GAFFA
The Modern Aerophilatelic challenge
Are you up to the Challenge in Modern Aerophilately?
From 1945 – 20??
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May 2008 Coordinator and Editor
Ross Wood First
Edition
Introduction to the
Challenge
There have been many challenges in the past that have been
completed successfully in Australia and it is my aim to make this challenge
better than all of those. With your help I am sure that we can do that. The
Great after forty five in aerophilately (GAFFA) is open to all and regular
newsletters will keep you informed on how the challenge is progressing.
1945 is the beginning of the Modern Period in aerophilately
and throughout the world there has only been a very small number of exhibits
that cover any of this period, let alone begin in this period. Originally I had
thought that I would limit this challenge the same as with previous challenges
in allotting each participant a different country and/or time period. On second
thoughts I decided that it would be better to allow those that wished to
participate to take any country and period they liked from 1945 onwards. This
will allow people with similar interests to study a country or time period and
contribute their findings to each other and possibly publish their findings.
When I say the beginning is 1945 the judges must allow forerunners from the
latter part of the World War II where it can be clearly shown that mail was
carried by air. Unlike some earlier challenges there is no stipulation that
this has to be a new exhibit in fact I encourage each of you to exhibit as soon
as you think you are ready. I would also like each of you go out of your way to
promote this concept and to get at least one other challenger. You can exhibit
any time prior to 2012 without any penalty and in fact I encourage it,
especially if you have not exhibited in aerophilately previously.
The culmination of the challenge at a National Exhibition in Australia in 2012 I hope is only the beginning of exhibiting modern aerophilately. Very little has been written on the subject of modern airmails and I am hoping that this challenge will lead to more information being published. This newsletter will not be sent by airmail but as an e-mail attachment but you can forward it to whoever you like an print it and distribute as much as you wish.
RULES OF THE CHALLENGE
I
see the challenge as governed by the following (minimal) rules and guidelines
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This challenge has been advertised widely in the APF News,
American Air Mail Society, the Australian Airmail Society as well as locally in
Western Australia where I reside. From this I have a list of 27 Challengers at
present with several others showing interest.
As you can see from the list there are several from
Australia and I think that this is as it should be seeing that the promotion or
modern aerophilately is taking place in Australia. I have just received
notification of a publication entitled “ The Illustrated History of New Zealand
Airways Corporation 1947-1978, written by prolific writer of aviation
publications Richard Waugh. This was forwarded by the Airmail Society of New
Zealand and I thank them for the information. This is important as at present I
have not had a challenger to take up New Zealand which this new publication
would be an excellent place to begin, even though they were mainly only
involved in domestic flights but did fly to the South Pacific in the early years
after formation.
Apart from the list of countries below already accepted
there are many that have a very interesting post war history that would make an
excellent study in airmails. These include all of the African Colonials before
and after independence, India and Pakistan before after and during their split,
Indo-China before the French left, then in the period before the Vietnam War,
during the war and then after the war, Japan and Germany during and after the
Occupation, as well as the challenge with the USSR’s occupation of East Germany
and other eastern European Countries. The list goes on. If you collect a
country any country and would wish to be part of the challenge then I would
urge you to take part if you are at all interested in airmails of your particular
country after World War II.
CURRENT CHALLENGERS
| Barbara Bartsch |
Australia |
| Bernard Beston |
British Guiana |
| Boon Swee Yen |
Malaysian 1945-65 |
| Colin Riddell |
Cocos Island 1945-1957 |
| Darryl Fuller |
Israel 1948-56 |
| David Collyer |
TBA |
| David Figg | Polar Flights |
| John DiBiase |
TBA |
| Dingle Smith |
Jamaica |
| Erica Genge |
Coronation Flights |
| Gary Brown |
Aden 1945-1965 |
| Geoff Kellow |
Sierre Leone |
| Hans Karman |
The rebirth of Schipol and the KLM |
| Glen Stafford |
TBA |
| Ian McMahon |
Canada |
| John Lucaci |
France |
| John Moore |
Australia 1945-1955 |
| John Sadler |
Australian Balloon Mail 1966 … |
| Ken Sanford |
Air Crash Mail of Pan Am and Affiliated Airways 1945 to 1988 |
| Malcolm Groom |
Australia during the 2s 3d Rate period |
| Phillip Levine |
Gold Coast |
| Jenny Banfield |
Iraq |
| Ross Duberal |
Fiji |
| Torsten Weller |
Australia 1945 – 55 |
| Charles Bromser |
Shuttle Flights |
| Ross Wood |
Czechoslovakia 1945 to 1970 |
| Hubert du Geusclin |
Australian Flying Boat Airmails 1945 … |
The next exhibition in Australia that will accept an
aerophilatelic entry is in Melbourne in April 2009. New Zealand are accepting entries at Tarapex in November 2008 but
the time is a little short to exhibit there as entries close on the 30th
June, but they are holding a National in 2009 at Timaru in October in all
classes including the most important one aerophilately.
Below is what makes up an aerophilately exhibit and you
should be aware of this at the beginning of collecting your airmail material
for your exhibit. This is not what I made up but it is Article 3 of the SREV’s
(Special Regulations for the Evaluation of Aerophilatelic Exhibits at F.I.P.
Exhibitions) for aerophilately. If you
are aware of them I apologise but it is important that you adhere to them. It
is clear from this information that you may include stamps i.e. the stamp as
used to pay the fee for transport by air only and not how and by whom the stamp
was designed and printed etc. as this has very little to do with aerophilately
even though it is important that a special airmail stamp was issued.
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Postal documents dispatched by air Official and semi-official
stamps issued for use on airmail, in mint or used state, but mainly
on cover. All types of postal and other marks, vignettes and labels for aerial transport Items connected with
a particular means of aerial transport, not conveyed through a postal
service but deemed important to the development of airmail Leaflets, messages and newspapers dropped from the air, as a way of normal postal delivery or on occasion of postal services interrupted by unforeseen events. Mail recovered from aircraft accidents and incidents |
Exhibits may include ancillary items, such as maps, photographs,
timetables and the like as long as they are considered vital to illustrate,
and draw attention to a particular point or situation. They should not
overpower the other material and accompanying text on display. |
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I am not sure whether you are willing to have your email address
made available to all other participants so I am sending you each a copy using
blind copy. If you have no objections to providing each other your email addresses
I will send you an up to date list of challengers on a regular basis.
Ross Wood
GAFFA Challenge Coordinator
May, 2008