DIE PROOFS OF THE 1918 AIR MAIL _ ISSUES
___V_ o_lu_m_e_3-'--5,'--N_u_m_b_e_r .;...5 ______:: February, 1964 The American Air Mail Society A Non-Profit Corporation under the Laws of Ohio Organized 1923 Incorporated 1944
PRESIDENT Joseph L. Eisendrath Official Publication of the 350 No. Deere Park Drive Highland ~rk, Illinois AMERICAN AIR MAIL SOCIETY SECRETARY Vol. 35, No. 5 Issue 405 Ruth T. Smith 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. 08077 'Contents ...... February, 1964 TREASURER John J. Smith AAMS to Participate in INTERPEX 121 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. Die Proofs of First U. :S. Airmails VICE-PRESIDENTS on Display ...... 121 Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. INTERPEX 1964 ...... 122 Herman Kleinert 124 Lester S. Manning The Vignette: "Nordwestflug 1912" Dr. Perham C. Nahl A New U. :S. Airmail Booklet! ...... 125 EDITORS - Other Publications Whipperdill ...... 126 L. B. Gatchell An Interruption in Belgian Geo. D. Kingdom Helicopter :Service 130 ATTORNEY The End of an Era . 132 George D. Kingdom America's First Air Mail? ...... 133 SALES MANAGER Balloon Post of the Siege of Paris 134 Herman Kleinert Airs of the Month 139 213 Virginia Ave., Fullerton, Pa. Book Reviews ...... 140 DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN RELATIONS Recent Afric·an Airmail News ...... 142 Dr. Max Kronstein A House to House Collection witlh an AUCTION MANAGER Airpost Receipt ...... 144 Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. Air Mail Interrupted Flight (Crash) ADVANCE BULLETIN SERVICE Covers ...... 145 Paul Bugg Airport Dedkations 147 3724 Old York Rd. Jet Jottings . 148 Baltimore, Md. 21218 "Uncle Sam" Sez l'fiO TRANSLATION SERVICE Official Section, AAMS ..... 152 Roland Kohl Augusta-Victoria Str. 4 Wiesbaden, West Germany EDITOR AUDITOR Robert E. Haring 242 Hardenburgh Avenue, Demarest, New Jersey Stuart J. Malkin ASSISTANT EDITORS DIRECTORS Joseph L. Eisendrath Dr. Max Kronstein Paul Bugg, Robert E. Haring, Mrs. Florence Kleinert, Dr. Max Ernest A. Kehr L. B. Gatchell Kronstein, George L. Lee, Dr. DEPARTMENT AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS Southgate Leigh, Arthur M. R. Lee Black, N. Pelletier, Florence L. Kleinert. Schmidt, William R. Ware Robert W. Murch, Richard L. Sin'l"ley, William MEMBERSHIP DUES - $5.~0 R. Ware, James Wotherspoon, John Watson, per year Willi2m T. Wynn, Jr., Frank Blumenthal, Samuel Include subscription to The S. Goldsticker, Jr., J. S. Langabeer, M. P. Codd. AIRPOST JOURNAL. Appli Published monthly at Albion., Erie Co., Pa., U.S.A. cants must furnish two refer Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office ences, philatelic preferred. At at Albion, Pa., February 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 guaran 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 By-Laws. of aero-philately. 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 Rccuracy 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: $5.00 per year, 45c per copy. should be sent to the Editor. Advertising Rate Card available from the Editor A.A.M.S to Participate in INTERPEX President Joe Eisendrath has appointed Vice President Sam Goldsticker to handle the AAMS participation in the INTERP.EX ex hibition to be held at the Americana Hotel, New York City, March 6-8, 1964. The Society will have a Lounge at the show where its members present at the show can meet and discuss their common aerophilatelic problems and ge:I: ·to know each other. In addition an active recruitment program will be carried out, aimed at the unaffiliated airmail collectors attending this year's show. The American Air Mail Catalogues will be featured and orders will be taken for :them: Convention and other So· ciety souvenir covers and brochures will be for sale for the benefit of the Publications Fund. Mr. Golds:l:icker needs :the assistance of any local New York area members to staff :the Lounge and help "sell your Society." If you will be at the show and can assist us by giving an hour or so of your time, please let him know at 70-D Fremont Street, Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003, at once. Your Editor and many members have already volunteered ·:to help, but we need you, too! Many members from other areas will be in New York for the show and :they mustn't pass up the AAMS Lounge. Stop by and visit with other members, gripe to :the Editor if he's there, or just rest your tired feet, but please be sure to come :to :the show and say hello. Elsewhere in this issue you will fine!. a report of the program planned by the show's management and a special exhibit aimed at aerophilatelis:ts. As of this writing no formal meeting has been planned by the Society but we anticipate many informal small group get-togethers of a social nature will develop. SEE YOU AT INTERPEX 1964! Die Proofs of First U. S. Airmails on Display Rare 24c Invert to be Shown in Die Proof Form AAMS member Herb Rosen, ope.rator ing upside-down" is well-known and has of the INTERPEX International Stamp been even more dramatically emphasized Exhibition in New York, has reported by the recent Hammarskjold invert dis to The Airpost Journal that a part of the covery and reprinting. An actual die United States Post Office Department's proof of the 24c airplane in the inverted exhibit at the forthcoming INTERPEX state, rarely exhibited by the Post Office, show will be the fascinating page of rare will be in the display, as on our cover. airmail die proofs shown on ou;r cover All AAMS members in the New York this month. The stamps shown are the area in particular should stop off at the 6c orange, 16c green, and the 24c red show on March 6-7-8 to see this unusual and blue airmails, all issued in 1918. The single album page which depicts an im 24c issue was released first for use on portant step in our aerophilatelic history. the regular airplane mail service between To bring the public up-to-date on airmail New York, Philadelphia, and Washing developments and continue its efforts to ton, which began on May 15, 1918. The promote our hobby, the AAMS is spon sto.ry of the discovery of a full sheet of soring a lounge at INTERPEX, where this stamp with the blue airplane "fly- (Continued on Page 144) THE AIRPOST JOURNAL. FEBRUARY, 1964 121 INTERPEX 1964 - A Philatelic World's Fair
The "INTERNATIONAL QUIET • organizations and, of course, on Satur- SUN YEAR" (I. Q. S. Y.), an event of day evening the annual Awards Present great international importance, has been ation Banquet. selected as the theme for the forthcoming Numerous AAMS members are part lnternational Stamp Exhibition, INTER- icipating in the programs of some of PEX, to be held from March 6-8, 1964, these groups, to which they also belong. at. the new. Americ~na Hotel in N.ew York Of particular interest to aerophilate Crty.. As m prevrous years, ~is show, lists will be the meetings scheduled by o.rgamzed by AAMS memb~I Her~e~t our Chicago Chapter, the Jack Knight ~.osen, Presrd.ent of Ind~1stnal Exh1?1- Air Mail Society, and the 10th Anniver bons, Inc., will be held m cooperation sary Meeting of the Rocket Mail Society with over 20 leading clubs and societies, a Unit of the AAMS. Earl Wellman' as well as the participation of the U. S. AAMS Life Member and former office.r i~ Post . ~ffice. Department, U. N .. Postal coordinating the JKAMS - RMS partici Adn:111istrat10n: and over 30 different pation and will be present. A meeting foreign countnes. will also be held by the Metropolitan The center of attraction this year will Air-Mail Cover Club, a New York airmail undoubtedly be the collection of stamps group. But the main gathering place for of great value from the Burrus Collection. ae.rophilatelists will be the American Air The famous international auctioneer, Mail Society lounge at which the Soc Robson Lowe of London, will exhibit iety's members can meet, get acquainted, over 60 selected pages of Switzerland, talk airmails, and get to know each other Austria, Mexico, Levant, the Phillippines, as individuals, rather than as just a num etc. which have a value of over $300,000. ber on a membership list or a name on a 00, before they are auctioned off in April, letter. For instance, we have been advis- 1964. An interesting display of collections ed that members Jim Zollickoffer and Ken of Rocket Mail and stamps dedicated to Sanford from Maryland are planning to outer space achievements will also be come to New York for the show and we featured, combined with a display from will expect to see them ap.d many more N. A. S. A. with models of Gemini, of our members from other areas at the Apollo, and Lunar. Lounge. Of course, the New York area The most outstanding program has AAMS members will all be at the show. been developed by the S. P. A. which Full details. about the AAMS Lounge will hold their annual spring meeting will be found elsewhere in this issue of during INTERPEX on Saturday, March the Journal. 7th. There will be several interesting lec- Among the other groups participating, tures about the different phases of collect with full exhibits, conventions, or meet ing throughout the three-day event, as ings, are the Cinderella Stamp Club, well as a guided tour through the exhi specializing in bogus stamps and oddities bition area scheduled for 5:00 P. M. which are not recognized in the standard daily which will led by AAMS member catalogs; Women's Philatelic Society; and APJ Assistant Editor Ernest Kehr, American Topical Association (Stamps Stamp Editor of the New York Herald on Stamps-Centenary, U. N. Study and Tribune. The United States Post Office Fine Arts Units and New York Chapter); Department will have a Sub-Station with France and Colonies Philatelic Society; a complete stock of commemorative Hellenfo Philatelic Society of America stamps for sale, and will also cancel all Postal Slogan Cancel and Meter Society; mail posted at INTERPEX with a special Judaica Historical Philatelic Society; and postmark. All United Nations stamps will many others. be available at a special booth of the On the social side of the exhibition, U. N. Postal Administration, and the there are several cocktail parties planned House of Stolow will again, as in prev- for Friday and Saturday by different ( Continued on Page 135) 122 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 ;l.llllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllC1111111111111ClllllllllllllClllllllllllll[llJllll!lllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClllllllllllllClf;i I Car~~:dy~.:;0i:~:.=rgh I__ ·· THE FIRST AND ONLY ONE OF THE FEW COVERS . I so CARRIED TO BECOME Av AILABLE I I - Fully Authenticated - I
I Other Lindbergh Rarities - Seldom offered U. S. andi= -· Overseas Flights i Earlier U.S. Mint Sheets and First Days I ISpec:~~l~i~i:::er~~e:~:~:::~:::~~~o~ G:~~:m:ll:ssics I i a~~cl~~i:~es i I First Selection of a Large Holding of an Old-time Deafor =I -· Especially Strong in Germany and German States I A Truly Outstanding March Auction I I Be sure that you are on .the mailing list. Because of the inter· I I national importance of this sale we will air mail all catalogs to I__ -· points outside the U.S. and requests from such points are I especially solicited. ~ ~ ~ I DONALD E. DICKASON I 5848 3 I 5605 Ave~~:·:~l~~~.:· A. _,A. A. ~~-=~~:~ ;~~~ida 33581 I
