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The Modern Aerophilatelic challenge

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from 1945 – 20??

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April, 2009 Coordinator and Editor Ross Wood Third Edition

How the Challenge is going

Little has happened since the last newsletter but this time I have been assisted with lots of information from David Collyer on some areas that are still available and some helpful hints on building up your entry for the GAFFA Challenge in 2012.

As I stated in the last newsletter 2010 is the centenary of the first powered heavier than air powered flight in Australia. I am certain that Australia Post will not miss this milestone by issuing at least one and maybe more stamps. To this end Canberra 2010 Stampshow in March 2010 will have aerophilately as it’s major theme though it will be held almost a week before the Centenary.

To show that aerophilately is a worthwhile part of the hobby I am off to Geneva this week to attend the FISA (International Federation of Aero-Philatelic Societies) Congress from the 24-26^th April. This congress is being held in Geneva in conjunction with Phil Aero 09 at Meyrin(Geneva) Switzerland to celebrate 100 years since the formation of the first Aero Club at Meyrin in 1909 which is still in existence.

Since the last newsletter I have two new challengers in John Tollan and Gary Watson. Welcome them to the challenge and be sure to look out for other people that may also wish to take up the challenge.

The Challenge

The aim of GAAF is to get people forming collections of airmail topics of material since the end of World War II. This is an admirable aim and there is a range of topic areas to work in.

One could collect by country. In a country such as Australia there would be a wide number of fields including internal and international services. An island nation like Singapore only has international services.

One could also look at types of aircraft. Although outside the criteria of GAFFA one Bundaberg collector has an exhibit showing Douglas Commercials from DC1 to DC7’s. In the mid 1970’s there were collection in Britain built around the De Havilland Comet jet airliner. Whilst most of the material centred around BOAC service one should not forget that Air France also operated the Comet jet airliner.

There is obvious scope for collections on Boeing jet lines such as the 707 and the 747. When QANTAS introduced the Boeing 707 a number of individually engraved postmarkers were produced for the opening of jet services.

Many countries had their national flag carrying airline. There is plenty of scope to develop collections on a single airline and how it may have changed over time. BOAC in the 1950’s and into the 1960’s ran philatelic services that produced flight covers for new destinations or the introduction of new types of aircraft

One should not forget other types of flying machines or other ways may can be carried. The Australian Airmail Catalogue have separate sections for:

· Rockey mails- although there are only 3 entries after 1945

· Pigeon Post- only 7 of the 16 listed services are post 1945

· Balloon Post- all but 2 of the 60 entries listed after 1966

· Parachute mails- these are normally listed in the main catalogue but can be cargo parachuted into a location or mail carried in by parachutist

· Crash and disaster mails are a part of our hobby. Little information is readily obtainable.

To make this newsletter work there needs to be contributions of what you are doing. It could be a description of a single item or a question. It could be a source of information from which a collection could be built or from which material could be interpreted. Your assistance would be appreciated.

Gaffa – Holding things together

Aerophilatelists may think that GAFFA stands for Great After Forty Five Aero (Challenge), but any DIY (Do It Yourself) handy person is aware of the multitude of uses for GAFFA tape – the instant repair kit.

In forming any collection there are a number of basic criteria to be fore-filled:

· Availability – the material needs to be reasonably readily available.

It would be difficult for an Australian based collector to form a collection of Olympic Airways first flights. On the other hand it may be easier for an Australian based collector to form a collection of post 1945 New Zealand airmails because of their prevalence on the local market

· Cost – the material needs to be acquired at a reasonable cost

Most post 1945 flight covers are available at a reasonable cost. On the other hand some markets are more costly than others. For high-end items such as crash mail or disrupted mail the market may normally be high

· Information- you need to be able to readily get information on items that have been acquired.

There are specialist journals that list contemporary matters on aerophilately. The DBZ (Germany) has a regular aero column that lists current events. At various times the South African Philatelist has run a detailed column on South African first flight. On the other hand there may be little information for airlines serving Iraq

An Australian perspective.

Australian airmail collectors have an advantage by having the Australian Airmail Catalogue (AAMC). First published in 1937, in 2008 it is currently in its 8^th edition. There are 2265 numbered entries to 2002 of which numbers 995 to 2265 come after January 1945.

There are a range of potential areas from which one could form a GAFFA entry.

