NUMBER 12 SEPTEMBER. 1962 ... _,. The American Air Mail Society A Non-Profit Corporation Incorporated 1944 Organized 1923 Under the Laws of Ohio PRESIDENT Official Publication of the Qr. James J. Matejka, Jr. AMERICAN AIR MAIL SOCIETY LaSalle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois SECRETARY VOL. 33, No.12 Whole Number 388 Ruth T. Smith 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. TREASURER John J. Smith Contents ........ for September, 1962 102 Arbor Road Riverton, N. J. Charles A. Lindbergh, a Bio- VICE-PRESIDENTS graphical and Philatelic Study 385 Joseph L. Eisendrath Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr. Tile "Kondor Syndicate" in Ecuador 390 Herman Kleinert Lester S. Manning A Chronology of South :Acfrican Airmail History 395 EDITORS - Other Publications L. B. Gatchell New Australian Aerogrammes 399 Geo. D. Kingdom "You Can Fool Some of the People" 40•2 ATTORNEY C.A.M. Cover Notes 404 George D. Kingdom Secretary's Report 405 DIRECTOR OF Jet 'Topical Collecting 40·6 FOREIGN RELATIONS Dr. Max Kronstein Foreign Pioneer Airpost Flights, AUCTION MANAGER 1909~14 411 Samuel s. Goldsticker, Jr. Official Section 414 ADVANCE BULLETIN SERVICE Some Unsolved Problems of Paul Bugg Estonian Airmails .................. 415 1417 Gersuch Avenue Baltimore 18, Maryland AcPJ Ads . ............. Inside Back Cover TRANSLATION SERVICE Roland Kohl Augusta-Victoria Str. 4 EDITOR Wiesbaden, "'est Germany Joseph L. Eisendra:th AUDITOR 350 No. Deere Park Drive, Highland Park, Ill. Stuart J. Malkin ASSISTANT EDITORS DIRECTORS Robert W. Murch Alton J. Blank, Herbert Brand­ Ernest A. Kehr L. B. Gatchell ner, Paul Bugg, Robert E. Har­ ing, Dr. Max Kronstein, George DEPARTMENT AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS L. Lee, Narcisse Pelletier, Horace R. Lee Black, N. Pelletier, Florence L. Kleinert, D. Westbrooks. Dr. Max Kronstein, Richard L. Singley, William MEMBERSHIP DUES - $4.00 R. Ware, James Wotherspoon, John Watson, per year William T. Wynn, Frank Blumenthal, Samuel S. Goldsticker, Jr., J. S. Langabeer. Include subscription to The 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 guar­ profit. The Editor and all others serve without teed by Parent or Guardian. compensation. Receipts from advertising, sub­ Membership may be terminated scriptions and contributions are applied to the by the Society in accordance betterment of the magazine and the promotion with its 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 accuracy of statements made by contributors. mittances should be sent to the Every effort is made to insure correctness of Treasurer. All general com­ all articles. munications and advertising Subscription Rates: $4.00 per year, 35c per copy. should be sent to the Editor. Advertising Rate Card available from the Editor. A Biographical and Philatelic Study - Charles A. Lindbergh By Walter Curley, Librarian-Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum, Inc. I. INTRODUCTION • ter flying 1050 miles, they were forced Thirty-five years ago on May 20, 1927, into the sea. A nearby steamer rescued at 7 :52 a.m. Charles A. Lindbergh, an them. The first successful non-stop tran­ air mail pilot, took off from Roosevelt atlantic flight was accomplished by Sir Field, N. Y., and flew 3610 miles across John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten­ the Atlantic Ocean and landed at Le Brown, both of Great Britain. Their Bourget Aerodrome, Paris, France, at flight began at St. Johns, Newfoundland, 10:22 p.m. on May 21, 1927. The trip on June 14, 1919, and terminated in Ire­ consumed 33 hours, 30 minutes, and 29.8 land, a distance of 1960 miles in 16 seconds. He thereby became the first hours and 12 minutes. man to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Then too, a few weeks after Lindbergh alone and, in addition, broke the non­ landed in Paris, two more transatlantic stop distance record for an airplane. flights were made, both breaking Lind­ Before this accomplishment, Lind­ bergh's non-stop distance record. On bergh was an unknown pilot. In the en­ June 4, 1927, Clarence Chamberlain ac­ suing weeks, he rose to become Ameri­ companied by Charles Levine, broke the ca's, and perhaps the world's most pop­ non-stop distance record by over 300 ular hero, Kings and presidents decor­ miles on a flight from New York to Eisle­ ated him; crushing crowds greeted him ben, Germany, although the flight ended wherever he went and his most insig­ in a crack-up 100 miles from their ulti­ nificant gesture created headlines. It mate goal - Berlin. During June 29-30, has been said that more words have ibeen 1927, Commander Byrd made a trans­ written about Lindbergh than