L111111111111m11111111111ci111111111111m11111111111ci111111111111m11111111111m11111111111m11111111111n111111111111m11111111111ci111111111111m11111111111m1111111! THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 123 The Vignette: "Nordwestflug 1912" By Dr. Max Kronsiein In the June, • Oldenburg at the field, even at the early 1963, issue of The hour. At 6:25 a. m., Krieger, flying a A i r p o s t Journal Jeannin monoplane, started with a pass ( Foreign Pioneers enge.r, only to end in an emergency C-IX) a review landing near Uetzte. Five minutes later was made of the Schirrmeister (Mars biplane) took off various G e rm a n with 2 passengers, ending with a land Airfield Cancella- ing at Liebenau when his fuel gave out. tions during Pion- At 6:50 a. m., Lindpaintner, the success eer Air Events in 1911-1913. This in- fol aviator of the Munich airpost, started eluded on page 233 the Nordmark flug in an Otto biplane with a passeng June 16/July 8, 1912. In the meantime a er, but his motor developed a defect and small steel-blue seal-like vignette (di- he had to land again. And soon after 7 ameter about 1 in.) has shown up in this a. m. Buchstette.r ( Jeannin monoplane) country, referring to a Nordwest Flug started with Lt. Stille. The plane soon 1912 and it is evident that there must crashed and both were killed. It was the have been two different events. But most adverse single hour at an airfield nowhere before in aerophilatelic listings in that period of aviation. And in spite of has reference been made to the North- the fact that as many as 15 aviators had west Flight. Therefore, it is of inte.rest been on hand at the start in Bremen, to clarify this vignette here. including well-known personalities of the Actually a Northwest flight had been period, not a single one had reached the . B J fi,rst intermediate stop at Munster when anno unced t o st art m remen on une 2, 1912. The aviators were to proceed to the day ended. M u n s t e r, Osnabrock, Braunschweig, That is why the Committee decided Lubeck and Hamburg and special local to cancel .the whole competition and air events had been scheduled to take to postpone the event with its $25,000 place at the Fuhlsbuttel Airfield near prize money until a later time, in spite Hamburg, June 6 _ 9, 1912. And if every- of severe criticism by the participants thing had gone according to schedule and the various airfields along the route. it is very possible that at the Fulsbuttel Hamburg-Fuhlsbuttel attempted to Airfield the same postal cancellation proceed, at least with local flights, on FUHLSBUTTEL FLUGPLATZ might June 8-9, 1912, and quite a few of the have been used which had been used initial competitors of the Northwest circuit were the.re at the start. But the there at certain ZeppelinPost events in h d b bad luck continued and the pilot Rost 1912. It a een expected that during (Grade monoplane) was killed on his the June 6, 1912, event that as many as f £li 20 aviator-competitors of the Northwest irst test 'ght in the Hamburg event. fli h ld th f So we can see that the seal-shaped ·g t wou arrive ere rom ear1 Y vignette illustrated refers to a circuit morning starts at Braunschweig and it which had been cancelled after its act was even expected that some of tlhem would then proceed on to Berlin, in order ual start in Bremen on June 2, 1912. to compete in the air competition from Berlin to Vienna (Austria), immediately following the June event. The supervisory committee of this Northwest flight Please send all changes of ad comprised such well known aviation men tdTess to the Secretary only. It is as Majo.r von Tschudi, Professor Precht, not necessary to notify the Editor Captain Romberg and Dr. Rumler. or Publication Office. Do not ad dress any mail to Albion - it only In the very early morning ( 6 a. m.) delays it. Thanks d:or yO'Ur !he1p. on June 2, the events in Bremen actually - The Secretary got under way with the Grand Duke of 124 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 FLASH NEWS- The Largest A New U. S. Airmail Booklet! And Most Comprehensive Stock Of By Harry A. Gordon It wHI probably be news to all of you Aerogrammes to learn that the U. S. Post Office has issued a new airmail stamp booklet that In The World cannot be bought at any U.S. Post Office, not even in Washington, D. C. This -0- booklet contains 2 panes of 5-8c stamps A NEW ISSUE SERVICE and sells at face for 80c, but it is printed SECOND TO NONE fo.r and sold only in a new vending machine operated by a private firm. Even Ask For Details Today the servicing is done, not by the Post -0- Office in which the machine is located, but by the vending company's agents. So here is a booklet made especially Up-To-Date Check List for this vending company. Remember Free On Request what happended to those private vend ing machine coils of decades ago? Per -0- haps this may happen to this booklet of airmail stamps. WALTER R. GUTHRIE The machine is quite large and is be P. 0. Box 390 ing tested in only five towns in a single TUCSON, ARIZONA £ state. I refrain from naming the towns 85702 or even the state he.re. The Post Office is testing this machine in these towns to see if it will fulfill a need that arises when a patron comes into th~ lobby only THE ONLY to find all windows closed. The machine OFFICIAL RECORDS shows the items it will sell for the proper of the historical Space Flights are coins and takes quarters, dimes and covers of the Spacecraft Recovery nickels. The items on sale in this machine Ships - Postmarked on board at time are a pack of 15 - 4c postcards; pack of of pick-up. We offer ••. ten envelopes of the 5c ordinary and Grissom (USS Randolph) Be air in both small and large sizes; w/cachet ...... $22.50 booklets of the dollar size of 5c ordinary Glenn (USS Noa) rare "PM" stamps; the old 97c - 4c stamp booklet; pmk...... 15. and the unusual 80c airmail booklet not Glenn (USS Randolph) w /4c hitherto sold or known. I want to give Mere...... 10. these machines a proper test, for no doubt Carpenter (USS Intrepid) ...... 10. if news of the names of the towns was Schirra (USS Kearsarge)...... 5. publicized, collectors would flood each Schirra (Kearsarge & Longview, machine. If the machines are approved, rare comb.) ...... 10. no doubt the vending company will sell Cooper (Kearsarge) ...... 4. many to the U. S. Post Office and the booklets will become common, but Cooper (Kearsarge & Range Tracker) w I official cachets .... 8.50 should the judgement be a negative one, then these booklets will join the ranks All Rocket & Outer Space FDC's of the .rare items among U. S. airmail Available. stamps. So far as I can judge the stamps - NEW ISSUE SERVICE - are not of the fluorescent "tagged" var iety. BELHAM EXCHANGE (Editor's Note: We had heard of the Box 119 Ridgewood 27, N. Y. Rare Airposts for over 30 years (Continued on Page 129) THE AIRPOST .TOURNAL, FEBRUARY. 1964 125 60 Y·EARS AT KlTTY HA WK Wl-llPPERDILL By Adm. Jesse G. Johnson (USN, Rei'd) Whipperdill is a new term. All airmail collectors should know about it, because it comes very close to joining aeronautics and astronautics. We will explain it later. This story is about the Wright Brothers 60th Anniversary Cele bration theld in the Kittv Hawk, North Carolina area, Dec emb~r 16-17, 1963. For those who collect ·wright .Brothers material, the two days were packed jam full of inte.resting events which were worth recording by air mail cachets and cancellations. Plaque made by Glider Pilot #l, This is exactly what we did for Rolf Barnaby • Kiiiy Hawk many collectors. We produced two types of cachets. For those who wished to use their own envelopes, we added our .rubber stamp cachet prepared from the famous photograph snapped at the time of the Wright Brothers flight on December 17, 1903. For those who wanted a printed cachet, we fmnished envelopes with the same Wright Brothers "Flyer" photograph superimposed on a silver cachet of the Wright Brothers Monument at Kitty Hawk. Everyone so far has been pleased with the way we serviced their covers, and it was a pleasure to work for collectors who knew what they wanted. Much to our surprise, the officials who conducted the celebration liked our printed cachets so well that at their request we furnisfued them with over 200 covers. Jacqueline Cochran, Max Conrad, Hal Blackburn, and Major Robert A. Rush worth, X-15 Test Pilot, helped with a panel of young people from almost every state in the union on the future of astronautics and aviation. John Glenn was the moderator of the December 16 seminar appropriately titled "Flight Seminar for Youth." We requested the Post Office Depa1tment to give us a suitable special can cellation fo.r this event, but it was not approved by Washington because the Kitty Hawk Post Office was not a Second Class Office. Thanks to the philatelic p.ress announcements that we would service mail for the 60th Anniversary, a great many collectors' cove.rs were received for servicing. Too much cannot be said about the wonderful cooperation of the Poshnaster of Kitty Hawk, Mrs. Kathryne H. Per.ry. Also do not make the mistake of thinking that Kill Devil Hills Post Office had anything to do with the original 1903 flight. The Kill Devil Hills Office has been there less than 20 years and it was 60 years ago when the Wright Brothers made their flight from Kill Devil Hill (which is now just anoth er sand dune with a monument atop it, mudh like those. further soutih in the Nags Head area). There were many special requests which came with the covers to be serviced, but it was not possible to comply with most of them in tl1 e time we spent in the Kitty Hawk area. I believe all airmail enthusiasts who collect W-right Brothers material know that practically every anniversary of the first flight on December 17, 1903, beginning with the 25th, has had some philatelic souvenir for the anniversary. Coll-
126 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 ectors will also remember that the W·right Brothers stamp was issued at Kitty Hawk on December 17. 1949. H ere a.re details of two 1963 events which aerophilatelists will want to know about. The first was for the 60th Anniversary of the 1903 flight and the dedication of the new Fi1'st Flight Airpo1t. All of the covers which were sent to your Kitty Hawk Committee by mail prio.r to December 14 were placed on the plane which cut the ribbon opening the airport. This plane was then flown around the area with not ables aboard. However, this flight lasted longer than was expected because Robert Nance, flying his Great Lakes Aerobatics plane in the area of the landing field, had no radio in his plane and performed longer than was anticipated. The de dication plane could not return to the field until after Pilot Nance had finished his
''Firsi Flight Airport" Dedication Cover with Printed C'achei stunt flying. The dedication pla11 e was a Beechcraft Queenair #N-150, piloted by Cole Morrow, Assistant Director of the Federal Aviation Agency. Our thanks goes to him for carrying this mail which was cancelled the same day at Kitty Hawk, N. C., 5 .p. m. Your Edito.r warned the writer that there would probably be a commercial flight out of Kitty Hawk on December 17. He sent covers to be serviced on this flight. We also sent along a few extra cacheted covers on that flight. There were 20 carnied in each direction. It was easy to get nice cancellations at Kitty Hawk for the covers which anived on the southbound flight from Washington. Our luck with the northbound flight was not as satisfactory as far as cancellations were concerned. The cov.ers were canied by the stewardess in the Piedmont Airlines plane and dropped in the mailbox in W·ashington. Some of them we.re cancelled upside-down, over the bottom of .the cachet, on December 17; others were cancelled on December 18-all in the same batch of mail. There were a few cove.rs cancelled properly in Washing ton. Evidently all of them were actually cancelled at 2 ·a. m. or 4 a. m., D ecember 18, after the mailbox was emptied, but on some the clerk had forgotten to change the date slug, which accounts for the 17th markings. The plane that carried the southbound and northbound mail between ·washington and Kitty Hawk was a Fair ~h ild F-27 #N2705R. Pilots were Capts. Frank Nicholson and L. C. McNames. Our 1ihanks to Piedmont Airlines, .too. The main purpose of the flight was to transport press representatives to the celebration as a promotional venture.