· Internal services. After the end of WW II Australia has basically had trunk service linking the state capital cities. Initially the main players were ANA (Australian National Airways) – a group headed by the Holyman family and

Ansett Airlines – head by Reginald Ansett. In 1946 these private companies were joined by a Government back operation- TAA (Trans Australian Airlines). In the mid 1950’s ANA and Ansett combined to become Ansett-ANA and finally Anxsett. TAA too had a change of name to become Australian Airlines and in 1992 it became the domestic arm of QANTAS. Since the deregulation of domestic air service there have been a number of attempts to create other carriers, some such as Virgin Blue have been successful and others such as Compass slipped from the scene very quickly

The AAMC lists a number of flights for the major trunk route operators. Availability may not be easy as there is little stock around

· Internal services – regional operators: Besides the major airlines there were any number of smaller operators. Reference books like Flypast by Parnell and Boughton are invaluable in recording the small airlines

There are a range of international carriers that service Australia that could be studied as a topic for GAFFA:

· QANTAS – The ‘Flying Kangaroo’ is an obvious topic. Whilst QANTAS claims to have operated overseas from 1934, those services were only to Singapore. In 1938 QANTAS flying boats flew on the route from Sydney to London and return but QANTAS crews only operated to Singapore. In 1945 when Lancastrian aircraft operated the Sydney-London service, Australian crews only flew from Sydney to Karachi.

The development of QANTAS from the introduction of Lockheed Constellation aircraft in late 1946 is a worthy topic. The problem may well be where to stop. Between 1945 and 1958 QANTAS piston engined aircraft laid the foundation for the motto “..the around the world airline”. There were large philatelic promotions for the opening of the route to South Africa in 1952, the Coronation Day airmail of 1953 and the opening of the Trans Pacific route in 1954.

In 1959 QANTAS purchased Boeing 707 aircraft and entered the “Jet Age”

Australia Post produced special postmarks for the early jet services. QANTAS produced commemorative covers for these flights into the mid 1980’s. The second generation of commercial jet aircraft begins with the introduction of the Boeing 747 in September 1971

· Until the early 1960’s QANTAS operated pool arrangements with a number of airlines: BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation); TEAL (Tasman Empire Airlines) and Air India. Each of these is worthy as an area of study.

BOAC became British (Airways). From the early 1950’s this company produced a wide range of covers for their first flights. One could attempt to cover all the services BOAC/ British made covers for or onw could concentrate on a particular route or type of aircraft

TEAL started operations in 1940 flying between Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney. It had a monopoly on the Trans Tasman route until 1959 when QANTAS and Pan American Airways commenced their services. Being linked with BOAC and QANTAS, TEAL later to become Air New Zealand produced covers for the opening of services and the introduction of aircraft. For the collector of flight covers Air New Zealand has the advantage of operating mainly within the Asia / Pacific area.

Air India is not so well known on the Australian route, but it too produced special covers for the opening of services to Australia. Less well known is that Air India offices in Sydney and Melbourne used franking machine slogans to advertise their airline

· There are a number small Australian airlines that operated overseas in the 1950’s. BCPA (British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines) was a joint venture between Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain to operate service across the Pacific to North America. Its efforts are listed in both Austra;ian and New Zealand Airmail catalogues

TOA (Trans Oceanic Airways) operated Flying boats into the Pacific until the mid 1950’s

· From the early 1960’s the Australian skyways were opened to other international carriers. The AAMC provides a good listing of opening services from companies like: KLM (Royal Dutch Airline); Lufthansa, JAT (Jyuoslav Air Transport), Air France, Thai International, South African Airlines, Singapore Airline, Japan Airlines and Korean Airlines.

Services between Australia and North America can be a separate story. Once again any list will contain names of legendary companies; PAA (Pan American Airlines), Continental Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Canadian Pacific, Canadian Airlines

For collectors in Australia material for the major airlines is readily available. You need to consider condition, modern material should be clean. The Australian Airmail catalogue is a good information base but do not forget to check the Australian Philatelic Bulletin and contemporary journals like the Australian Stamp Monthly.

Nyasaland Airmails from the end of WW II.

Nyasaland was under British control from 1891 to July 1964 which Independence was granted and the country changed its name to Malawi. From 1891 to 1908 the region was known as the British Central Africa Protectorate. In 1908 the region changed its name to Nyasland which it retained until independence. Nyasaland was regarded as part of the Rhodesia’s and from 1954 to 1964 was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

When Imperial Airways opened its service to South Africa IN 1931,the closes the route came to Nyasaland was Mpika in Northern Rhodesia. Things did not improve with the introduction of flying boats in 1937 because the route followed the coast south from Mombasa to Durban.

