving for Cape Town. The flames were extinguished and mails and passengers transferred to the Imperial Airways 'City of Cape Town'. January 25, 1933: The "Helena's'• visit :to Sou:th Africa: This was the Imperial Airways Hannibal class - a 42 seater - carrying Sir Eric Geddes and Mr. Woods Humphrey, Chairman of Imperial Airways. No mails were carried on the outward flight but on the return flight on January 25, it carried mails as far as Cairo. February 6, 1933: R. A. F. Record non-s:top flight Cranwell :to Walvis Bay: This was carried out by Squadron-Leader 0. R. Gayford, D.F.C., A.F.C., and Flight-Lieut. G. E. Nicholetts, A.F.C., in a Fairey (Napier) Long Range monoplane, This beat the previous non-stop record of Boardman and Polando in July, 1931 from New York to Constantinople. But for head winds, Cape Town would have been reached. 5411 actual miles were covered in 57 hours 25 minutes and some 20 covers were carried on this memorable flight. February 8, 1933: Alexandria-Cairo rail section was replaced 'by air transit in iboth directions. The Imperial Airways service which left Cape Town on February 8, first benefited. The first connecting flight was that from Croydon on February 15.

54 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 March 8, 1933: Vicfor Smith's R'e'cord Flight: England-South Africa: In London, Victor Smith purchased the Comper Swift machine in which C. Butler had established his record flight from England to Australia in 9 days. This machine was the smallest type of light aeroplane in the world. Victor Smith left Lympne on March 9, and reached Walvis Bay on the 12th; with the record well within his grasp, he left there the same evening. Owing to heavy headwinds and shortage of gasoline, he had to land at Van Rhysdorp, about 130 miles from Cape Town and was only able to finish the journey the next day. This was not recognized officially as a record flight but definitely was the fastest flight to date. Six letters were carried for friends.

March 1933: Atlanta class planes were placed in service by Imperial Airways and operated over the Cairo-Cape route. April 26, 1933: London-Cape Town 'Service •accelerated one day: Effective with services which left Croydon and Cape Town on Wednesdays, April 26 and May 3, 1933, respectively, the time taken between Croydon to Cape Town was reduced from 11 to 10 days. This was effected by doing the 1,181 miles stage from Cairo to Khartoum in one day instead of two, and in the northward dir­ ection by cutting out the train section •between Cairo and Alexandria and the night stop at Athens. May 1933: Port Elizabeth · Johannesburg Service discontinued: With the Imperial Airways' direct service between Cape Town and Johannes­ burg, and the Rand-Dwban service, the usefulness of the Port Elizabeth-Bloemfon­ tein-Johannesburg service as a feeder of the Cape-Durban service was considerably lessened and from the end of May, 1933, was discontinued. May 26, 1933: First Flight Poona-Cape Town: Effective May 26th, the airmail service between Karachi and Madras was operated via Poona instead of via Bombay. Covers are backstamped, Cape Town 17. Jun. 33 1.30 p.m. June 12, 1933: World Monetary & Economic Conference: An interesting cover is in the possession of the writer posted from the Con-

THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 55 ference June 12, and bis Capetown 25 Jun 33. 4 p.m., autographed by General J.C. Smuts. June 22, 1933: Cape Town to Calcuf:ta by extension of Imperial Airways Service to Calcu:t:ta: This mail connected with that which left London on July I. The mails re­ ceived the special cachet and bis Calcutta Dely. 9 Jul. 1933 10.30 and Calcutta 9 Jul 33 9 a.m. The return mail left Calcutta July 11, 1933, arriving Cape Town July 22. July 1, 1933: Daily service between Durban and Rand: September 18, 1933: Cape Town :to Rangoon by extension of Imperial Air­ ways Service: This mail connected with the service which left London on September 23, arriving Rangoon October I. Mail left Rangoon October 2, and letters to Cape Town were bis 14 Oct. 33 7.30 p.m. September 26, 1933: Accelerated Service to India from Sou:th Africa: Cairo was reached a day earlier, thus affording immediate connection with the Indian Service. November l, 1933: Firs:t acceptance lOd. rate South Africa :to England and 3d. airmail rate in South Africa. December 9, 1933: ,Extension of :Imperial Airways London :to : Mails arrived on December 17. Connecting mails were despatched from Cape Town on December 6, Windhoek, November 28. The return mail left Sing­ apore on December 31, arriving Cape Town January 13, 1934. December 14, 1933: The Eshowe Air Disaster, Sou:th Africa: This was the second airmail disaster in South Africa. The six-seater Junkers flying from Durban to the Rand crashed in a cane field on a hillside seven miles from Eshowe and was completely wrecked, the pilot, wireless operator, and three of the four passengers being killed. Capt. F. H. Hiscock, the pilot, was one of those who had taken part in the Experimental Service. The mails were recovered intact and sent on to Johannesburg by rail. December 27, 1933: Batavia to Amsterdam: Pelikan Fligh:t: K.L.M. flight. Mails included letters for Cape Town. Mails arrived in Holland December 31. Mails to Cape Town were carried from Cairo by fmperial Airways, and bear special stamp and cancellation. January 5, 1534: Firs:t Flight from Bandon (Thailand): Mails were carried on the flight addressed to South Africa and went via Singapore and Cairo. Covers were bis Bangkok Jan. 5 and Kimberley Feb. 7. 34. January 20, 1934: S.W.A. Airways: Windhoek :to Gobabis: Flood Air Mail: During the early part of 1934, torrential rains in South West Africa caused numerous washouts on the railroad system. All surface transport ceased. To allevi­ ate the congestion of mails, a special arrangement was made with Gordon Store of Aero Services ( Pty,) Ltd., Cape Town, to carry mails. The first flight was made from Windhoek to Gobaibis on January 20. Only a few covers actually were franked specially to distinguish this mail. This was iby a rubber stamp cancellation 'Per Aero Services (Pty,) Ltd'. These covers were carried Keetmanshoop to Windhoek on February E, and bis Windhoek 8.2.34. Only prepaid airmail matter was carried by S.W.A. Airways. Other ordinary mail was carried by any available plane, in­ cluding a flight by Dr. Schroeder from Keetmanshoop to Windhoek on one occasion. 56 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1962 AAMS EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT APJ ADS BUY SELL - WANT LISTS RATES: WANT PIONEER's ;#:9 and #59. Govern­ FOUR CENTS PER WORD per insertion. mental .:;:115's. First Flights, Misc. covers Minimum charge one dollar. Remittance from Georgia. Lindberghiana material of must accompany order and copy. The various kinds. Buy or trade. Horace West­ AIRPOST JOURNAL. 350 No. Deere Park brooks, Griffin, Georgia. •393 Drive, Highland Park, Ill.· WILL GIVE Indonesian FF-covers, air­ letter-sheets etc. against LP-12"-records PHILATELIC SUPPLIES from the USA. K.D.Lim, 35 Gondangdia­ lama. Djakarta, Indonesia.- AIRMAIL ENVELOPES: Finest Quality . Distributed Thirty Years by Carl Becken. DISPOSING 400 jet oceanic covers. What Send ten cents for Samples. Cornelius do you offer? Will sell or trade. Pilot Stamp Co. 315 K resge Bldg .. Minneapolis, signed. Need oceanic military jets. Baxter Minn. •395 - Box 215, E. Haven, Conn. EXCHANGE Canadian military air letters WANTED and EXCHANGE cancelled at Canadian European bases and UNEF bases in Gaza Strip & Congo WANTED: Guard Mail Covers, 1904 for Canadian airmail covers. F / L R.K. St. Louis Fair material. Early Balloon and Malott, RCAF Air Weapons Unit, CAPO Aeroplane Postcards. Robert Murch. 5047, Montreal, Canada. •391 9560 Litzinger, St. Louis 24, Mo. •390 URGENTLY \Y ANTED for specialized AIRLETTERS. AEROGRAMMES: Have collection Estonia airs on genuinely flown over 1000 different for exchange or sale. covers. Also Latvia, Lithuania and Greece Both mint and used. What's your interest? Cl-4 on covers. Spot cash. C.H. Adams, Richard P . Heffner, 2012 Spring St., West AmEmbassy (usis), APO 271 , N.Y. Lawn, Pa. •391 FOR SALE WANTED: US First Flight regular sized envelopes, cachete d. Will give sixteen ARGENTINA FDC's, 1940 to date. Send US used commemorative stamps for each three 4 cent mint U.S. comm. for price sent. Minimum twenty. Duplicates accept­ list R. Vidalrri, Castilla de Correo 3860, ed. Walter Brooke, Boyertown, Pa. •390 Correo Central. Buenos Aires.