THE AIRPOST J'OURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 127 There were so many visitors at the 60th Anniversa.ry celebration that it was nec essary to hold the banquet on December 16 in two different locations. One was at the John Yancey Motor Hotel at Kill Devil Hills and the other portion was at the Carolin ian Hotel in Nags Head. The speakers had to make their speeches twice, and they were well worth hearing. They were John Glenn, North Carolina's Governor Terry
N. C.'s Governor Sanford was Secretary of Commerce Hodges Chairman of 60th Anniversary Speaking at December 16 Celebration Banquet
Astronaut John Glenn Wrinkles Brow to Take Position like Wrights Did at Kitty Hawk 128 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUA RY, 1964 Sanford and United States Secretary of Commerce and former Governor, the Honor able Luther Hodges. On December 16 the reproduction of the W,right "Flyer" was presented to the Visitors' Center of the Wright Brothers National Memorial Park. Please call this a reproductton because the various manufacturers and individuals who made it say that it is in no sense a replica. It is like the original "Flyer" now i'.n the Smith sonian Institution. All in all this was a great event for collectors and aviation enth usias ts. Reader will be glad to know that there is a bill in Congress to make Dec ember 17 of each year hereaft r a national day to honor the Wright Brothers.
The Author with some of the FAA Beechcraft Which Cut the Philatelic Mail, December 17 Ribbon at the Dedication One of the last events of the celebration on the 17th was the USAF Thunderbirds Precision Flying. These are six fabulous jet fliers who passed us at the rate of 650 miles per hour. At one time during this demonstration the announcer told u that they would now make a "Whipperdill" turn; that is, the planes would pass us at almost ground level, in diamond formation, then climb in vertical flight until they reach ed an altih1de of about 10,000 feet when they would shift formation while still in ve.rt tical fl ight and transfer the direction of the flight from straight up to straight down, d irectly back toward us. The announcer for the Thunderbirds was Capt. Leonard Senczarneki, USAF, and he is the individual to be credited with this new term, "Whipperdill." This was a far cry from December 17, 1903!! Photo Credits - ·p. 126-128, Aycock Brown, Manteo, N. C. p. 129, Bill Schreider, Jr.
FLASH N.EWS - the booklet are the ordinary 1962 issue (Continued from Page 125) and that the panes are identical in size, s h a p e and orientation to those in 80c booklets some months ago, but a the standard $2.00 booklet of five panes check with our local Post Office and a of Be airs. We vvonder if the panes have review of the Postal Manual iindicated the ZIP Code note on the sixth "stamp" that no such item was issued by the or the note about sending dangerous Post Office, so we gave up. Harry articles .through the mails, both of which Gordon was evidently more persistent have been used in the standard airmail and as a result we now have an inter and ordinary stamp booklets. Time will esting story lo report. We should note, tell more of this story, we're sure. however, that the 8c airmail stamps in R. E. H.) THE AIRPOST J OURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 129 An l·nteruption in Belgian Helicopter Service by Dr. James J. Matejka, Jr. 9 In recent Airpost Journals many articles have appeared on the stamps and cove.rs pertaining to the aerophilately of Belgium. Recently the writer purchased a cover and collateral material concerning the first crash cover from Belgium's newly organized ( 1950) helicopter mail. The following seemed extremely interesting and also a bit humorous, so it is passed on to you, the readers. A 7 plus 3 franc postage stamp was put into use at the inauguration of Belgian helicopte.r mail service on August 21, 1950. This was the first service of its kind on the European continent and received the name of "heliposte." The itinerary was roughly a circle from Brussels to Libramont, Liege, Tongres, Hasselt, Beringen, Turnhout, Herenthals, and Antwerp .and back to Brussels. As long as this novelty flight service moved the mail in good time and with standards far better than those of previous surface routes everyone was happy. The flight was a success. However, just as soon as near tragedy took place, many of the cynic , including the press, wasted no time in capitalizing upon it. The flight was operated under contract by Sabena Belgian Airlines and tihe initial flight was observed by Mme. Henry Villard, the widow of the inventor of the plane. The pilot was M. Vervoort.
Watersoaked Crash Cover from the Matejka Collection Illustrated here is a cover postma.rked at Southlhampton, England, September 14, 1950, at 8:30 P· m., which was mailed to Brussels, Belgium. Across the front of the cover is stamped "COURRIER HELIOCPTERE ACCDENTE" (Helicopter Mail Accident) . The helicopter had an accident and fell into the river, requiring rescue by a power derrick (as shown in the photo). Thus the cover became liberally water soak- 130 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 ed which accounts for the postage stamp being removed and lost. The following day in '!lhe leading Brussels newspaper a cartoon appeared (shown here) depicting a postman presenting a dripping wet letter to a Belgian (Continued on Page 139)
- lonj°"' M. Kroll, U11.• lcth• powr f9'1.r, I.lie ... -twe. •.,, ~ i npte,.. I Helicopter Being Raised from the Water and Press Comment on the Crash!
TOP REALIZATIONS ARE OBTAINED AT H. R. HARMER AUCTIONS REALIZATIONS FROM THE DECEMBER 16-17 SALE Cyrenaica, .S€mi-P-0stal Official 1934 "Servicio di State" o. g. (Cat. $425) ...... $ 440 France, 1928 Ile d€ France 10 fr on 90c on cover .. 260 - do - 10 fr on 1 fr. 50 on cover . 825 Iceland, 1933 Hopflug, mint set $240, 'Used set . 280 Italy, 1933 triptych without opt. (Cat. $·1350) -·-----·-·· ·· .. ·· 1,950 · Official 1933 ':Servicio di :St a to" triptych, o.g. (Cat. $400) 475 Mexico, 1929 25c o.g. set of 9 di.fferent colors, perf and imperf. QSan. 8-16, $4500) ...... 3,200 Newfoundland, 192·7 "De-Pinedo" 60c used (Cat. $850) 1,075 1933 " Columbia" 50c on 36c, o.g. THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 131 On May 20, 1939, the Pan American Airways Boeing B-314 flying boat "Yankee Clipper", under the command of Capt. Arthur E. LaPorte, took off from Port Washington, Long Island, bound for Europe. Twenty-SL\'. hours later, after a b.rief stop at the Azores, it landed in Lisbon, Po·rtugal. The next day it flew on to the French city of Marseilles to complete the first scheduled commercial air mail flight across the Atlantic. 1939 - First Transatlantic Airmail The Boeing B-314 was the last and largest of Pan American's flying boats. The Sikorsky S-42, assigned to regular service in the Caribbean, had been used to survey the routes across the Atlantic. Another first for this pioneer airline came in 1945 when their high-speed landplanes, the DC-4's, began conm1ercial operations over transoceanic routes. In the years following, many other famous piston aircraft were used on these routes by Pan American: the Lockheed L-49 "Constellation", the Boeing 377 "Strato Clipper", the DC-6B, DC-7B and the most modem of all, the DC-7C-the "Super 7". Pan Amerfoan entered the jet age on October 26, 19.58, about three weeks behind the British, with a Boeing 707 flight from New York to Paris - the first American-flag transatlantic jet service. Trans World Airlines converted its transatlantic services to all-jet operations over a year ago, leaving Pan American's Wright Whirlwinds and Pratt & Whitney's the only United States piston engines left in such service. It is only fitting, that Pan American, which inaugurated the first com mercial transatlantic piston flight back in 1939, should also make the last one, thus ending the era this pioneer airliine originally started. Pan Am's Flight #157, a DC-7C, with Capt. S. Marshall as pilot, took off from Lisbon on September 28, 1963 at 2130 hours. About thirteen hours later at 0855, September 29th, it touched down at Idlewild Airport, New York. The only piston services now operated by Pan Am in its worldwide opera tions are short haul flights in tlhe South Pacific, Central America, Alaska, the Car ibbean and between Berlin and other cities in West Germany. 132 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 ·*J."'_M,..J Jil:t;.l,;.r~I...:.:~\ IC.~{Id') t\.:.. .4 "iJ., {~) 1 -f( ~~~~0;:~~~~0.;~ f ~e ~) ;:/r~;· k ·* ·!h ";r· : ~.:;p . 2f , 1963 ~ 1>1.1i;,1en t : .J<..!~ · C ·gI•e' ve : 2f /21 . 3 . 1A A!R MAIL .J.~. l '°i ve : 29 · . 5'.:'. ;/i..1 h ~r:. ]oJ.lt * ?l.iJ".:.': ~G ...:im0 : 1 .3 . @l ji1 ·" rov e ~~t re ...::.. t · ~00~lyn 1 j0~ Yore · i( l':i.Jot : .,_ ~ -;..- ~ .~:r.n. r. :J . ~1. A. - ll221 ¥- : ~ ~ * * ¥- ~ * * €J ·: 1963 - LaS'i Piston Transatlantic Airmail The illustrated. cover commemorating this trip was carried on Flight #157 with the help of Pan Am's station manager at Idlewild and the Air Traffic Manager, R. De A. Migueis, at Lisbon, who once again demonstrated the courteous and ef ficient service that Pan Am has rendered to collectors throughout the years. · - William Bo Ile A1nerica's First Air Mail? According to an· article in the Autumn of the service was to summon doctors issue of "Herst's Outbursts," the "house back to Los Angeles when they were organ" of dealer Herman He,rst, Jr., Am- urgently needed. Also, the Los Angeles erica's first air mail service was not that Times newspaper sent a daily column flown by Earl Ovington from Garden of news to Catalina Island. Arrangements City to Mineola, Long Island, N. Y. on were made for messages from the Island Septembe.r 23, 1911. to be sent by messenger or telegraph, Granted, the Ovington flights were on their arrival in Los Angeles. the fkst under the supervision of the Post An article in Natural Histo-ry for Oct- Office Department, but the first regular ober, 1943, illustrates several of the mes- air mail service of any kind was started. in sages sent and the announcement of this 1894 between Los Angeles and Avalon, "P:igeon Post" service, and a photograph Catalina Island, off the Southern Calif- of one of the pigeons. o.mia Coast, a distance of 48 miles. · Homing pigeons were used for the (Editor's Note: AAMS member Pat service, which operated over three sum- Herst advises that as a result of the mer seasons on a daily basis. In the three article in his "Outbursts" he has had years, only two "flights" did not get reports of two items flown by this un- th rough , and the h azards were not on1 y usual air service.) 