de Rirpall!!IT Jaur1711I Dick Merrill Retire:; Volume 33 Number 2 November, 1961 r,,,,;:"'":::,,,,::::::~:·,,::::~:::,:::,, .. ,. ... ,,,,. .,,,~., .. .," .. ""'"I § ~ 5 ~ I:dp:::::e I ~ ~ I- a competitive market i= 8 i ::: ::: ~:;:~:~:s properties I I I ~ ~ ~ • fa I ::::e~Ot~e:::::ence i I in results I i ~ i Your inquiry is welcomed I i:_==:_ IRWIN/:~IM AN~ -=i_________ ..: Serving American Philately Since 1926 :..: --:-'- .. --.:_- 2 WEST 46th STREET £ NEW YORK 36, N.Y. ~ Telephone: JUdson 2-2393 Suite 708 I ·~mlllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllCllllll&;lllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllll[lllllllllllllrlllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllrrn1m11111!t ~ The American Air Mail Society A Non-Profit Corporation Incorporated 1944 Organized 1923 Under the Laws of Ohio Official Publication of the PRESIDENT AMERICAN Am MAIL SOCIETY Dr. James J. Matejka, Jr. LaSalle Hotel Chicago, Illinois VOL. 33 No. 2 ISSUE No. 378 SECRETARY Ruth T. Smith 102 Arbor Road Contents ........ for November, 1961 Riverton, New Jersey TREASURER Dick Merrill Quiis Jets to Pilot a Desk 26 John J. Smith The New York Convention ........ 28 102 Arbor Road Riverton, New Jersey Convention Banquet Attracts Phila- teUsts ........................................................ 30 VICE-PRESIDENTS Who Was 'I1here ........................................ 32 Joseph L. Eisendrath Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. Aerogrammes . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 33 Herman Kleinert Lester S. Manning Key to the Pictures ......... ............ ... ........ 34 Foreign Pioneer Airpost Flights, EDITOR - Other Publications 1909-14 ········································ ············ 39 L. B: Gatchell Centenary of ihe Stamp Catal:ogue ..... 54 ATTORNEY South Africa Aero grammes . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 56 George D. Kingdom U. S. Tally iat Curiosa, '61 .... .................. 57 DffiECTOR OF Tips by Julius ............................................ 60 FOREIGN RELATIONS A Year of Air Mail .................................... 62 Dr. Max Kronstein Official Section ............................................ · 64 AUCTION MANAGER APJ Ads ........................ 1Inside Back Cover Samuel s. Goldsticker, Jr. DffiECTORS Alton J. Blank EDITOR Herbert Brandner Joseph L. Eisendrath Paul Bugg Robert E. Haring 350 No. Deere Park Drive, Highland Park, Ill. Dr. Max Kronstein ASSISTANT EDITORS George L. Lee Robert W. Murch Narcisse Pelletier Ernest A. Kehr L. B. Gatchell Horace D. Westbrooks DEPARTMENT AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS MEMBERSHIP DUES R. Lee Black, N. Pelletier, Florence I,.. Kleinert, Dr. Max Kronstein, Richard L. Singley, William $4.00 Per Year R. Ware, Julius Weiss, James Wotherspoon, John Dues include subscription to Watson, William T. Wynn, Frank Blumenthal, THE AIRPOST JOURNAL. Ap­ Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr., J. S. Langabeer. plicants must furnish two ref­ Published monthly at Albion, Erie Co., Pa., U.S.A. erences, philatelic preferred. At Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office least one must reside in Appli­ at Albion, Pa., Februarv 10, 1932, under cant's home town. Applicants tne Act of March 3, 1879. under 21 years must be guar­ anteed by Parent or Guardian. The AIRPOST JOURNAL is not conducted for Membership may be terminated profit. The Editor, and all others, serve without by the Society in accordance compensation. Receipts from advertising, sub­ with its By-Laws. scriptions and contributions are applied to the betterment of the magazine and the promotion Correspondence concerning sub­ of aero-pl>Jlately. 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 NOVEMBER, 1961 PAGE 25 Dick Merrill Quits Jets ~o Pilot a Desk • A U.P.I. dispatch of Oct. 3rd says Richman and Merrill feared that Rich­ lhat Capt. H. T. (Dick) Merrill, who man's single engine plane might go down used to fly mail runs in goggles and a at sea and stuffed all available airspace bathing suit, stepped out of his jet cock­ in the wings and fuselage with 30,000 pit for the last time, ending a flying ping pong balls to keep the plane afloat. career that made him a living legend of On the return trip Richman became pan­ commercial aviation. icky and 500 gallons of gasoline was "I won't like it as well behind a desk, dumped in the sea ,of Newfoundland. but there comes a time when we all Although Merrill said he could have have to quit and I might as well accept flown to Atlanta, the plane landed in a it now," said Merrill, 66, an Eastern Air bog on the coast of Newfoundland. Lines pilot for 33 years. Merrill says commercial jets have com­ Merrill, the first