USED air mail stamps exchange wanted. Scott basis. Have also mint new issues ABOUT OUR COVER service. Very serious. Sarni Kanafani P. 0 . B. 701 , Beirut, Lebanon. •392 In 1937, hosted the Gordon Bennett balloon races at Chem­ PREPARED exchange South African air mail covers and world covers duplicate : nitz This postcard depicts fayored Ger­ for jet covers prior to 1960 and e arly Am­ man balloons, and is inscribed "Pflege erican covers: Stern, Box 3654, Cape Town, Soouth Africa. •390 des Luftposts ist eine gebieterische for­ derung fur Deutschlands Wiederauf­ INFORMATION WANTED: about child­ stieg." ( Development of airposts is ren's card attached balloon contests. Want necessary to Germany's rebirth. ) sponsor's names, dates, addresses. Please write Arthur Shine #3654 - 15 Hiawatha Blvd. Oakland, N. J. STATEMENT ITALIAN HELICOPTER mail Catalogue, Of the ownership, management, etc., of Illustrated, luxus edition, I offer for one The Airpost Journal, published monthly US or Foreign Rocket flight cover. at Albion, Penn'a, required by the Act of Giuseppe Schenone, Corso San Gottardo Congress of August 24, 1912. 11 , Milano (727) , Italia. Editor: Joseph L . Eisendrath, 350 North Deere P ark Drive, Highland Park. ID. AIRPORT DEDICATION COVERS Want­ Owner: The American Air Mail Society, ed. Send your list of deds, or send for my 102 Arbor Road, Riverton, N. J . want-list. Steve R einhard 333 No. Colum­ Known bondholders, mortgagees and bus Ave., Freeport. L .I.. N.Y. other security holders, holding one per cent or more of the total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities-None. WANTEd: Nat'! Air Mail \\'k. covers of Average number of copies of each issue May 1938 - will buy or swap. Don Lussky sold or otherwise distributed, through the 466 Oak Ave. Aurora. Ill. •391 mail, or otherwise - 1300. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 1961 airport dedications wanted. April 3- 30th d ay of September, 1962. Carroll, Iowa: June 24-Smelterville, Idaho: Robert B. Hoyler July 30-Pontiac, Illinois. Steve Reinhard (My commission expires April 12, 1965 ) 333 NO. Columbus Ave. Freeport, L.I., N.Y. .w e are philatelic auctioneers and specialize Rir in providing a competitive market Post for stamp collections Stamps and other ~hilatelic properties Are Frequently Offered Q ver 35 years' experience In Our General Sales assures the maximum Fully Accurately illustrated described in results auction catalogues, gratis And when you come to sell ... Your inquiry is welcomed write .for our booklet, "MODERN METHODS OF PHILATELIC SELLING" IRWIN HEIMAN, explainin g clearly all the a dv antages Inc. of selling t hrough . . . Serving American Philately Since 1926 H. R. HARMER, INC 2 West 46 th Street New York, N .Y. The Caspary Auctioneers Telephone : JUdson 2-2393 Suite 708 6 West 48th St., New York 36, N.Y.

Arctic and Antarctic HARRIS Atomic Submarine Covers U.S. A. Sputniks and Space Vehicles Roc.ket Covers CATALOG Astronaut Covers U. N. E. F. HUNDREDS OF PRICE CHANGES! United Nations - New York 160 PAGES • NEARLY 2000 ILLUS TRATIONS Boy Scout Covers Brand new edition of America's most widely used U. S. & B.N.A. cata log - containing hundreds of important price changes - published by world's largest stamp fi rm. Com­ Atomic Power plete illustrated listing of all major U. S. issues. U. S. Possess ions and British North America. Also specialties, Confederate States, United Nations, "Americana " PLUS -BEAU T! FUL COVERS- U. S. Stamp Identifier - comprehensive illustrated booklet. Te lls you how to distinguish between rare ASK FOR A SELECTION TODAY and common " look -alike" stamps. All th is and more in ~ !/:> ~""' WALTER R. GUTHRIE our BIG interesting catalog. __,~~ P. 0 . BOX 390 . H. E. HARRIS & CO. TUCSON, ARIZONA £ o-Catalo9 Dept., Bo~ton 17, Mass.