27 miles of open seas and storms, but Have any of you ever seen one of hawks and hunte.rs as well! these letters? This writer wishes to learn Letters on onionskin were collected more about this service and to hear from daily from a box in front of the old Met- any members who can furnish any in- ropole Hotel. They were carried. at rates formation, or know whe.re a copy of the starting at 50c for mini.mum weight to Natural History article can be obtained.. $1.00 for an overweight lette,r. One use - Kendall C. Sanford THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 133 Balloon Post 0£ The Siege 0£ Paris, 1870-71 By Louis A. Chaintrier Translated by Dr. Everett E. Thompson and George W. Angers CHAPTER 38 - JACQUARD (In memory of Joseph Marie Jacquard; • Paris. Such a distance in 81h hours mechanic, inventor of the weaving ma- means a speed of 70 Ian, 940 m (about chine that bears his name. Born at Ly- 44 miles) an hour. In the issue of the on in 1752, died at Oullins, Rhone, in paper "The Morning Advertiser" of No- 1884.) vember 80, 1870, is the following: The 29th postal balloon was chartered "Falmouth. A balloon was seen yes- by the Post Office Administration. It terday by a fishing boat about five miles contained 2045 cubic meters and was to the south of Eddystone Light; it was piloted by Alexander Prince, born in too far away under the wind to receive 1848 at Jurancon (Lower Pyrenees) and any aid. The aeronaut appeared to be a seaman of the line based at the port of aware of his situation; the balloon seem Toulon. He had been released from ed to be rising and was flying rapidly, Montrouge Fort to be assigned to the urged on by a wind from the east. This aerostatic workshop at the Orleans sta- wind had blown with force over the tion. Channel throughout the day. If this bal- He departed alone because the wind loon could not land on the Scilly Isles, was so violent at departure time that the in all probability it would have been three persons who were to accompany carried out into the midst of the Atlantic. him refused to leave (Journal "Le Gaul- It was conjectured that this balloon 01s , of November 29, 1870.) This final came from Paris." decision was to save their lives. But their So the Jacquard had traversed more refusal compelled the aeronaut to over- than 603 kilometers when it was seen by load a great amount of ballast sacks. Goldsmith. The postal cargo comprised four sacks In the issue of the journal, "Times," of with dispatches weighing a total of 250 December 3, 1870 is the following: kilograms (550 lbs.). No pigeons were "Falmouth. Some fishermen from the carried by this balloon. port of Penberth ( situated four miles to Departure was effected from the Or- the southeast of Land's End) have re leans station on Monday, November 28, ported seeing a balloon disappear at sea 1870, at 11 p. m. on a very black night on the morning of November 29, 35 with a violent wind from the southeast. miles to the west of Scilly Isles." At the moment when Prince climbed "Falmouth. The tide has just thrown into the basket, he exclaimed enthusias- onto the Falmouth coast a packet of dis tically: "I wish to make an immense patches bearing Paris stamps and the in ( sic) voyage, so that people will talk of scription 'By balloon flight.' The con my ascension!" clusion is that a balloon left Paris and The balloon rose slowly at first, then while it otherwise would have been fly suddenly disappeared abruptly into the ing over the Channel, must have been storm ... and at 7 :30 the next morning, lost at sea.'' November 29, the three-master North, In the newspaper, "Sun", of December an English ship off Land's End (the December 8, 1870 are the following: extreme southwest point of England) "London. The last packages (sic) of commanded by its master, John Gold- letters fallen from the balloon from Paris smith, saw far away-toward the west- which was flying over the Channel Tues a balloon borne by the raging storm day, November 29, have been cast by which soon disappeared into the immen- the tide on the coast and brought to sLty. 'Dhe master was too astounded to F01lmouth.) They were recovered alt speak. Cadgwith near The Lizard. They The Land's End cape is 608 kilometers were forwarded to London. There is no (about 874 miles) by bird flight from news of the balloon. It is feared that 134 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 the men flying it ihave been drowned. 10017, enclosing a stamped, addressed A single sack was thrown up by the envelope. waves on the shore at Cadgwith, recov ered by some English fishermen on the • first of December, 1870, and sent by "THE AERO FIELD" ANNUAL COMPETITION them to the post office at Falmouth (England) the same day at 6 o'clock in N. C. Baldwin, Editor of The Aero the evening. The letters suffered very Field has advised us that Mr. J. Pater little damage in spite of their stay in son of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, won the water-only the pieces at the ends the first prize and Mrs. C. M. Gray of of the packets were much stained. 35, Southwood Road, New Eltham, S. The fact that this sack had been E. 9, was awarded the second prize in found on the shore in the neighborhood The Aero Field Annual Competition, of Cadgwitih ( a small port on the east originally announced in the May, 1963, ern coast of The Lizard) enables us to AirpO!;t l ournal. state that it had been thrown out by Competitors were asked to submit Prince just before the last time he was an article of about 500 words on: "Air seen. Covers: are they an integral part of The distance between the longitude EVERY collection?" of Cadgwith (Lizard Point) and Land's The Aero Field is published monthly End is 24 miles ( 3.86 kilometers)." in England by Francis J. Field, Ltd., Today one can see in the Hall of Lost Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. Inquires Passages in the Austerlitz Station in Paris about the publication may be directed (the old station of Orleans) a commem to the firm. orative plaque of this event. It was af fixed in 1874. The Jacquard was the sixth balloon WANT YOU!! that fell outside France and the first that disappeared at sea. These familiar words will regist· (To Be Continued) er with our members from World • War II. Please write to the Sales INTERPEX 1964 - Department if you wish to buy or (Continued from Page 122) sell aerophilatelic items. ious years, appraise stamps and other philatelic material free of charge. Many air mail collectors have For the first time the two giant hob been surprised at the unusual mat· bies - philatelies and numismatics - will meet side by side at INTERPEX, since erial that can he procured from based on the great demand by the gen this service of your Society. eral public attending last year's event, If your desired material is not on coins and money will also be featured this year. hand at the present time, your There will be many other features name will he kept on file for fut· and interesting displays, as well as a ure use. Write To ... bourse of over 50 prominent dealers who offer material from all pa;rts of the world. Herman Kleinert, Sales Mgr. The exhibition is open Friday from 11:00 A. M. to 9:00 P. M., Saturday from 10:00 A. M. to 9:00 P. M., and Sunday from 12:00 Noon to 8:00 P. M. The admission is $1.25 for adults and $.60 for children under 12. The com plete detailed p;rogram can be obtained 213 Virginia Ave. by writing to Industrial Exhibitions, Inc., Fullerton, Pa. 18052 17 East 45th Street, New York, N. Y. THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 135 The Philatelie History of Aerophilately ~eiie. fttd ol/ t!lk f-VU4"'· ta a ~ ut <>/ 16 ~ ~ ~ t!lk ~~ o/; rl~. Spaces are provided for thirty-one history mak • ing covers, beginning with the Paris "Par Balloon Monte" Flights of 1870, continuing with the • first Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific flights, the various historic Contract Airmail Routes, first Helicopter flights, right up to the recent Jet flights. These colorful sky-blue pages pro vide the perfect setting for your airmail covers. The complete set of 16 pages, punched for 3-ring binders - Package of 16 blank pages with the Aero philately design to match above album - A complete collection of 31 covers, including an original Par Balloon Monte cover, for the above album pages, a complete SPECIAL exhibition showpiece, nea 1tly mounted for - Life Member: 22 ~ 136 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 THE AIRPOST J OURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 137 Airs of the Month Described! and Illustrated through ihe courtesy of Nicolas Sanabria Co., Inc. 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y., 10017 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 BOLIVIA: Pan-American Railroad Congress ( 1) Alliance for Progress ( 1) NIGER CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Agriculture ( 4); Souvenir sheet ( 1) African Unity ( 1); Railways ( 4); PARAGUAY Souvenir sheet ( 1) Winter Olympics, perforate and im CONGO perforate and souvenir sheets ( 8) Flower ( 1 ) ; Freedom Square ( 1 ) PERU COSTA RICA Freedom from Hunger ( 1 ) Meeting of Presidents ( 7); Native PORTUGAL Arts ( 3) 30th Anniversary of National Airline, CZECHOSLOVAKIA TAP (3) 40th Anniversary of National Airline ROMANIA (2) Nikolaev & Popovich twin space flights EGYPT (U. A. R.): ( 3); Pavillion ( 1); Stamp Day 1962 New definitives ( 3) ( 1); Stamp Day 1963 (overprint on FRENCH AFRICAN AREA issue fo.r 1962) ( 1); 50th Anniv. of Commemorating the introduction of Death of Aurel Vlaicu ( 1) DC-8 service by Air Af.rique, single value for each of the following SPAIN cow1tries: Cameroons, Chad, Congo, Mysteries of the Rosary ( 4) ; Recare Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, do & Cisneros ( 2) Senegal, Upper Volta. The issue for SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC Upper Volta is an overprint and su.r Various commemorative issues ( 11) 1 cha·rge on the Ouagadougou-Paris by jet stamp ( 9); Europe-Africa issue, single valu~ for each of the following countries: Central African Rep., Chad, Congo, Gabon & Niger ( 5) HAITI Alphabetization ( 3) IVORY COAST Views, Moossou Bridge ( 1) LEBANON Baalbeck Festival ( 1 ) LIBERIA Winter Olympics, set and sheet ( 3) MALAGASY REPUBLIC Second Anniversary of Admission to U. P. U. (2) MALI REPUBLIC URUGUAY Air Mali ( 3) ; Protection of wildlife ( 2) Birds ( 6) MAURITANIA VENEZUELA Tiros satellite ( 1 ) Freedom from Hunger ( 2) MEXICO YEMEN Jose Guadalupe Posada ( 1); 11th New republic ( 3) AN INTERRUPTION - (Continued from P1age 131) citizen and ·saying to him, "Good morning, Mr. Kroll. There is a letter for you. It arrived by helicopter!" TI1is bit of sarcastic humor now may seem a bit out of place, since helicopter mail service is common both here in the United States and in Belgium. But even now this is a philatelic item one can have a chuckle over and made a most interesting addition to my collection. (Editor's Note: This is the first in what Past President Matejka hopes will be a series reporting recent acquisitions to the cover collections of various members. Who'll be next!! l ) THE AIRPOST J OURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 139 BOOK REVIEWS - The Sky's The Limit Rocketpost Catalogue Of The World, /by Charles J. Kelly, Jr., Coward Vol. I McCann, Inc., New York, 1963, ·317 By Hermann Walter Sieger, Sieger pages, $5.95. Verlag, P.O. Box 69, Lorch, Wuert This book is a history of our airlines temberg, Western Germany, 59 both in this country and on international pages, DM 2 - ($0.50) routes, with the emphasis on the deve The author, Mr. Hermann Walter Sie lopment of the airplane. ger, is certainly the most active editor of Mr. Kelly, the author, has been very airpost catalogues in the n}any special closely related to the airlines and the fields of aerophilatelic collecting among people who run them through his as our members. The fact that his publica sociation with flying and the Civil Aero tions are in the Ge.rman language offers nautics Board. He starts right at the be no difficulty to the American collector ginning of airline development and car because each item is illustrated in his ries it up to the time of publication in catalogues. The evaluation in German 1963. The book is completely authoritat marks does not offer any difficulty eith ive and without error as to facts. The er because the mark is identical to the bibliography is excellent. American quarter and this relation has As Mr. Kelly traces Juan Trippe's remained stable for many yea.rs. development of Pan American-Panagra service down the west coast of South His newest book was in preparation America and the competition of NYRBA for quite some time and its release marks on the east coast, you wish that he were the start of publication of a complete an F. A. M. collector belonging to our Rocketpost Catalogue gradually covering Society. He presents the whole story in all areas of the world. The fact that the a ve,ry interesting and exciting style. For author is the head of a large philatelic i~stance, on the first flight to the Philip enterprise gives him a close familiarity pmes he quotes Juan Trippe in part: with market prices. And this knowledge "Captain Musick, you have your sailing surely benefits these publications. The