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International airmail

People in aviation postcards.

A few years ago, I started a collection of postcards related to aviation that include people, so as to show not only the different cultures but also the fashion and sometimes the habits of people during the last decades. Postcards can be as much a photo as a commercial design.

The collection, still in development, covers all continents. Below are some samples; the other cards can be found in the section “People in aviation postcards” of my website.

Ladies and Air Jamaica DC-8 Super 62 on aviation postcard
Ladies and Air Jamaica DC-8 Super 62 on aviation postcard
Wardair B-747 and crew on aviation postcard
Wardair B-747 and crew on aviation postcard
King's journey in Congo on aviation postcard
King’s journey in Congo on aviation postcard
Ariana Afghan's DC-10 on aviation postcard
Ariana Afghan’s DC-10 on aviation postcard
Swissair aircrafts and people in Switzerland on aviation postcard
Swissair aircrafts and people in Switzerland on aviation postcard
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia on aviation postcard
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia on aviation postcard

Enjoy!

Categories
International airmail

The first airmail flight between Hong Kong and San Francisco

Airmail - First flight cover Hong Kong to San Francisco with the China Clipper in 1937
Airmail – First flight cover Hong Kong to San Francisco with the China Clipper in 1937

This cover was in the first airmail flight between Hong Kong and San Francisco. A Martin M-130, the Pan Am China Clipper, carried the mail. The aircraft left Hong Kong on April 28th, 1937 and arrived in San Francisco on May 4th, 1937. Many stopovers were part of the route and are indicated on the cover.

The China Clipper was destroyed in 1945 when its double hull ruptured due to a collision with an obstacle in the waters of Port-of-Spain, Trininad. The aircraft sank and 23 people were killed. There was only 7 survivors.

Airmail - First flight cover Hong Kong to San Francisco with the China Clipper in 1937. Back of cover.
Airmail – First flight cover Hong Kong to San Francisco with the China Clipper in 1937. Back of cover.

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International airmail

First instrument landing on a scheduled airline in United States

Airmail cover. First instrument landing in USA with scheduled airline. Washington Pittsburgh 1938. Front side.
Airmail cover. First instrument landing in USA with scheduled airline. Washington Pittsburgh 1938. Front side.

Tests of the ILS system started in 1929 in United States. The first landing of a scheduled U.S. passenger airliner using an ILS was on January 26, 1938. A Pennsylvania Central Airlines Boeing 247D flew from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and landed in a snowstorm using only the Instrument Landing System.

Back of an airmail cover used on the first scheduled flight using an ILS for a landing in USA, 1938
Back of an airmail cover used on the first scheduled flight using an ILS for a landing in USA, 1938

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International airmail

First airmail flight from Estevan to Winnipeg, Canada.

Airmail Estevan Winnipeg CLP5 semi official stamp front cover
Airmail Estevan Winnipeg CLP5 semi official stamp front cover

The CLP5 semi-official stamp was issued on October 1st,1924 and put on airmail covers for the first airmail flight planned from Estevan, Saskatchewan to Winnipeg, Manitoba. What initially seemed to be a publicity stunt toward the use of airmail was instead a marketing operation planned by two promoters of a local industry, coal mining.

The Estevan to Winnipeg flight promoter and his associate had personal interests in the Eureka Coal and Brick mining company. On the back cover, we even have a commercial invitation: « Buy Estevan Brick ».

Airmail Estevan Winnipeg CLP5 semi official stamp. Back of cover.
Airmail Estevan Winnipeg CLP5 semi official stamp. Back of cover.

The pilot, E.A.Alton took-off from Estevan under nice weather on the morning of October 1st,1924 and headed east toward Winnipeg. He was supposed to do a stopover in Brandon, to refuel, but engine problems forced him to land in a field in Bienfait. During the landing, the wheels hit hidden rocks and the aircraft was wrecked.

The pilot quickly transferred the mail to the Bienfait Post Office where it was put on the Souris train to Winnipeg. The mail arrived late but on the same day at destination.

