FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0428.PDF
FLIGHT. MAY 1, 1931 AIR POST STAMPS By DOUGLAS ARMSTRONG THE opening-up of the two longest air mail routes withinthe Empire brings us no nearer that " consummation most devoutly to be wished," a British air post stamp. Souvenirenvelopes and private cachets provided by the publicity department of the Imperial Airways alone characteriseletters carried on the inaugural flights of the London- Tanganyika and London-Australia services. Meanwhilethe new Postmaster-General maintains the non-possumus attitude adopted by his immediate predecessor in the faceof all representations on the subject. Kingsford Smith StampsAustralia has just paid a novel and well-deserved tribute to the aerial exploits of Air Commodore Kingsford Smithby dedicating to him, most distinguished airman, a special set of three postage stamps adorned with a handsomely-engraved vignette showing his famous aeroplane, the " Southern Cross," surmounting the two hemispheres. Atthe foot, beneath sprays of laurel, is a tablet containing the inscription " Kingsford Smith's World Flights," andacross the top the single word " Australia " against a background formed by the winged insignia of the Austra-lian Air Force. Two of the trio, viz., 2d. carmine and 3d. blue, are available for ordinary postal purposes, but thethird, 6d. purple, is reserved for the air mail service. So great was the public demand for these commemorativestamps that the entire issue is said to have been sold out within a few days of their appearance on March 19 last. This is actually the second occasion on which the Com-monwealth Government has created a special stamp in honour of an aviator, the first being when the late SirRoss Smith reached Melbourne at the conclusion of his •epoch-making England-Australia flight on February 26,1920. Only the other day a letter bearing the Ross Smith souvenir stamp was sold for £40 in a London auctionroom. Latest " Zeppelin " Issues The voyages of the giant airship " Graf Zeppelin " havealready been responsible for some notable additions to the air post collectors' album. Recent nights to Hungary andEgypt have proved no exception to the rule. In the former instance limited printings totalling 30,000 copiesof each denomination were made from the plates of the existing 1 and 2 pengos air mail stamps, but in distinctivecolours, the 1 pengo in orange and the 2 pengo in purple, with the further distinction of an overprint reading" Zeppelin, 1931," in decorative type. Souvenir cachets were likewise applied to letters sent by Zeppelin mail, awinged device in green being employed for the Budapest- Debreczin flight and a large concentric circle in blue forthose consigned by the return trip to Friedrichshafen. Special stamps were provided likewise by the Egyptianpostal authorities when the dirigible visited that country last month, in the form of surcharges of 50 milliemes (forpostcards) and 100 milliemes (for letters) upon the contem- porary 27 milliemes air mail stamp, together with the in-scription " Graf Zeppelin, Avril, 1931," in French and Arabic characters, green for the 50 milliemes and purple forthe 100 milliemes. Twenty-five thousand copies of each denomination were thus overprinted, and a considerableproportion used on the limited mail despatched by the Zeppelin on April 10 to Europe and elsewhere. Java-Australia Air MailBoth aa adhesive stamp and a souvenir cachet are to be applied to correspondence carried on the first air mailflight from Java to Australia, which is scheduled to take place at the beginning of May. The stamp, of the facevalue 1 gulden, is printed in blue and brown, with a picture of a pilot at the control of his machine passingover a portion of the terrestrial globe, whereon the route of the flight is outlined. It is the work of ihe aviator,Captain Pattiste, of the Royal Dutch Artillery, who will himself undertake the flight, and will cease to be soldafter the departure of his aeroplane from the last point of call in the Dutch Indies. New air post stamps of a more definitive character arealso due to be issued here in the near future in a fan- tastic design by the native artist, Mas Perngadi, rotaryprinted, and comprising 30 -cents purple, 4.50 gulden Prussian blue, and 7.50 gulden dark green. Answer to Correspondent "A. J. C. O." (Walthamstow). The value of letterscarried over the London-Paris air mail line in 1919-20 depends upon the colour in which the cachet " Air 11,.]Express " is applied. The black variety is the scarce: and worth to-day, perhaps, a couple ol pounds. Cov.