orders. Cast off and depart for Manila new first part of the Roqketpost Cata in accordance therewith ." What a pic logue covers all official rocketpost starts. ture enters your mind as you see the Up to the present time these have taken flying boat roaring down the bay in place in Cuba ( 1939), the United States take-off and gracefully rising and dis (Missile Mail of 1959), in Yugoslavia appearing into the west. ( 1960), Austria ( 1961-62-63) and in The whole book is not about Juan Switzerland ( 1961). The main pa.rt of Trippe by any means. The author stress the Catalogue is a detailed listing of all es the very strong personalities that were 28 rocketpost starts of the German Rock involved in airline development and air et Society ( 1959/1963) and of all the craft manufacture in the early days. He special stationery cards ( with official draws intimate pictures of "Eddie" postal stamps) which were issued by the Rickenbacker, C. R. Smith, Howard same group ( 1959/1961). Hughes, and many of the other colorful The same author earlier listed the personalities involved. early German .rocketposts in a publica The history that a collector will learn tion entitled German Rocketpost Cata from reading this book will multiply his logue (same publishing house, 1959, 19 pleasure when he acquires a SCADTA pp., DM 1.50 - $0.40). The Schmied! cover or an early C. A. M. for he will rocketposts of Austria and Yugoslavia then know about the sometimes devious are expected to be listed in the second transactions that developed a route and volume, together with the early Amer the type of equipment that flew it. ican rocketpost experiments. Collectors Read it, members, and you will thank will be interested in all of these publica me for calling it to your attention. tions as they are released. - R. K. Keiser - Reviewed by Dr. Max Kronstein 140 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 A Pocket Calendar Designed in air transportation, devoted largely to flight safety improvement. Among other For the Stamp Collector contributions, Christenson has been a There are hundreds and even thou leader in the development of anticollision sands of pocket calendars issued every lights, improvement of cockpit simulators year, but none satisfy the needs of the for crew training and the development of stamp collecto.r. To remedy this situation, training films. He has served in various a special "Philatelic Pocket Calendar" for advisory capacities with the Air Transport the year 1964 has been issued, compiled Association, the Federal Aviation Agency and edited by AAMS member Herbert and the Research Advisory Committee of Rosen, well-known philatelist who oper the National Aeronautics and Space ates the annual INTERPEX show. Administration. This calendar, which fits easily in any Christenson joined United Air Lines in pocket, contains over 30 sections, sche 1933, advanced to the rank of captain dules, listings and tables. In addition to and in 1948 was appointed Flight Safety the usual daily calendar, it lists holidays, Engineer for United. Following service philatelic and international events the with the ATC during Wo.rld War II, he leading philatelic organizations, postal returned to United and was promoted museums, the most important abbrevia to his present position in 1958. A refer tions, dollar and pound conversion table, ence to the American Air Mail Catalogue the 111 members of the United Nations reveals that Christenson also held first ~ listing and abbreviations of the special~ flight honors, having flown the first 1zed U. N. Agencies, directions for read direct dispatch from Denve.r to North ing oriental postmarks, etc. There are Platte on Dec. 2, 1937, catalogue number a.lso tables for .First Day issues, subscrip 18E53f. Our congratulations to Mr. tions and memberships, insurance and medical expenses, as well as a check list Christenson! -William R. Ware for stamps. Created by a philatelist - for the philatelist - this handy booklet will give THE CONSTANT stamp collectors all pertinent data which they need daily. This new item costs SUPPLEMENT only $1.00; it can be obtained from lead ing stamp dealers or direct from the THE AIRMAIL ENTIRE TRUTH publishers, H-R Productions, Inc., 17 is the regular 3-times a year news East 45th Street, New York, N. Y. letter providing all the advance in 10017. formation about happenings in the aerogramme field as well as in air • mail envelopes / airmail postal cards. Thousands of collectors depend on it Veteran Pilot Honored for accurate reports. They supplement Carl M. Christenson, long time pilot their knowledge & they profit by it. They protect themselves against spur and presently Assistant Vice-President, ious issues. It is Flight Operations, United Air Lines, has received an award fo.r Distinguished THE CONSTANT SUPPLEMENT Service, which is presented by the Flight to their catalogues. and may be S~ety Fom;idation to. those making sig had entirely free against a supply of nificant achievements 111 world-wide avia 5c stamped & addressed legal size en tion safety. Christensen was one of three velopes. recipients of the 1963 award at the Foundation's annual Air Safety Seminar held in Athens, Greece on November 7 LAVA 1963. ' The Distributor of the Barbados Error Box 1. Fort George Station The citation accompanying the award New York, N. Y. 10040 pointed to Christenson's thirty-one yea.rs THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 141 Recent African Airmail News By Capt. M. F. ,stern East African Airways: • This company has closed its South African offices at Johannesburg and Du.rban. The last E. A. A. se;rvices to Johannesburg .and Durban from Nairobi were operated on October 12 - 13, 1963. The Company serviced special covers to and from Johannesburg on October 12. These were prepared for the Aerophilatelic Society of Southern Africa. Lufthansa: One-stop jet service from Frankfu.rt to Johannesburg via Lagos was inaugur ated October 3. The flying time was 11 hours. The Company abandoned its- p;revious route to Jan Smuts Airport via Khartoum because Kenya has refused landing rights in Nairobi. The new service cuts the flying time by two hou.rs. Air France: This Company has decided to withdraw all its services from the African Continent, except to Dakar. Its flights will be taken over by Air Mrique and UAT (Union Aerienne de Transportes), France's second airline. This decision was made to enable the State-run airline to concentrate on developing its other internation al air routes. South African Airways: On August 22, 1963, it was reported that Libya had closed the last gap in the North African air curtain to South African aircraft. The first flight which broke this curtain (by going ·around it) was made by 1a Boeing on August 22, on the new route from Johannesburg via Brazzaville, Las Palmas and Rome to London. No mails were carried due to short notice. The first regular flights were on August 24 from Johannesburg to Athens via Luanda, Las Palmas, and Rome. Mails were accepted. On August 25 a new flight was made from Johannesburg to Frankfp.rt via Luanda, Las Palmas, and London. On September 6 came the news that SAA had dropped Las Palmas as a technical stop and would call at Lisbon on the services which terminate in London, Frankfurt, Rome and Athens. Tlhus, two services operate through Luanda and two by way of Brazzaville, flying non-stop around the bulge of Africa. The routes are now Tuesdays, to London via Salisbury, Brazzaville, and Lisbon; Wednesdays, to Rome via Luanda, Lisbon and Zurich; Thursdays, to London, via Brazzaville, Lisbon and Pa.ris; Fridays, by Salisbury, Luanda, Lisbon and London; Saturdays, to Athens, via Luanda, Lisbon, and Rome; Sundays, to Frankfurt, via Luanda, Lis bon and London. Transportes Aereos Portuguesa {T. A. P.): A long range jet airliner left Lisbon on Octobe.r 4, 1963 for a non-stop eight hour flight to Luanda, Angola, inaugurating a new service. T. A. P. operated this service once a week during October and twice weekly from November on. The new service will not affect the 18-ihour service via Sal, Cape Verde Islands, and Bis sau, Portuguese Guinea. This longer service recently was changed from a 16-hour route via Kano, Nigeria following the withdrawal of overflying rights fo.r Portuguese aircraft by several African nations, not including Nigeria. The First Direct Airflight Between South Africa and Antarctica: This historic 4,600 mile nonstop flight was ca.rried out by the U. S. Navy Deepfreeze Unit consisting of two giant Lockheed Hercules combat transport air craft, fitted with both skis and wheels. The latter project throug•h the skis for ordina.ry landings. Normal flights are made from Christchurch, New Zealand, which 142 THE AIRPOST J'OURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 is about half the distance. 3,600 extra gallons of fuel had to be carried to make the flight possible. This ·operation may open up the South Polar route for airlines. Tihe flight took 14 hours, 31 minutes, leaving Cape Town at 4 p. m. on Monday, Septem ber 30, 1963, and arriving at the American Base at McMurdo Sound, 6:31 a. m. on Covers Carried from Cape T•own io Aniarciica (Copyrighi Reserved) October 1, 1963. It opened the 1964 research season. The two Hercules C-130 BL's were under the command ·of Admiral James Reedy of the U. S. Navy; in all there were 15 men in one plane and 14 in the other. The odd man was a representative of the Republic of South Africa, Geology P.rofessor L. C. King of the University of TataL 'i\lriter and broadcaster Lowell Thomas was in one of the planes, and in this plane Lt. Comdr. Richard Nickerson of Pocatello, Idaho, was at th e controls, relieved after 60 % of the time by Admiral Reedy himself. Lt. Comdr. Bill Kurlac was at the controls of the other plane, together with Comdr. George R. Kelly. About three hours out they passed over the Soutih African frigate, the Transvaal, sent to a point a thousand mHes south of Cape Town to give ·the airmen a weather repo,rt and to be THE AIRPOST J OURNAL. FEBRUARY, 1964 143 ready in case of trouble. A South African Air Force C-130 transport aircraft was also sent 1,000 miles sout A House to House Collection with an Airpost Receipt: Berne, Switzerland, March 26, 1913 By Dr. Max Kronstein In the September, 1960, issue of The • that even in their absence during the Airpost Journal the first airpost flight daytime their contributions will be from the Swiss Capital at Be.me to Burg held available. For amounts exceeding dorf was described and data given about five francs, the donors will be given the special airstamp and cancellation receipts from the Committee which which were used. On Page 343 it was will be franked with the 50 centimes noted that special cash donations of at airstamp and carried with the airpost least five francs had been acknowledged by the aviator Bider, scheduled to by the Committee by means of a card function on March 29 or later, between bearing a 50 centimes airstamp and in Berne and Burgdorf. scribed "NATIONAL AVIATION DON ATION: The amount of ...francs has In various Swiss cities the collection been received for the National Aviation for Military Aviation has already pro Fund. This confi.rms.