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Post by daniel on Jun 4, 2023 17:17:56 GMT
Edgar Percival, 1897-1984. was an Australian aircraft designer and pilot who founded the British firm the Percival Aircraft Company. During the First World War Percival transferred to the British Royal Flying Corps rising to the rank of Captain. He starting designing his own aircraft in 1917 and became a member of the Royal Aero Club in 1918. This Jersey cover was produced in his honour by the Royal Air Force, dated 10th June 1979. It bears a Jersey stamp depicting one of his own aircraft, a Percival Proctor. The cover is signed by him. Showing inserts and photograph.
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Post by daniel on Jun 4, 2023 23:14:45 GMT
An Italian cover for the 50th Anniversary of the 30th Victory of air ace Francesco Baracca in the skies of Kaberlaba, Asiago, Italy. Flown from Asiago to Lugo di Ravenna, where Baracca was born. Postmarked Asiago 7th December 1967 and back stamped Lugo the same day. There are two postage stamps and a commemorative Cinderella. Cover shown with insert. Baracca would go on to achieve 34 victories but was killed in combat in 1918. His airplane motif was a prancing horse in black which would later be used by Ferrari. The translation reads: Motivation of the Gold Medal Awarded to Francesco Baracca da Lugo. Major of Cavalry, aircraft group: first fighter pilot in Italy, undisputed champion of skill and courage, sublime affirmation of the Italian virtues of dash and audacity, tempered in 63 battles, has already shot down 30 enemy aircraft, 11 of which during the most recent combats. 'In the last clashes, I have returned twice with my own aircraft badly hit and damaged by machine gun bullets.' In the skies of the Isonzo, Carnia, Friulli, Veneto, Atripiani, 25 November 1916, 11 February, 22-25-26 October, 6-7-15-23 November, 7 December 1917.'
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Post by stamphinger on Jul 1, 2023 1:15:13 GMT
Mystery solved!
I have had the doggy 1932 #10 first-flight cover from Elk City, Oklahoma for several years. I bought it for the aircraft flying over a metropolitan area. When I started to write it up for mounting I discovered that I could not find an identifiable likeness of the airplane. My thought was that it was foreign in origin and most likely an Armstrong-Whitworth design from Great Britain. It just did not match any A-W designs, however. I asked for identification help on another forum with "never seen anything like it" and "probably a cachet artist's composite drawing" replies. I put the cover in a shoe box for further research.
Last week I saw the 1934 postally used post card below on eBay and it rekindled my interest in this airplane. The card scene was of the Columbus, Ohio airport and depicts the same airplane. It then dawned on me that the design was United States in origin and I began searching anew and found the Curtiss Model 53 Condor. Mystery solved.
The Model 53 Condor first flew in 1929 was the civilian version of the B2 Condor bomber. Only six of the Model 53s were built. It had 18 passenger seats, cruised at 116 mph, with a range of 500 miles. Eastern Airlines and Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) used this aircraft for passenger service for a short period.
Don StampHinger An Internet photo of the Curtiss Condor in flight.
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daveallw
**Member**
Sorry not been posting for last few months, life got in the way, I am now on road to recovery
Posts: 32
What I collect: Mainly Used Postage Dues, preferably on cover and anything unusual
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Post by daveallw on Sept 15, 2023 12:02:35 GMT
Another item from my Airmail collection which I am in process of restoring. A 1933 Vienna Austria Postcard 4 Countries Flight postcard Robert Kronfeld Pilot Signed postcard. Austria, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland. When I acquired this postcard it was in appalling condition with a large block of stamps stuck on the front torn and tatty. Over the years I have very slowly and extremely carefully removed most of the adhesion, I still have some left to go. It is painstaking work by having to remove a few fibres at a time without disturbing the print underneath. For an unsigned card I would not bother doing this but the sign ones are highly sort after.
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daveallw
**Member**
Sorry not been posting for last few months, life got in the way, I am now on road to recovery
Posts: 32
What I collect: Mainly Used Postage Dues, preferably on cover and anything unusual
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Post by daveallw on Sept 15, 2023 12:03:45 GMT
This small collection has been accumulated over last 40 years. There is a test pilot signed cover, A rather tatty matchbook with no matches. A London - Bahrain cover with Sterling silver medallion. A sterling silver keyring in original box and a large accumulation of various covers.
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Post by stamphinger on Sept 24, 2023 20:00:29 GMT
A first-day cover for 50th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force stamp with an image of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator as a cachet. The cover is also dedicated to Jimmy Stewart, actor and U.S. Army Air Force pilot during WW II. Steward flew B-24s over Germany during WW II and served as a squadron commander of a B-24 unit. The B-24 was the most produced U.S. bomber of WW II, ca 18,500 units. Pilots reported it difficult to fly, especially at low air speeds. It also performed poorly at higher altitudes, 20,000 feet and above, but air force procurement officers preferred it for its speed and capability of carrying high bomb loads.
Don StampHinger
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Post by stamphinger on Sept 27, 2023 18:13:44 GMT
A WW II-era post card featuring contemporary aircraft on its photo side. Top left and right are photos of Boeing B-17s in flight, and a Douglas XB-19, a prototype bomber desribed as the biggest bomber in the world., bottom left and right, North American AT-6 Texans, a widely used advanced training airplane, and a Lockheed C-69, the military version of the Lockheed Constellation. The XB-19 never went into production. B-17s and AT-6s were produced throughout WW II. The C-69s were intended as fast troop transports, but only 22 were built and only 15 of those going to the U.S.Army Air Force. After the war, the Constellation earned its reputation as a fast, comfortable, long range airliner.
I collected this card for the inclusion of the Constellation. With so few built it is unusual to see one depicted as a military aircraft. After the war, Sedalia Army Air Field closed, but was reactivated in 1951 and ultimately named Whiteman Air Force Base with postal service from Knob Noster, MO. It is now the home base of the B-2 stealth bomber fleet.
Don StampHinger
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Post by stamphinger on Oct 27, 2023 17:57:26 GMT
A FDC for the 1991 29 cents stamp commemorating Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Sc. 2551. The cover has a "home-made" cachet that looks like it may have been reproduced from a magazine photo of a Rockwell International 1B-1 Lancer. The B-1 was developed in the early 1980s and 100 were produced for the U.S. Air Force as a strategic bomber. It had a variable-sweep wing that allowed changing the wing configuration in flight from 15 degrees to 67.5 degrees. The forward 15 degrees sweep was used for take-off and landing and for high altitude cruise flight, the swept back setting for high-speed low-level flight. The aircraft remains in service today.
A cover for my Aircraft on Covers collection.
Don StampHinger
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Post by stamphinger on Nov 22, 2023 19:08:06 GMT
A nice rendering of a Heinkel-111, Germany's front line bomber during the Battle of Britain. This is also a first-day cover for Sc 884, the 1c Gilbert Stuart stamps from the American Artists issue of Famous Americans.
The Heinkel-111 first flew in 1935 and was first used by Germany's airline, but the Luftwaffe was the primary market for the airplane. Some 5.700 were built between 1939-1944. Many vairants during the course of its production, but it was armed with three 7.92 machine guns and could carry 2 to 32 bombs depending upon their weight The airplane cruised at 240 mph. Its light armament, heavy bomb loads, and slow speed made it vunuable to Allied air attack.
A handstamp on the cover's reverse indicates it was prepared by a member of the American First Day Cover Society. I suspect, unfortunately, that the cachet is an add-on. If not, it would be contemporary with the Battle of Britain which ran from July 1940 through October 1940. However, even as an add-on cachet it makes a fine addition to my Aircraft on Covers.
Don StampHinger
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