The story of what happened after the end of WW II is told by Dave Morton in articles published recently in the South African Philatelist – December 2008 and the Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle of March 2009.

In the immediate pre WW II period Rhodesian And Nyasaland Airways (RANA) operated service to South and North Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Portuguese East Africa. At the outbreak of war these services were taken over by the Southern Rhodesian air force and called Southern Rhodesian air Services (SRAS). In 1946 SRAS became Central African Airways (CAA)

In 1948 BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) reopened its flying boat service to South Africa using Short S45 Solent aircraft that were a civilian conversion of the Sunderland flying boat. The Springbok Solent service operated three times a week in each direction. In November 1949 one service per week landed at Cape Maclear on Lake Nyasa. The flying boat services lasted until November 1950. Mail that used this service would be limited to a one year window and the majority would be addressed to the United Kingdom.

Through out the 1950’s CAA provided services to Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, Portuguese East Africa, Tanganyika and Kenya

The story of internal air services are a separate story. Little has been recorded and this would be not an easy field to work in

One may consider whether this topic might be expanded to cover the post independence periods for each of the Territories that formed the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

References

Dave Morton- Nyasaland’s post WW II air mails – Journal of the Rhodesian study circle – March 2009 p. 35-44

Air mails of France 1945-1970

These are some approaches undertaken on the topic of the airmails for France 1945-1970. This material is currently being formed into an exhibit.

The collector working in this area speaks French and thus can use available airmail catalogues of France and any journal articles written in French.

Although Air France is the best known International airline of France there were others. R.E. G. Davies A History of the World’s Airlines. OUP, 1964. Has a chapter on the development of airlines in France from 1945-1964. Kenneth Munson Civil Aircraft of yesteryear. Ian Allan, 1967 has some photo’s of aircraft that served French airlines from 1945 onwards. This reference is useful because it includes French aircraft, something that is not always included in works published in English.

A significant source of information written in English is the British aerophilatelic journal Aerofield, published by Francis Field of Sutton Coldfield , Birmingham and edited to the 1970’s by N.C. Baldwin. The Chronicle colum listed contemporary first flights and new services. Obviously such material should be compared with French references

Class Challenges – an overview

What is the history of Challenges that have run in Australasia and how does GAFFA fit in?

Philately in Australia owes a lot to Edric Druce. Ed brought about a name change so that our national philatelic body became the Australian Philatelic Federation. He created a number of innovative classes. Social Philately which was an FIP Experimental class at Australia’99 morphed in to Open Class Philately. Recently Social Philately has reappeared as Social Postal History. Ed also created the class of Frugal Philately so that entries would be made up for inexpensive material.

Ed Druce also created the “Challenge”, a concept that has remained in Australia and to some extent New Zealand. Basically a time period was set, around 5 years and exhibitors joined up with the aim of displaying competitively at a designated show.

· 1997 Great Australia Stationery Challenge for – run for a second time in 200

· 2000 French Colonies Challenge of Traditional Philately- -also rerun for a second time in 2003

· 2003 the Dot Com challenge – Traditional philately since 1970.

· 2005 George VI postal History challenge –organised from New Zealand

· 2006 Mecca Challenge –Middle East Philately open to all philatelic disciplines except literature.

· 2012 GAFFA challenge for late 20^th century Aerophilately.

Competitive Aerophilately in Australia experienced a nadir when at Sydney 2007 there were only two entries in the class. A Challenge was seen as a way of interesting more entrants into the class. Hopefully these would be new exhibitors but more likely it would be new entries from experienced exhibitors.

The choice of the topic area – Aerophilately since 1945- will see a range of entries on subjects that have not previously been attempted. Developing such an entry may not be as easy as one may think. Any topic will need to fit the criteria of:

· availability of material

· relative cost

· availability of information or potential to extend known research

GASC in 1997 had a number of rules that governed the competition. Firstly any topic (country) could only be chosen by one entrant. It may have been better to have multiple entries of a country or topic area. Competitors were supposed to assist each other, if you saw something of interest for another entrant you should at least inform that entrant what was available, from whom and the price. It is probable that human nature operated on this criteria. Potential jury members were more likely to collect material from earlier periods and thus perceive modern material as easier to come by –this is generally not so.

Challenges have had their own Palmares that have taken the name of Faux Palmares. The first French Challenge at Canberra had bereted MC’s with fake French accents. The Dot Com Challenge at Hobart offered Can Can Dancers for the French Challenge and a Belly dancer for the Mecca Challenge. In recent times things have not been so frivolous.