-The Committee in duced excellent results, especially in St. Charge, Be.rne, March 30, 1913 - BY Gallen where more than 100,000 francs AIRPOST." have been collected and in Basie where approximately the same amount But we were not aware of the full has been obtained. All the people of circumstances under which these cards Berne are asked to cooperate so that had been used until we recently discov our city also will produce an amount ered the morning issue of the Berne for the National Aviation Collection newspaper, "Der Bund," of Wednesday, which is worthy of the great purpose March 26, 1918, at the Library of Con of this collection and of the position gress in Washington. This paper, pub of this city in the Swiss Confederation lished four days before the Berne airpost and its tradition. flight, contains an advertisement which gives the detailed story of these ca:rds, The Committee" and which reads as follows: This house collection produced an "NATIONAL AVIATION amount of 30,414.79 francs for the COLLECTION IN BERNE Aviation Fund. - D;r. Max Kronstein Today, Wednesday, in the city of Berne, a house to house collection for • Swiss Military Aviation will be held, as DIE PROOFS - decided upon by a well attended meet (Continued from Page 121) ing of the representatives of the City all our members are invited to rest and Officials and various societies. In order visit while seeing the show. Elsewhere to allow undisturbed progress of the in this issue there is a report of many collection and also to facilitate the other interesting features to be found at work of the collectors, the respected INTERPEX, and a mo;re detailed ex household heads are asked to insure planation of the Society's Lounge plans. 144 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 Air Hail Interrupted Flight (Urash) Uovers By R. Lee Black, Associate Editor The collecting of airmail interrupted • to exist from that accident. There is no flight or crash covers is probably the way of telling what one would bring most difficult phase of all airmail cover on the auction block at this time. The collecting due to the lack of advance Europeans are now more able to bid in notice of any particular event and also the American auction market since many to the fact that most mail recovered from restrictions have been removed. This such crashes is thrown away by the results in higher prices being paid for recipients. The lack of "crash" cachets all sorts of airmail material. on most of such recovered mail is also a It is impossible to gather together cause of the dearth of identifiable covers. a complete collection of crash covers Post offices do not apply a 'crash' listed in the American Air Mail Cata cachet unless the mail is damaged or is logue. Joe Eisendrath of Chicago has delayed for more than two days. Since an almost complete collection. Edwin 1961, the Post Office has generally Fletcher of Hollywood also has a vast applied the simple cachet "Damaged in collection of crash and accident material Handling in the Postal Service". Hence, from ships, trains, etc. There are other the cancellation has to be relied upon to notable collections but none to match identify the recovered mail. Prior to those two. This editor had a vast col the adoption of this uniform marking lection of such covers but broke it up and the various Post Office Inspectors, or the it was parcelled out to collectors. Mr. post office where the crash mail was Eisendrath purchased what he needed to processed for forwarding, applied a crash fill in the "loose ends" of his collection. marking "Damaged" or "Delayed" and Mr. Fletcher also purchased quite a few included the place and date of crash. as did A. J. Paul of Austin, Texas, and Therefore, the cachet itself was a means Ralph Cole of Washington, D. C. of identifying such covers. Under the Crash material has always been rated present system of marking, recovered by this editor as the true "blue-blood" items from crashes are very hard to come of air mail cover collecting since such by and each identifiable cover is becom covers were not philatelically prepared or ing quite uncommon if not a rarity. inspired. This is not meant to degrade The fact is that the covers from the in any way first flights, dedications, early crashes are, in a great many cases, etc., as they have a great place in the becoming true classics, and some are airmail story but the point is that crash in the unique category, with but one covers are peculiarly cacheted by the or two known to exist. This is reflected Post Office Inspectors and the post in recent auctions of such material. In offices. They come unexpectedly and in the Herman Herst sale some two years unique forms and are flown in regular ago many of these "old timers" brought scheduled airliners. full oatalogue value and in many cases They make a great display in any as much as two or more times the price exhibition and stand out among all in the Catalogue. other airmail covers. There is a history The Donald Dickason sale about a yea,r behind the pilot who flew each plane ago again emphasized the high bidding as well as in some of the persons on prices for these older classics. For ex board, such as in the Kansas crash where ample, the Hindenburg crash cover Knute Rockne was killed and in the brought over $500, with a catalogue Colorado crash where Carole Lombard price of $100. No covers from the Lind lost her life. I first interested myself in bergh crash (No. 26.9) November 3, collecting ,crash material back in 1934 1936, at Covell, Illinois, have reached when I acquired my first crash cover. the auction market. Only two are known It was No. 30.2, Cedar City, Utah. My THE AIRPOST JOURNAL. FEBRUARY, 1964 145 wife and I had dinner with my niece sourcefulness. They are obtained from and we mentioned the then recent crash those known to have such covers, by in Missouri which was in the news advertising shortly after the crash, from around that time and she said "I have auctions, etc. They "come hard" in a cover from my brother which was not most cases. This writer will be glad found until six months after it was to supply research material covering any mailed". I obtained it. It intrigued me. particular cover to anyone desiring same. After an investigation I found that It is part of my job for the Society. Be the letter was carried by Maurice fore long our Catalogue Committee will Graham, a World War I pilot, who publish a supplemental listing of Crash had flown planes in battle in Germany Covers, picking up where the Jotirruzl and carried supplies to the famed "Lost left off in the issue of October, 1962. Battalion''. His plane went down on the Wasatch Range near Cedar City, Utah, Recently the writer learned that "The and was not found until after the snow Alaska Sportsman", a magazine pub had melted in June, 1930, although the lished in Ketchikan, Alaska, had received mail was postmarked January 10, 1930, a number of covers recovered from the at Los Angeles. crash on October 26, 1947, at Annette Island, Alaska (No. 47.6). These were I later corresponded with Graham's purchased by the writer and distributed widow and obtained much data about to collectors needing same. Up to the her late husband. That first cover stirred time of that 'find' these covers were me to the point where I commenced a considered very scarce and they still world-wide search for other such items a:re for that matter. A number of covers and each one obtained was researched and written up for my files. A brief have been submitted to this writer and sketch of pertinent data was incorporated the Society for expertizing and in some in the Catalogue listings. As a result I cases we have been unable to identify managed over the years to garner some them, although they may yet turn out to 240 different crash covers. I obtained the he proper new crash listings. For exam Post Office's official reports of its invest ple, Mr. Fletcher of Hollywood, Califor igations, wMch disclosed the amount of nia, submitted a cover postmarked March mail aboard at each crash, together with 10, 1940, at Washington, D. C., and ad the number of pieces salvaged and how dressed to San Francisco. It bears a they were cacheted; I also obtained the a cachet reading "Damaged by fire en Investigation Reports of the Civil Aero route 3/11/40 J. E. D., Post Office nautics Board. My research included Inspector, Martinsburg, W. Va." If any newspaper clippings and correspondence reader knows anything about such an with some of the pilots' families or with incident we will appreciate hearing from the pilots who survived. you. This item may have been damaged by fire in flight, or in a crash landing, These remarks denote what can be or by some other cause. It was forwarded done to complete the history of each under penalty cover from Martinsburg, such item. When the research is com W. Va. on March 13, 1940, which in pleted as far as possible, a group of dicates at least a two-day delay. The such items, even though only a few Post Office is unable to give us any dozen, forms a unique collection differ information as their 1940 files have long ent from any other segment of philately. since been destroyed or buried. One might say, "Why colleot these things which are the result of disaster There are a number of crash covers and loss of human life? One must not bearing various cachets during World view such covers as morbid items. Look War II but these are not listed since at the Patriotics of the Civil War and they were apparently aboard military air World Wars I and II. Each one of those craft. The Air Force did not keep any had a collateral history of disaster, loss records of mail on board or other statis and morbidness. tics, and is unable to give us any in To obtain crash covers requires re- formation. Even though they are not in 146 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 the Catawgue they are collectable as some of them. There have been a num crash cove.rs. ber of foreign crashes but our Society We have a number of other covers for does not list items unless the crash oc examination, but since these were in curred on U. S. or Canadian soil or volved in some airmail interruption or involved an F. A. M. carrier. There are crash many years ago it now seems im also some crash covers from special ev possible to obtain anything definite. We ents such as races, exhibitions, etc., but have checked old newspaper files in most unless the salvaged mail was from a cases. The CAB did not ope:mte then and regular, scheduled airliner they will not the Post Office records have been either be reported in the Catalogue. destroyed or placed in the Archives. For instance, back in 1919, a mail • plane crash occurred near Sea Breeze, Airport Dedications N. J., on the mud flats. The plane was By William T. Wynn, Jr. enroute from Washington, D. C. to New 13537 Rockdale, Detroit, Mich. 48223 York, piloted by Leon H. Smith. The news story is quite long and it mentions Our many thanks for the Season's the mail aboard. This plane hit the mud Greetings received from many col flats on Wednesday, March 18, at 4 lectors. The year 1963 has been a rough year o'dock. If anyone has a cover bearing for many and you.r columnist also had his postmark date of March 18, or a day one troubles. The first 3 months of '63 were way or the other, and it shows damage spent in the hospital and recovering or is cacheted in any way will you please from surgery, but as of now I am on my let the Section Editors know. job and doing fine. May 1964 be the Mr. William P. Laird, 219 Meadow best year ever for all of our readers. Lane North, Minneapolis 22, MinnesO ta, reports on his collection of some 35 The John F. Kennedy International items and he states that he wants to Airpo.rt (formerly N. Y. International or "Idlewild" ) was dedicated from reports build up his collection and requests help on December 24. My own cards and from anyone who has covers to sell or covers were sent but arrived too late for trade. Mr. Laird is associated with the the event. If you missed it, I suggest First National Bank of Minneapolis. that perhaps the MACC may have some Donald E. Dickason, a former dealer, covers on this one. conducted auction sales in years past. I The Wright Memo.rial First Flight recall that I purchased my Hindenburg Airport was dedicated on December 17 cover from him shortly after that disaster. ( more details elsewhere in this issue) . He then retired from the philateHc field Covers were mailed from Kitty Hawk, but now has gone back into the auction N. C., witl-i either printed or rubber business as a sideline to his position with stamp cachet ma.rkings. Covers were also the College and University Personnel mailed from Kill Devil Hills, N. C., Association, 5605 Avenida Del Mare, marked with autographs of Postmaster Sarasota, Florida. He has had some inter and Secreta.ry of the Chamber of Com esting sales, one in 1962 and one in merce. 