-rsshowing red or purple impressions are much commont- and would probably realise under a pound from aninterested collector. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Aeronautical Research Committee Reports and Memoranda : No. 1342 (Ae. 474—T. 2985). Airscrews for High-SpeedAeroplanes. By H. Glauert. June, 1930. Price \s. net No. 1348 Ae. 480—T. 2994). On the Validity of Large-ScaleTests in an Open-Jet Wind Tunnel. By W. G. A. Perring and C. Callen. July, 1930. Price 9d, net. No. 1349. OnRendering Airflow Visible by Means of Hot Wires. By H. C. H. Townend. October, 1930. Price 9d. net. H.M.Stationery Office, Kingsway, London, W.C.2. Cinquiemc Congres International de la Navigation Aerienni,La Haye, 1-6, September, 1930. Vols. 1 and 2. Martinus Nijhoff, Lange Voorhout 9, The Hague, Holland. PriceFl. 32. Report on the Royal Air Force Promotion Examinations" B " and " C," held on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th September, 1930. / ondon : H.M. Stationery Office, Kingsway, W.C.2.Price Is. net. The Bulletin. March 16th, 1931. Vol.2. No. 9. WesternCanada Airways, Winnipeg, Canada. Aeronautical Research Committee Reports and Memoranda : No. 1346. (Ae. 478-x. 2992.) The Application of the Method of Operators to the Calculation of the Disturbed Motion of anAeroplane. By L. V.'. Bryant and D. H. Williams. July, 1930. H.M. Stationery Office, Kingsway, London, W.C.2.Price 9rf. net. m B m m NEW COMPANIES REGISTERED LONrON GLIDING CLUB PROPRIETARY, LTD., Empire House,St. Martin's lc Grand, E.C.I.—Capital £'100 in /I shares. Objects: to promote, assist and encourage gliding, soaring and aerial navigation in allits forms, and the study of aeronautics, etc. Directors : J. K. Ashwell- Cooke, Uplands, Mayneld, Sussex ; D. G. O. Hiscox, 60, Vauxhall BridgeRoad, S.W. 1 (director of Park Langley Sports Club, Ltd.) ; M. D. Manton, 19, Ebbsfleet Road, N.W. 2. The committee of the London Gliding Clubmay appoint and remove any director. ROCK CARLING, LTD., 237-8, Berwick Avenue, Trading Estate, Slough.—Capital £1,000 in £1 shares. Manufacturers of and dealers in sail planes, gliders, and heavier-than-air flying machines of all kinds, motor-cars, etc.Directors : F. R. Carling (engineer), Mrs. Alison J. Carling, both of 2, Manor Drive, Mill Hill, N.W. 7. AERONAUTICAL PATENT SPECIFICATIONS Abbreviations : Cyl. = cylinder ; i.e. = internal combustion : m. — motors.The numbers in brackets are those under which the Specification will be printed and abridged, etc.) APPLIED FOR IN 1929 Published April 30, 193139,798. ECLIPSE AVIATION CORPN. Engine-starting apparatus. (345,955.) APPLIED FOR IN 1930. Published April 30, 19311,961. C. B. REDRUP. Cyl. heads of radial-cyl. i.e. engines. (346,054.) 2,152 VICTOR TALKING MACHINE CO. Means for indicating the elevation of aircraft. (346,060.)2,376. T. A. KIRKUP and H. G. LANDIS. Aerofoils for aircraft. (346,063.) 9,058. G. L. R. J. MESSIER. Brakes for the wheels of aeroplanes. (346,139.)12,397. S. LINDEOUIST. Method and apparatus for tanking aircraft in the air. (346,181.)21,906. FIAT SOC. ANON. Collapsible or folding aeroplane wings. (346,244.) 25,607. U. AXTONI. Construction of flexible aeroplane wings having •»variable profile. (346,251.) FLIGHT, The Aircraft Engineer and Airships. 36, GREAT QUEEN STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2. Telephone (2 lines) : Holborn, 3211. Holborn, 1884. Telegraphic address : Truditur, Westcent, London. SUBSCRIPTION RATES POST FREE UNITED KINGDOMs. d. 3 Months 8 36 16 6 12 „ 33 0 UNITED STATES 3 Months $2206 „ $4-40 12 „ $875 OTHER COUNTRIES*s. d. 3 Months 8 96 17 6 12 „ 35 0 * Foreign subscriptions must be remitted in British currency. Cheques and Post Office Orders should be made payable to the Proprietors of " FLIGHT," 36, Great Queen Street, Kingsway, W.C.2, and crossed " Westminster Bank." Should any difficulty be experienced in procuring " FLIGHT from local newsvendors intending readers can obtain each issue direct from the Publishing Office, by forwarding remittance-as above. 396
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