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International airmail

Airline Pilots Special 747 Flight Committee

Airmail OACI In flight with the United Nations 1971
Airmail OACI In flight with the United Nations 1971

I got this first day cover thirty years ago. It had no real monetary value but certainly a historical value for whoever is interested in aviation and airmail history.

After multiple hijacked flights in several countries, hijacks that could easily have been avoided, the pilots got tired of the situation and decided to take matter into their own hands. With both pilots and politicians involved, the situation progressively changed.

International laws were modified and security was also increased, both at airports and in the aircrafts.

Airmail Airline Pilots Special 747 Flight Committee 1971 New-York to Montreal
Airmail Airline Pilots Special 747 Flight Committee 1971 New-York to Montreal

Postal history on aviation security

Below is a quote from the ICAO document:

“The series of skyjacking incidents, several of them desperate and dramatic, was a great and particular concern for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA, Member of IFALPA, the largest airline pilot union in the world representing pilots from U.S. and Canadian airlines); ALPA sought an innovative step and an extraordinarily direct method to intensively lobby influential politicians from all over the world, as the fundamental problem in advancing a solution to the skyjacking problem laid in the realm of politics. A Boeing 747 sponsored by ALPA was rented from Pan Am and nearly 300 United Nations personnel flew on Saturday 6 November 1971 on a short international flight from New York to Montréal, being the home of ICAO; the aircraft was piloted by Captain Stanley L. Doepke of Pan Am. More than 30 crewmembers who had been skyjacked placed these world political leaders in a controlled and dramatic situation where they could hear their stories. All the international politicians from the UN General Assembly who accepted ALPA’s hospitality on the Montréal excursion went home vowing immediate action by their countries. A special first day cover was issued to commemorate this unique event and a medal was given to the UN Delegates. More information on this issue can be obtained by clicking on the following link: Hijacked Pilots Urge UN Action.

However, even with these two new Conventions signed in 1971, the issue on sanctions was not sufficiently addressed and a few terrorist actions early in 1972 gave rise to grave concern and threat to the safety of civil aviation; it was felt that perpetrators of such acts were not or not appropriately brought to justice. Because governments had failed to deal adequately with such hijacking, the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) called for a world-wide 24-hour shutdown of services by pilots on 19 June 1972. The United States pressed in the ICAO Council for rapid action to complete the work on a convention which would provide for sanctions against states that did not punish hijackers. The ICAO Council adopted on 19 June 1972 a Resolution which directed the Legal Committee to convene immediately a special Subcommittee to work on the preparation of an international convention to look at this issue of sanctions.”

Categories
International airmail

International airmail : the Nice airport, in France, as it was in 1965

Nice - Côte d'Azur airport in France in 1965 on an aviation postcard
Nice – Côte d’Azur airport in France in 1965 on an aviation postcard

Here is a photo of an aviation postcard representing the Nice – Côte d’Azur airport in 1965. It is part of a collection that you can view on the present web site, under the link :

People in aviation postcards

Its title is : « Au soleil de la Côte d’Azur, Nice – vue aérienne de l’aéroport » which translates into « Under the Côte d’Azur, Nice sun – aerial view of the airport ». It is a postcard that was mailed on September 19th 1965. You can see two aircrafts belonging respectively to Air France (Caravelle) and KLM. It was a time where security at airports was minimal and when people did not expect that at any moment an unstable person would transform into a terrorist and attack innocents in public places, like what happened two days ago in Nice.

The author writes : « […] Nous quittons Nice ce soir pour St-Malo et nous y resterons quelques jours » which translates into « […] We are leaving Nice tonight heading to St-Malo where we will spend few days ». Having been to St-Malo myself in 1978, I take the opportunity to post a photo of that region dating from that period, just to show the beauty of France and encourage people to continue to travel in that country and continue to benefit from its diversified countryside.

St-Malo, France, en 1978
St-Malo, France, en 1978

We returned in France in 2013 and some of the pictures that were taken during that time are posted in the present website, under the link :

France

My thoughts go out to the French people.