1963. If you have any covers you want During the past few montl-is a large to sell contact him so that he can list number of letters have been sent out them in his next catalogue. He is an requesting information on futu.re events. authority on such covers. News of some is beginning to come in We will not comment here on covers and we hope that in the near future we recovered from airmail plane interrup may be able to supply you with consider tions over the last two years since these able future dedication news. I repeat that will be published shortly in the Journal it's to your advantage to keep a supply as a Catalogue Supplement. I might add, of cards fo.r future dedication notices however, that few have been report with me; I will also hold your covers and ed. There are only six episodes to list mail one for each event that I cover my so far. Mail has not been reported on self, but I cannot guarantee covers. THE AIRPOST ;TQURNAL, FEBRUARY, 19:4 147 Tet Tattings By Michael P. Codd - 35 Lander Ave., S:ta:ten Island, N. Y. 10314 There is not too much to report this • 6 a. m. and a green cachet. The Post- month. It reminds one of the lull before master at New York GPO cancelled 1,834 the storm. We are referring, of course, pieces of philatelic mail at 7 a. m., apply to the flock of new jet flights later this ing a blue cachet similar to that used on year when various airlines inaugurate the covers from Buenos Aires, but new services with the three-engine Boe- slightly larger and with English wording. ing 727. And the Superintendent at AMF Idlewild On November 2, 1963, Northwest cancelled 3,111 first flight covers at 9 a. m. with a magenta cachet. All three Orient Airlines inaugurated non-stop dispatches were backstamped at Buenos DC-8 jet services from Seattle to Tokyo. Aires, December 6, 1963, 7 ( 7 a. m.). Seattle Airport Mail Facility cancelled philatelic mail at 8: 30 p. m. which was On the return nonstop jet flight Buen backstamped at Tokyo, Nov. 4, 10-12. os Aires cancelled jet covers December The.re was no cachet, of course. While 6, 1963, and applied a small square these covers will NOT list in the Jet cachet in black. These were backstamped Section of the AAMS Catalogue, they are at AMF Idlewild, December 7, 8:30 of interest to some jet collectors. It is not a. m. (cover illustrated). known if there were any covers can The Post Office Department for some celled at the Seattle Post Office. reason had instructed collectors to send On December 5, 1963, Pan American their covers to the Postmaster at Jamaica, World Airways inaugurated nonstop jet N. Y., for Post Office dispatch. Some of service from New York to Buenos Aires. these covers were ultimately sent to GPO Special Pan Am Cover for :the Nons:too Buenos Aires-New York Je:t Fligh:t, December 6, 1963 How distances shrink! The distance bet in New York, while quite a few of them v,1een these two cities is 5,445 miles and were sent to AMF Idlewild at Jamaica it took Pan American only ten and one for the flight. As a result of this we can half hours to make this flight. see that the GPO dispatched only a few There were 3,295 covers mailed at the more than half those sent from AMF United Nations with a cancellation of Idlewild. On most New York inaugurals 148 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 the amount of first flight covers post service to many of the cities noted in the marked at each of these two offices is December issue of The Airpost Journal. pretty evenly divided-give or take a Initially, United will offer one 727 few. However, with over 3000 cove.rs flight eastbound and one westbound cancelled at the United Nations, it is between San Francisco and Denver, quite apparent that there are a large George E. Keck, President has announ number of United Nations collectors. ced. The eastbound flight only will make Using DC-8 jets, Delta Air Lines in an intermediate stop at Salt Lake City. troduced jet services at West Palm Beach, Unrited expects to expand its 727 Florida on December 15-16. The first schedules on or about March 1. northbound jet flight saw 2,110 pieces of No announcement has yet been made philatelic mail cancelled on Decembe.r as to when American Airlines will begin 15 at 5: 30 p. m. which were backstamp their first 727 flights, but as far as we ed at Chicago AMF (O'Hare), Decem know now that carrier has not yet taken ber 15, P. M. (no hour). On the first delivery of its first aircraft. DC-8 southbound flight there were 1,266 Colfectors should note that both the jet covers cancelled December 16, 2:30 Eastern and United services announced a. m., receiving a Miami AMF, 5 a. m., are not new with jet aircraft and accord December 17 backstamp. Since this back ingly none will rate Catl1Jlogue listing stamp was a:pplied twenty-seven hours unless official cachets are provided, after the dispatching cancellation, it ap which seems unlikely. Some of the pears either that Miami AMF did not March 1 United service and the later process these covers right away or that Eastern 727 flights may involve new jet the flight was defayed. All of these cov stops and be eligible for listing. In this ers received a purple cachet ( similar to event the Advance Bulletin Service will that used at Jackson and Shreveport and provide appropriate notice so subscribers illustrated in our Decembe.r column), to it can send their covers as information provided by the Post Office, even though is made available. West Palm Beach had previously re ceived jet service by several other air lines. This column is written fo.r the bene fit of my fellow AAMS members. H any one lhas any question on jet inaugurals, AIR POST NEW ISSUES please feel free to write to me. In addi tion if anyone has any comments on tJhis column, I would be very happy to OF THE ENTIRE helar from yau. Happy tflying-'happy landing. • WORLD JET BULLETIN ! ! First 727 Service February l The first scheduled passenger and airmail service with the wo.rld's newest PAMPHLET UPON REQUEST operational jetliner, the three-engine Boeing 727, will be inaugurated by Eastern Air Lines on February l, five days prior to inauguration of similar service by United Air Lines. Eastern Nicolas Sanabria Co. Inc. plans service between Philadelphia and Miami and between Boston and Miami A. MEDAWAR, PRESIDENT with nonstop flights southbound, but stopping at Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and 521 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. 10017 Washington (Dulles) on the northbound flights. Later expansion will see new 727 THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 149 "Uncle Sam'' Sez • • • Samuel s. Goldsticker, Jr. 70-D Fremont Street Bloomfield, N. J, 07003 It is quite a pleasure to advise ou.r • no more mailmen will go into the rural members that Past-President Dick Sing areas of Afghanistan! ley has been discharged from the hos Congratulations to AAMS member pital, and is now recuperating at home, William Winterer of Detroit, Mich., 1102 West Ross Street, Lancaster, Pen who won the American Air Mail Society nsylvania. It would be a good idea for Ce.rtificate at the Southern Oregon all of the members to send Dick a card Philatelic Exhibition ( SOPEX '63). Mr. or note of encouragement to cheer him Winterer exhibited 60 pages of outstand up. The.re is a very good possiblity that ing Zeppelin material. Dick may resume writing for The Airpost Congratulations also are in order to Journal in the near future. member George T. Turner upon his be Several members of the American Air ing elected Vice-President of the Americ Mail Society have been elected to the an Philatelic Society, and to Richard Council of the American Philatelic Con Canman and David Lidman, who were gress. These include Past-Presidents Dr. elected Directors-at-Large. James J. Matejka, J.r., and Robert W. I regret having omitted from the list of Murch. Also elected to the Council were Aerophila '63 winners, the names of members David Lidman, Miss Barbara Sebastaio Amaral of Brazil, who received R. Mueller, and George T. Turner. Con a vermeil medal and Prix d'Honneur for gratulations to all. his outstanding collection of Airmail Our best wishes for a speedy recovery Stamps of San Marino, and APJ writer also go to Mrs. Gladys Eisend.rath, who Capt. M. F. Stern of Capetown, South underwent an emergency operation on Africa, who won a Silver Gilt Medal for December 16th. I understand she is now his South African Airmails. out of the hospital and recuperating at Other members winning awards ;re home. cently include two who won in the New When the 5c Science Commemorative Mexico Philatelic Association Show at Stamp was placed on sale at Washington, Albuquerque. Seymour B. Feldman won D. C. on October 14th, George King the Reserve Grand Award for his out dom and Bart Gatchell were the only standing exhibit of Rocket Mail and philatelists present at the first day cere Covers. James L. Meissen won the air monies. mail award for his display of airmail Howard T. Brooks, former Director stamps. Additional winners of va;rious of Mail and E~ress for Pan-American shows and exhibits will appear in a future World Airways, and later phila<-elic re column. If you ever hear of any AAMS p.resentative of several international air member winning an award in a stamp lines, has been appointed Deputy Post show, won't you please advise me so the master-General of Afghanistan and will news can be included in this column. supervise the postal system of that nation Members of the American Air Mail for a two-year period. One of the first Society attending the American Philatelic changes Howard made in the Afghanistan Society Convention in Mexico City last postal system was to discontinue mail year included: Bernard Davis, Sydney delivery service to rural areas of the Lazarus, George Lee, Harry Lind country, because "leopards kept eating quist, Jesse G. Johnson, Dr. and Mrs. the mailmen." Many of the letter car Pe.rham Nahl, Sam Ray, Mr. and Mrs. riers have made trips off the main road W. Schulze, Earl Wellman, and Kurt into the bush to deliver mail, never to be J. Weiss (from Guatemala). seen again. Days or weeks later, the The Court of General Sessions in natives would discover a mail sack, a few Washington, D. C., recently ruled that brass buttons, and a leopard's footprints stamps and coins are not "used" property, ... all that remained of the mailman. So, and stamp and coin dealers in the Na- 150 THE AIRPOST J'OURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 tion's Capital do not have to obtain York and the French islands of St. special second-hand licenses. It is my Pierre and Miquelon (they have already belief that a similar rule was made in received the permission of the French New York City not too long ago. Government) which would give these During the Christmas holidays, a let islands their first airline service. In addi ter was received at the Newark, New tion, they have applied for nonstop op Jersey Post Office with a Korean post erating authority between New York and mark, and addressed in Oriental script. Greenland and have received the No one at the Post Office could decipher "o. k." from the Danish Government. the address. Finally, a clerk who under What next for a small airline, not even stood Chinese solved the mystery. The operating vet? Frank Blumenthal and letter was sent from Seoul, Korea, and Bill Ware should watch for possible new addressed to a person in Taipei, Formosa. flights, both FAM and CAM. Now the biggest mystery of all is how Planning to attend INTERPEX in New the letter eve,r got missent to Newark, York March 6th, 7th, and 8th? If you New Jersey! are, please let me know. The AAMS is Three major airlines announced they expected to have a Lounge, and if suf will sponsor exhibits at the 1964-65 New ficient members are attending a special York World's Fair. Delta Air Lines, meeting may be