man to fly round­ pleted the change from "seat-of-your­ trip across the Atlantic, has been riding pants" flying to piloting by instruments. Eastern's DC-8 jets as check pilot since 'But I can still pass the same physical May, 1960, when the federal aviation tests I passed 30 years ago, and my pilot agency's over-60 regulation moved him ratings are just as good," he said. from behind the controls. Merrill wouldn't say he was out of the Merrill ended his flying career al­ air for good. "If anyone needs a pilot together to become an Eastern desk­ to ferry a plane to Africa or China," he riding executive. said, 'Tm available." When the New York - Miami flight Our cover of this issue shows Merrill landed, Merrill was greeted by a host of in his bathing suit, ready to fly the mail. officials including Capt. Eddie Ricken­ He bailed out on several occasions, and backer, Eastern board chairman, himself his name is shown as pilot on several a famous pilot. listings of crash covers. Merrill learned to fly 48 years ago, when he was 18, in a rickety. recon­ Dick Merrill Retires structed Jenny. He wound up piloting the swiftest commercial jets of the day. By Ernest A. Kehr At one time or another in between, he Capt. Henry T. "Dick" Merrill, one of was personal pilot to Queen Elizabeth the greatest of all airlines pilots and and Dwight D. Eisenhower and to count­ aviation pioneers, formally retired on less celebrities, some of whom wouldn't Oct. 3, by acting as check pilot on a fly unless Merrill was at the controls. His New York-to-Miami flight in a DC-8. wife is Toby Wing, former movie star. The 67-year-old veteran of the airways In World War I, Merrill was a navy began his career in a fragile "Jenny," flying instructor, and after the war he and since then has flown just about ev­ turned to barnstorming. He joined Pit­ ery type of aircraft that was developed. cairn Airlines {later Eastern) in 1928 Although he is most famous as a com­ and flew the mail from New York to At­ mercial pilot, having been with Eastern lanta before Pitcairn turned to hauling Air Lines since it was formed in 1928, passengers. he also is associated with a number of It was in those days, Merrill used to important record flights on which covers fly the old open cockpit planes in bath­ were carried. ing suit, shoes, and goggles during the Of these, the most familiar is the summer. He carried pets with him­ famous "Coronation" flight which he anything from squirrels and groundhogs made on May 8, 1937, with Harry Rich­ to a lion cub or orangutang. man, night-club operator, from New He made his first rol:lnd trip over the York to London, then back again, leav­ Atlantic in 1936 with a night club ing England on May 13. It was the first singer, Harry Richman. round-trip flight across the Atlantic. PAGE 26 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL The pair had attempted a flight on That Red Coat of Bob Murch Sept. 2, 1936, but their plane, "Lady Peace," was forced down in Wales by a The symbol of air mail is fire red. The fuel shortage. Post Office Department issues all air mail stamps these days fire red-a unique mo­ Dick's astuteness and skill in the air tif that was inaugurated at our Conven­ was legendary. Any number of celebrities tion Iast August in Arlington, Virginia would fly only when they knew he'd be with the cooperation of Frank Bruns and at the controls. He was fearless and al­ the Post Office Department. My wife lowed himself the thrills of riding a urged me to wear my fire red coat to Ar­ storm when he was soloing. When he lington, Virginia so I could feel part of carried passengers, however, he was a the background with the fire red stamps. stickler in the execution of every safety The coat itself had been a present on regulation. At one time, for example, he Father's Day; I became a father shortly was flying a charter for a presidential thereafter and the coat has a dual mean­ candidate who, himself was a veteran ing to me, as my job in the past few flier. At take-off the future president years has been to try and sell air mail, said he preferred riding without his seat aerophilately, and the fellowship of air mail collecting. belt fastened. As recently as two weeks ago, the pre­ Dick went directly to the celebrity and sident of the American Air Mail Society watched him fasten it before he took off. was honored with an invitation to come Though official regulations preclude to the White House to preview a stamp Dick from further passenger flying, it with President Kennedy, Postmaster Gen­ eral Day and various other dignitaries. was disclosed ·that he would continue in It was scheduled for high noon on Au­ a consulting capacity to hike the operat­ gust 31 and I answered the summons ing efficiency of Eastern.