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123:, which is approx. 8 km away. It took Henri Pequet and his biplane "Sommer" about 13 minutes for the distance. The carried covers were provided with the large circular bright magenta postmark "First Aerial Post, U.P. Exhibition Allahabad 1911" and a few cards were autographed by the pilot. Pequet carried about 6,000 cards and letters on his journey.
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regular and special flights increased significantly to the extent that some modern flight are so commercial that thousands of covers are carried that no pilot could ever possibly sign. Thus collectors may find it difficult to cope with the quantity and diversity of first flight covers available to
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of an airline, route, or aircraft, normally postmarked with the date of the flight often of the arrival destination proving it was actually carried on the aircraft and may have a special flight cachet and/or an arrival postmark. Because many first flight covers are essentially made as collectables
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With the advent of air travel it wasn't long before airplanes were carrying the mail between distant points about the globe. In the United States and
Germany airmail delivery was greeted with the same national enthusiasm and fanfare as was experienced with the first trips to the moon by US
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astronauts. Consequently, many people sent philatelic mail to themselves or friends that was carried aboard these flights in order to get a souvenir of the historic event. Covers carried aboard these flights are very popular and famous in some cases. The
173:, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. Army Lt. George L. Boyle was selected to pilot aircraft #38262 on the first Northbound flight which, unfortunately, turned out to be a somewhat less than successful initial venture.
165:"Jenny" biplanes flown by Army pilots with an intermediate stop in Philadelphia (Bustleton Field). Among those who were on hand for the departure of the first flight from Washington, D.C., were President
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The first scheduled U.S. Air Mail service began on May 15, 1918, and carried mail from
Washington, D.C., to New York City. The type of airplane used was the U.S. Army
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24:
Empire
Airmail service from Zanzibar to Kenya on 1 July 1927 with stamp cancelled by cachet/postmark that includes the phrase "First Flight Cover"
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An A.C. Roessler cover carried on the first scheduled U.S. Air Mail flight from
Washington, D.C., to New York City, May 15, 1918
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carried extensive instructions for postmasters to ensure appropriate circulation took place and proper markings were added.
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Due to the small loads carried on early first flights, these covers are scarce, in demand and expensive. Following the
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recognised the potential in providing first flight cover services to philatelists quite early on and in 1926
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Aerial Mail
Service: A Chronology of the Early United States Government Air Mail March — December, 1918
243:
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The United
Kingdom's first and only official pre-World War I airmail flight took place in 1911 to mark the
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The first official postal delivery flight between two towns took place on
February 18, 1911, during the
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collect forcing them to specialise though some catalogues exist to help them such as the
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505:"Erste deutsche amtliche PostflĂĽge in Heidelberg und Mannheim am 19. Mai 1912"
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from
September 9–15 carrying 926 pounds of mail. The following year a German
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40:, also known by the acronym FFC, is mail that has been carried on an
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477:"India and the World's First Official Air Mail by Airplane"
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cover flown on the world's first aerial post in 1911
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326:"Different Types Of Collecting Philatelic Covers"
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301:The Illustrated encyclopedia of Stamp Collecting
507:(in German). tag-der-briefmarke.org. 2012-01-07
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150:on which first flight postcards were carried.
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268:. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. p. 88.
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237:"Glossary of Postal Terms: Publication 32"
115:carried mail from the exhibition location
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105:Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition
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387:United States Post Office Department
64:United States Post Office Department
208:"Glossary of Aerophilatelic Covers"
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49:though others consider them to be
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372:"Mail for First Air Mail Flights"
353:. Alphabetilately.org. 2007-01-18
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142:postal flight took place between
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351:"F is for Firsts: First Flights"
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57:Collecting first flight covers
20:Registered first flight cover
1:
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244:United States Postal Service
130:flying mail between London (
80:American Air Mail Catalogue.
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475:Ganz, Cheryl (2011-01-25).
328:. About.com. Archived from
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128:coronation of King George V
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264:Carlton, R. Scott (1997).
169:, U.S. Postmaster General
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791:American Air Mail Society
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531:American Air Mail Society
525:Jones, Allen Don (1993).
446:. London: B.T. Batsford.
412:American Air Mail Society
212:American Air Mail Society
111:. The young French pilot
408:"Catalagos & Books"
246:. July 2013. p. 85
45:they can be considered
885:Philatelic terminology
485:National Postal Museum
414:. 2015. Archived from
214:. 2013. Archived from
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851:Humber-Sommer biplane
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481:Pushing the Envelope
634:Curtis "Jenny" JN-4
533:. pp. 53–113.
379:The Postal Bulletin
85:Early first flights
68:The Postal Bulletin
729:First flight cover
641:Specific countries
444:Airmails 1870–1970
303:. London: Hamlyn.
171:Albert S. Burleson
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38:first flight cover
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42:inaugural flight
22:Imperial Airways
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332:on 2015-03-31
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310:0-600-01797-4
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30:aerophilately
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846:Douglas O-38
841:Douglas DC-4
836:Curtiss JN-4
755:Balloon mail
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509:. Retrieved
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488:. Retrieved
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420:. Retrieved
416:the original
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391:. Retrieved
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355:. Retrieved
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334:. Retrieved
330:the original
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248:. Retrieved
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220:. Retrieved
216:the original
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163:Curtiss JN-4
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113:Henri Pequet
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831:Boeing P-12
809:Conveyances
770:Rocket mail
765:Pigeon post
724:Crash cover
879:Categories
821:Blériot XI
816:Airco DH.4
760:Mail plane
540:0939429144
511:2015-04-24
490:2015-04-24
453:0713403802
422:2015-04-24
393:2015-04-24
357:2015-04-24
336:2015-04-24
250:2015-04-24
222:2015-04-24
194:References
148:Heidelberg
140:Reichspost
706:Philately
385:(14081).
117:Allahabad
94:Allahabad
34:philately
750:Aerogram
549:30318465
442:(1971).
299:(1970).
177:See also
144:Mannheim
890:Airmail
864:more...
856:LZ 127
743:Methods
668:Ireland
658:Denmark
652:Germany
602:General
595:Airmail
136:Windsor
798:French
796:FISA (
693:Stamps
663:Greece
547:
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462:152505
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134:) and
375:(PDF)
240:(pdf)
121:Naini
109:India
619:Mail
545:OCLC
535:ISBN
458:OCLC
448:ISBN
305:ISBN
270:ISBN
146:and
36:, a
383:157
119:to
107:in
28:In
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.