At national level Aerophilately needs more entrants on a regular basis showing a wider range of topics. The development of aviation since 1945 has opened up a wide range of topics that could be turned into innovative and informative competitive entries.

What are you doing for GAFFA?

What wasn’t or what might have been – France-Oceania airmail rates 1945-2003

When this challenge was being brought to fruition one entry that came to mind was David Collyer’s France-Oceania airmail rates which started in 2003 at 2 frames and has been at 5 frames since 2004.

The entry is composed of mail flown between France and Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands. The treatment is postal history. France set the standard system for airmail that was followed by many European countries. The sender had to hand in airmail items at the Post Office counter where a staff member would assess the foreign postage rate in 20g increments and then the airmail surcharge in 5g increments. For every one rate step of foreign postage there could be up to 4 additional airmail increments. This type of rate calculation is called a composite rate – the result is composed of two or more elements. Just to make things interested the postage could vary depending on the type of mail; letters, post cards, other articles, commercial mail, printed matter, and / or newspapers.

If the treatments included airlines that carried these mails the entry may abide by the criteria for aerophilately. Up until 1962 the majority of airmail carried into Australia from Europe came on QANTAS and BOAC service. In this period mail may have been flown by French Airlines to say Singapore for transfer to an on going QANTAS/BOAC service to Australia.

The Australian Airmail Catalogue lists a number of services for Air France and other French carriers

· 24 November 1948 Air France extends its service from Indo China to New Caledoinia via Sydney (AAMC 1194a)

· 21 September 1949 Air France direct service Paris-Saigon-Sydney- Noumea (AAMC 1230a)

· 19 September 1960 TAI (Transports Aeriens Intercontinentuax) open Paris to Tahiti DC-8 service via Brisbane (AAMC 1442a)

· 13 February 1993 Air France first service Boeing 747 Sydney- Noumea

(AAMC 2114)

In 1987 Air France operated a number of Round the world flights using Concorde supersonic airline. Mail carried would have been of souvenir origin.

What is not listed in the AAMC is UTA (Union Transports Aerine) who used to operate DC-8 and later DC-10 services into Sydney

Pacific islands Monthly as source for Aerophilately.

Pacific Islands Monthly (PIM) was news monthly that started publication in Sydney in 1930 and in the later 20^th century was published from Fiji. From its inception each issue carried shipping schedules. With the opening of the Sydney to Rabaul air service in May 1938 information on air services was included with the shipping news. During World War II shipping and airline information was not included for reasons of security.

From the end of 1945 through to the 1980 PIM monthly airline schedules paint a picture of the development of civil aviation across and within the South Pacific region. Mostly the information was the same from month to month, by checking one can ascertain when changes occurred. Over time one can also see an increase in the number of airlines operating in the Pacific area.

In August 1957 the following services were listed as operating:

· Australia/NZ – Fiji-USA

PAA from Sydney 4 times a week using Boeing Strato Clipper

PAA from Auckland 3 times a week using DC4’s

QANTAS from Sydney 4 times a week, one service to Vancouver

Canadian Pacific Airlines weekly using DC Super6B

· Australia – PNG

QANTAS from Sydney 3 times a week using DC4’s

· Australia- Dutch New Guinea-Holland

KLM weekly service via Biak Dutch New Guinea, Manila using Lockheed Super Constellation

· New Guinea- Solomons

QANTAS 3 flights a week using DC3’s

· Paris –Saigon- Noumea-Auckland

Transports Aeriens Intercontinentuax (TAI) weekly service using DC6B

· Sydney- Lord Howe Island

Ansett Airways twice weekly using Sandringham Flying boats

· Sydney- Norfolk Island

Qantas, alternate Saturdays using DC4’s

· Norfolk Island- Auckland

TEAL by QANTAS (Charter), alternate Sundays

· Sydney – Noumea

QANTAS, 3 services every 4 weeks, using DC4’s

· New Caledonia- New Hebrides

TAI weekly using DC3’s

· New Caledonia-Fiji- Wallis Islands

TAI every 4-5 weeks using DC3’s

· New Zealand- Fiji

Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (TEAL) twice weekly using DC6

PAA thrice weekly using DC4’s

· Fiji- Tahiti

TEAL, fortnightly using Short Solent flying boats

· Fiji- Samoa

TEAL, monthly using Short Solent flying boats

· Micronesia

Trans Oceanic Airways (TOA) operates service for the Trust Territory of Micronesia

QANTAS 1953 Coronation Day flight(s)

The Australian Airmail Catalogue says that on 3 June 1953 the QANTAS Constellation VH-EAD Charles Kingsford Smith departed Sydney carrying mails to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (AAMC 1317). These mails are postmarked up to 4pm on 2 June in Sydney and on arrival in London on 6 June 1953.