held. Braniff International Airways, and North west Orient Airlines will adjoin each Have u. S. Jet First Flight Covers other in the Transportation and Travel . . . from October 28, 1958 to date at Pavilion of the Transportation Section of 15c each. Also Airport Dedication covers from 1943 to date at very the Fair. Eastern Air Lines will also reasonable prices. Send lOc for lists. have an exhibit at the Fair, together with Please Mention The Airpost Journal shuttle bus service between the Fair and SMULIAN 2401 West Rogers Avenue Eastern's Terminals at Kennedy and La Baltimore, Maryland 21209 Guardia Airports. From the January, 1964, issue of Am- erican Aviation, we quote the following item: "Oops! Another wrong airport We are philatelic auctioneers landing. But this one had a slightly and specialize different twist to it. On the airline's inaugural flight from Roswell to Carls in providing bad, New Mexico recently, a Trans-Texas Airways pilot set down at Artesia, New a competitive market Mexico, taxied up to the operations building, and upon seeing Artesia painted for stamp collections on it in big letters, went right back and took off. It's a good bet that Artesia and other philatelic properties (population 1200) will wait a good spell before it sees airline service again." Qver 35 years' experience Did you know that both Bob Six, President of Continental Air Lines, and assures the maximum Bud Maytag, President of National Air in results lines, have both been in supersonic air craft? Six was a passenger in an F -106, Your inquiry is welcomed and Maytag piloted an F-104. Ever hear of Northern Airlines? Neith er did I until recently. This small com IRWIN HEIMAN, muter (air taxi) line plans to start un Inc. scheduled service between Danbury, Connecticut, and LaGua.rdia Airport 2 West 46th street New York, N.Y. Telephone: JUdson 2-2393 Suite 708 (NYC) . . . . without carrying mail. But they have also applied to the CAB Serving American Philately Since 1918 for nonstop authority between New THE AIRPOST JOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 151 OFFICIAL SECTION AMERICAN AIR MAIL SOCIETY MONTHLY REPORT From the Secretary Ruth T. Smith, 102 Arbor Road, Riverton, New Jersey 08077 February l, 1964 NEW MEMBERS 5061 Aisslinger, Horst U., Roemerstr. 9, (708) Aalen, w. Germany 5062 Smulian, Samuel, 2401 W. Rogers Ave., Baltimore, Md. 21209 5063 Hopkins, Roland E., 111 w. Freemason St., Norfolk 10, Va. 5064 Sager, Frederick C., 3158 Magee Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19149 5065 Chill, Leo M., 245 Lenox Rd., Brooklyn 26, N. Y. 5066 Fleming, Russell, 16 Lafayette St., New Brunswick, N. j. 5067 Brasch, Frank 0. (Dr.) P. 0. Box 1267, Dos Palos, Calif. 5068 Dumont, Roland j. , Sr., 6814 Leconte Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45230 5069 Miller, Richard E., Conestoga #2, Lancaster County, Pa. 5070 Bachrach, Peter, 673 Ardmore Ave., Ardmore, Pa. NEW APPLICATIONS Erkson, Myron C., P. 0. Box 143, Unionville, Conn. 06085. Age 60, Tool Grinder. By: M. Codd Scott, Alvin L., 703 Hill St., Fairfax, Va. Age 33, Salesman. AM JF HF PC HC FF GF CAM FAM RP OF DC Z CF lD APS X By: H. D. Westbrooks Weller, Saul, 80 Walnut Rd., Glen Cove, L. I., New York. Age, Legal, By: L. Fischbach Erhard, Emil J., U. S. Soldier's Home, Washington, D. C. 20315. Age 45, Retired. AM AU AS SC JF HF P!C HC PA PB EL FF GF CAM FAM RP CC OF DC Z CF lD PIX X By: R. T. Smith Keim, Peter M., 2304 Vistazo East, Tiburon, Calif. Age 33, Bus. Mgr. AM AU PC HC FAM OF Z X By: R. T. Smith Stovall, Paul j., 1128 West London, El Reno, Okla. Age 45, Telegrapher. JF HF GF OF - UN Flights By: R. T. Smith St. Clair, Albert T., 3139 Sudbury Rd., Charlotte, N. C. Age 40, Minister. AM X By: R. T. Smith Douaihi B., Hildebrando. Apartado 83, Valencia, Venezuela. Age 33, Pub Relations. AM AU X . By: R. Oriol Abraham, S., 61-25 - 97th St., Forest Hills 74, N. Y. Age 45. jF HC PC FF CAM FAM RP Z UN Flights X By: H. D. Westbrooks Crawford, William E., (2nd. Lt.), 6601 Woods Pkwy., Apt. 2A, Baltimore 22, Md. Age 21, U. S. Army By: R. T. Smith Kocheisen, Joseph, 671/2 Washington St., Bloomfield, N. j. Age 57, Butcher AM AU Z By: S. Goldsticker Sickles, Stephen T., 3527 NE 130th St., Seattle, Wash. 98125. Age 14, Student. JF HC PC PA FF GF CAM FAM CC OF DC CF APS X By: R. T. Smith Smith, Walter J., 884 Fontaine Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23502. Age 46, Merchant. AM AS SC PC PB CC Z APS PIX X By: R. E. Hopkins DECEASED 5021 Briscoe, Sidney, Middletown, Conn. CHANGES OF ADDRESS LMll Hester, Keith (Dr.), 1002 Collinswood Rd., Rome, Ga. 30161 4880 Marsh, V. D., Manley Hot Springs, Alaska 99756 5007 Reckards, Francis R., 3910 N. Sawyer Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60618 4783 Neuwirth, Otto F., 422 San Savino, Coral Gables, Fla. 33146 713 Tallmadge, Ken, 6412 Tallmadge Ct., Swartz Creek, Mich. 48473 4936 Hamilton, Daniel A., 808 Fairfield Dr., Knoxville 19, Tenn. 4561 Burke, james P.,. 700D Longview Rd., Knoxville, Tenn. 37919 4280 Goronin, Abraham, 16 Chestnut Dr., Plainview, N. Y. 11803 4747 White, William B., (Capt.), 7709 Watson Lane, Wichita, Kan. 67207 4805 Garzon, Richard, 7323 Lesley, Indianapolis, Ind. 46250 4933 Sasano, Joseph R., (Dr.), Children's Mercy Hosp., 1710 Independence Ave., Kansas City 6, Mo. 4046 James, Don M., 1808 High St., Camp Hill, Pa. 3499 Kelley, Stillman F., II, Hardendale, Ivy, Va. 22945 4948 Hite, Nola E. (S/Sgt.), B. Co., Box B-11, DLlWC, Presidio of Monterey, Calif 93940 152 THE AIRPOST jOURNAL, FEBRUARY, 1964 AAMS EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT APJ ADS BUY SELL - WANT LISTS WANTED: Covers and collateral material RATES or airpost stamps of Newfoundland, Aus FIVE CENTS PER WORD per insertion. tria and Czechoslovakia. Dr. Matejka, 216 Minimum charge $1.50. Remittance must Hotel LaSalle, Chicago 2, Ill. accompany order and copy. The Airpost Journal, 242 Hardenburgh Avenue, De WANTED: Airmail postal stationery, offer marest, New Jersey 07627. same or what do you want? H. Kleinert, 213 Virginia Ave., Fullerton, Penna. 18052 PUBLICATIONS EXCHANGE N. Z. and Australian flight covers for others of world. J. R. Alex andre, P. 0. Box 32, Blenheim, New Zeal DID YOU· GET your copies of new re and. prints of Volume I & II of Airmail Cata lor,ues? They are going fast . . . Order WANTED: Plate blocks. Buy or exchange. yours from: George D. Kingdom, Box 37, Also PB, FDC, CAM's, FAM's, etc. sold at Conneaut, Ohio. Price $6.25 each ($6.50 my regular auctions. Send for lists. Geo. overseas). Volume III still available at Austed, 220 Orizaba, San Francisco, Calif. $6.25. *408 SWAP all types of U.S. flights with any FOR SALE interested collector. Especially want govt. flights. Pesin, 2 Ellington, Englewood UNITED NATIONS: New Airmail Postal Cliffs, N. J. Stationery Issued 4/26/63 - 6c card & 8c envelope. Limited number of Brochures TRADE Airport Dedication cover C545b, prep'.lred - each contains First Day of 6c Oct. 26, 1930, Caldwell, N. J. (cat. $4.50) card & 8c envelope, $1.00. Order promptly for equivalent U.S. souvenir cover. Richard from Secretary: Ruth T. Smith, 102 Arbor D. Miscovic, 1107 Tompkins Avenue, South Road, Riverton, N. J. 08077 Plainfield, N. J. 6 3i4 AIRMAIL ENVELOPES, Barber Pole design, 24 lb. substance, Parchment Stock, Ernesto Quiros, P. 0. Box 1261, San Jose, 100% Rag Content. Finest Quality! Prices Costa Rica, is interested in F.D.C. of sou and Samples Fifteen Cents. Milton Ehrlich, venir sheets from all over the world. He 34-15A 31st Avenue, Long Island City, New can offer same from Costa Rica. York 11106, Member AAMS. *405 PHILIPPINES first day and fli"ht covers THE AIR POST OF COLOMBIA. History 1947 to 1956. Do you have any to exchange and Catalog of the Airpost Stamps of Co for other material? Richard Parke, North lombia. Edited and published by EUGEN Conway, New Hampshire. IO GEBAUER, Apartado 953, Caracas, Ven ezuela. Postpaid $5; via reg. airmail, val AAMS SALES DEPARTMENT needs bet uable 2irmails used $6. - personal checks ter grade airmail stamos to fill members' accepted. requests. Write Herman Kleinert, Sales Manager, 213 Virginia Ave., Fullerton, Pa. WANTED and EXCHANGE 18052 WANTED: Card or cover postmarked Ash SEND any amount lari\(e U. S. I will send land Balloon Festival (Ohio), June 27-29, same amount foreign airmails. S. 1963. Exchange with airmail item of Italy. Tauber, 708 East Tremont Ave., Bronx 57, Giuseppe Schenone, Corso San Gottardo, N. Y. *405 11 - Milano (727), Italy. AEROGRAMMES WANTED - I am inter WANTED: F.F.C. of United Air Lines, ested in trading or buying. What can you Ozark, Lake Central, MEA, Skyways, offer, and what do you need? Richard Viasa, Avensa, Laesa, Cruzeiro, Guest, P. Heffner, 2012 Spring Street, West Lawn, Jersey, ond so on. Offer F. F. C. European Penna. 19609 *405 companies. Dal Lago Serafino, Via Galizzi 31, Vincenza, Italy. WANTED Zeppelins and Rockets. Will ex change or trade. Have Italy f. fl. 1917, WANTED: Memphis, Tenn. uncacheted Rome - Torino ClO; · K.L.M., all flights. airmail cover dated June 7, 1963. Exchange Nikkels, Box 1055, The Hague, Holland.*403 or cash. Art Schmidt, 2137 White Horse Pike, Lindenwold, N. J. WANTED: Sanabria sets, singles, collec tions, imperfs, varieties. Listed and un AM DISPOSING OF my U.S. collection. listed Scott items. Highest prices p9id. Among the stamps are many airmails. Will Send for list. Irving Barshatsky, 2894 trade for other material or accept a reas West 8th St., Brooklyn 24, N. Y. onable offer. Dmytro Bykovetz, Jr.. 902 Stratford Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19126 ANY ONE HAVE a FIRST CLASS C-16 first day cover? Will buy or trade. Have WANTED: Foreign, U. S. First Days, First round trip Clipper covers, early Californ Flights. Exchange offers collection of 40 i3s, or state your wants. Moore, 573 Palo mounted DIATOM microscope slides. Wal Alto Ave., Mountain View, Calif. ter Brooke, Boyertown, Pa.· 19512 IT'S White Ace Album SUPPLEMENT TIME This is supplement time for all WHITE ACE Album philatelists . . . time to bring your albums up to date. Dependable annual supplements are just one of the many features you'll find in colorful, sectional WHITE ACE Album P ages. Lithographed on pure white rag stock 8'h x 11 and punched for any standard three ring binder, each page represents a finished work of art . . . a page you can be proud to mount and exhibit to your family or friends. You buy the sections y ou have the most stamps for . . . add other sections as you need them. Each new 1963 White Ace Supplement covers the complete year from J anuary to December; makes it possible for you to sectionalize as y ou wish. 1963 Supplements Now Ready Commemorative Singles -R ...... $ .35 Commemorative Blocks of 4 - QB .45 Commemorative Plate Blocks - PB15 .85 Air Mail Singles -A7 .25 Air Mail Blocks of 4 -AMB6 ····························· ·· ··· ·············· .35 Air Mail Plate Blocks - APL4 .25 Regular Issue Singles - USR4 ...... 20 Regular Issue Blocks - USR-BLl .25 Regular Issue Plate Blocks - USR-P Bl .20 Liberty Series Specialized - L IB4 .35 Migratory Bird (Ducks) -MIG2 .20 Canada Regular Issues - CR4 ...... 20 Canal Zone - CAl ...... 20 Europa - EU6 ...... 45 G hana - GH6 ...... 45 Ireland - ffiE6 ...... 25 Israel (Singles) - IS14 ...... 45 Israel TABS \Singles) - ITAB7 ...... 65 Japan - JAl ...... 55 Ryukyu slands - RY4 ...... 25 Togo Republic - T03 ...... 45 United Nations S ingles - UNll ...... 25 United Nations Margin Blocks - UNIB9 ...... 65 Vatican-City - V14 ...... 25 OFFICIAL UN # 10 (Black & White for Si. & Blks.) ...... 55 1963 Dual Purp. ANNUALS (for Si., Blks. & FDC) ...... 1.65 LOOKING FOR A NEW FIELD? Why not start another new collection with one of the supplements listed a b ove. No need to go back .. . just continue along each year as supplements are issued. Lots of good fun and simple to k eep complete and up to date. P ick one and try your hand at it. You'll be glad you did. THE WASHINGTON PRESS- Maplewood, N. J.