France 1920 obligatory airmail stamp?

If any member is comfortable reading French,
they may look through this site for information.

www.academiedephilatelie.fr/index.html

From the internet  Author : Memphre

Good for Maury to list these. There's a likelyhood that you have the 2009 edition of Maury. Just above the listing is a 4-paragraph text that explains the labels.
The labels were issued in March 1920 by the PTT administration. They were required on air mail until 1923 when they were superseded by the, now familiar, «AIR MAIL» label. They are described as «précurseurs» (forerunners) because they were used before the «Air Mail» labels and for the same purpose as the «Air Mail» labels.
The «Meeting aéronautique de BUC Octobre 1920» overprint is also official. They were only approved for use on October 20, 1920 flights from Buc to London or Brussels. On that occasion, letters bearing the overprinted labels had to be dropped in a special mailbox at the Buc airport prior to the flights.
Bottom line: they WERE placed into circulation, they are not to be considered trials, proofs, essays or posters.
Here is a link to a 1921 cover I sold on Delcampe bearing a Guynemer label, unfortunately partly torn on opening the letter, hence the low price.
www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,158960653.html
Memphre

Excellent work, Rod! Michel's note explains why catalogs don't include them. I'll add them to my collection, though.

TSF comes through again!