Sounds simple, but a collection of QANTAS covers produced for this flight depicts most of the services QANTAS operated at the time. In 1997 a Cocos Island collector asked what aircraft carried the Coronation mail from Cocos. This was answered fairly quickly but inturn there was a host of other questions, some of which have still not been answered.

Put simply AAMC 1317 pertains to mails from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea that were carried out of Sydney on 2 June 1953. For Australia and New Zealand these could be covers and aerogrammes produced by QANTAS and ordered by clients or they could be cover prepared by individuals. In the case of Papua New Guinea only QANTAS covers were flown from Sydney on 2 June.

QANTAS promoted a range of both covers and private licence aerogrammes that were to be posted on the first day of the British Commonwealth omnibus stamp issue for the Coronation. The countries included in the promotion were:

Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Norfolk Island, New Hebrides, Fiji, Singapore, Cocos island, Mauritius, Ceylon, and Pakistan.

Some interesting things that happened on services:

· Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea offered a return flight of mails that travelled on 2 June from Sydney. The New Zealand Coronation set had a face value of 3/11d (2d, 3d, 4d, 8d, 1/6d) where as the return rate was 4/-. New Zealand covers with the full ser were accepted for the return service if properly endorsed “Via London”

· In Fiji there were insufficient stocks of the QANTAS aerogramme so some

Fiji 7d aerogrammes were used

· Norfolk Island did not issue a special stamp but used a special postmarker.

· Qantas offered covers from Singapore with the set of Coronation stamps issued by the Malay states

· Mail from Mauritius was first flown east to Cocos Island where it was flown with the local mails to Singapore on the next available QANTAS/ BOAC service to London

· A small amount of Mauritius aerogrammes have arrival dates in London that shows they were flown west to Africa and then up to London.

· The majority of mail from Cocos was processed that the Singapore postal agency on the island. There is a very small number of covered proceed at the RAAF Post Office on the island and struck with the Coronation flight cancel that flew directly back to Australia

· Time tabling shows that the Ceylon mails were not carried on a QANTAS service but by Air Ceylon who had the airmail contract with the Ceylon Post Office

What is special about these mails and particularly the QANTAS covers is that they were backstamped on arrival in London. This process of backstamping incoming mails had ceased in the United Kingdom at the turn of the 20^th century but was specially negotiated for this one cover promotion. Both covers are aerogrammes were backstamped.

This information was compiled by a team of collectors, each assisting the other. Whilst the basics of the service were known a more complete story developed when time table data was introduced. For service in the Pacific one could use Pacific Island Monthly.

The flight(s) from London is really a separate story.

RULES OF THE CHALLENGE

I see the challenge as governed by the following (minimal) rules and guidelines

· Study of mail carried by air from 1945 until today.

· Based on Aerophilately exhibiting rules

· Single frame or 3 to 8 frames

· Anyone can enter

· The Challenge will be held as part of the National Exhibition in Western Australia in June 2012

· Venue to be decided but will be published in forthcoming newsletters but in 2012

· Does NOT have to be a new exhibit

· Novice (first time National) exhibitors will get special recognition at the formal challenge dinner.

Though the challenge has been widely advertised there are still some interesting areas that have not yet been taken up. Though I have had several additional challengers since the last newsletter I would still like more as there is still some interesting countries that had large scale developments after 1945.

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 Airlines 1945 to 1988
Malcolm Groom	Australia during the 2s 3d Rate period
Phillip Levine	Gold Coast
Jenny Banfield	Iraq
Ross Duberal	Fiji
Torsten Weller	Re-Opening Australian Airmails 1945-60
Charles Bromser	Shuttle Flights
Ross Wood	Czechoslovakia 1945 to 1970
Mike Rhodes	Mexico
Hubert du Geusclin	Australian Flying Boat Airmails 1945 …
Bob Gooding	Pacific Airmails since 1945
John Tollan	Burma Airmails 1945-1988
Gary Watson	From Australia by Air
Yvette and Jeff Trinidad	TBA

Ross Wood

GAFFA Challenge Coordinator

April, 2008