any man atlantic flight with a crew of three on in history before or since. In an age of a New York-to-Paris attempt. They too, popular heroes (Babe Ruth, Dempsey, failed to make their intended goal, being Valentino, etc. ) , he eclipsed all of them. forced down just short of the French mainland. Although Lindbergh's feat was great and significant in American aviation his­ Many explanations have been given tory, it can hardly explain the explosive to justify the phenomenon of the hero effect of his personality across the world. worship that Lindbergh commanded. After all, he was not the first to cross Some owe it to the perfection of his the Atlantic Ocean. Three more-or-less flight compared to all other transatlantic successful crossings were made in 1919. flights. Others attribute his popularity The first plane to successfully fly the to his modesty, his selfless dedication to Atlantic was a U. S. Navy Flying boat the advancement of aviation and the piloted by Walter Hinton of Van Wert, development of the air mail service. To Ohio, with Lieutenant Commander Al­ the world, he represented the best of bert Cushing Read in charge. They took American manhood. off from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, II. LINDBERGH'S EARLY YEARS on May 16, 1919, and reached the island Charles A. Lindbergh was born in De­ of Horta, Azores, the next day, a dis­ troit, Michigan, on February 4, 1902. tance of 1380 miles in 15 hours and 18 Five weeks later his family moved to minutes. On May 27, 1919, they com­ Little Falls, Minnesota, which ·became pleted the Atlantic crossing, landing at the scene of his most cherished boyhood Lisbon, Spain. On May 18, 1919 Harry memories. When he was four years old, Hawker of England with Commander K. his father was elected as Representative MacKenzie Grieve took off from New­ in Congress from the State of Minnesota. foundland destined for Ireland, but af- The family moved to Washington, D.C., THE AffiPOST J"OURNAL, SEPTEMBER, 1962 385 where young Charles received his early factured by the Columbia Aircraft Cor­ education. Later, the Lindberghs re- poration. However, when he tried to turned to Minnesota and Charles attended buy this plane, the corporation refused Little Falls High School, graduating to sell it for the flight unless they could from there in June 5, 1918. select the pilot. Failing to obtain a Bel- After attending the University of Wis- lanca, Lindbergh approached the Ryan consin for a year and a half, Lindbergh Airlines in San Diego. This company left to concentrate on a career in avia- agreed to build a plane to Lindbergh's tion. He decided to become a stunt specifications. The plane was completed flyer, making parachute jumping his in two months with Lindbergh making specialty. He attended a flying school all the test flights himself. The final and in Lincoln, Nebraska, making his first most important test was the trans-con­ flight with his instructor, Ira 0. Biffle, tinental flight from San Diego to New on February 9, 1922. After he finished York with one stop at St. Louis. This flying school, he purchased a World flight brought public attention to Lind­ War I "Jenny" airplane at a U.S. Govern- bergh, because he had flown across the ment . auction in 1923, and in this plane continent faster than anyone had ever he made his first solo flight. He spent done before: 21 hours and 20 minutes. about a year barnstorming in the South Also he had flown farther than any pilot and West and then entered the U.S. had ever flown non-stop alone - 1550 Army Air Service School on March 15, miles from San Diego to St. Louis. 1924. He graduated the next spring with Even before Lindbergh began his a commission as second Lieutenant, first plans for making the Paris flight, at in a class of 18 out of an original class least five other competitors had similar of 104, who started the course. projects well advanced in their final After several more months of barn- stages. Lindbergh realized that he had storming, Lindbergh went to work for little chance to make the transatlantic the Robertson Aircraft Corporation as an flight before at least one of the others. instructor in flying. In the spring of In fact, he had an alternate plan for a 1926, he began flying the U. S. mail for transpacific flight in the event one of the same corporation on the route known his competitors made the Paris flight as CAM-2 from Chicago to St. Louis. first. Below is a summary of the other It was while flying as an air mail pilot New York-to-Paris projects and the ser­ that he conceived the idea of flying ies of events that enabled Lindbergh to across the Atlantic from New York to be the first to take off for Paris: Paris.