Aerophilately is the branch of philately that specializes in the study of airmail. Philatelists have observed the development of mail transport by air from its beginning, and all aspects of airmail service have been extensively studied and documented by specialists.
This 1932 Canadian “first official flight” cover, Great Bear Lake to Rae, includes both a special cachet and a surcharged airmail stamp.
The scope of aerophilately includes:
- airmail postage stamps, both official and unofficial
- other types of labels (such as airmail etiquettes)
- postal documents transmitted by air
- postal markings related to air transport
- rates and routes, particularly first flights and other “special” flights
- mail recovered from aircraft accidents and other incidents (crash covers)
While most of the study of airmail assumes transport by fixed-wing aircraft, the fields of balloon mail, dirigible mail, zeppelin mail, missile mail, and rocket mail are active subspecialties. Astrophilately, the study of mail in space, is a related area.
International Federation of Aerophilatelic Societies, (FISA), is the umbrella organization for aerophilately though aerophilatelists have formed a number of organizations around the world; many of them put out a variety of specialized publications.
Organizations
- FISA
- Air Mail Society of New Zealand
- American Air Mail Society
- British Air Mail Society
- The Canadian Aerophilatelic Society
- Irish Airmail Society
References
- Richard McP. Cabeen, Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting (Collectors Club, 1979), pp. 207-221
- Cheryl Ganz, ed. Collecting Air Mail (American Air Mail Society)
- American Air Mail Catalogue (AAMS, 6th ed. 1998)
- Baldwin, N.C. (1947). British Air Mails 1784-1946. Sutton Coldfield, UK): Francis J. Field Ltd.
- Canadian Air Mail Catalogue (AAMS)
- O’Sullivan, Thomas J. (1985). The Pioneer Airplane Mails of the United States. Cinnaminson, N. J.: American Airmail Society. ISBN 0939429136.
- Victor C. Berecz, Jr., The Pioneer Period of Hungarian Air Mail (AAMS)
- William Victor Kriebel, A History of the Development of Air Mail Service in Brazil (AAMS)
- William J. Murphy, Irish Airmail 1919-1990 (Irish Airmail Society, 1996)
- Vogt, Ronny (1997). Irish Crash Airmail 2nd Ed. Rochford, Essex, UK: Irish Airmail Society.
- Orjan, Luning (1978). The History of Airmail in Scandinavian. Stockholm: Sveriges Filatelist-Forbund.
- Hedelius, Mats (1992). Dansk Luftpost. Skibby: Forlegat Skilling.
- Kronstein, Dr. Max (1978). Pioneer Airpost Flights of The World 1830-1935. Washington D. C.: American Air Mail Society.
- Thomassen, Egil H. (1998). Norwegian Air Mail. Oslo: Norsk Filatelistforbund. ISBN 8290272693.
- Newall, Alexander S. (1985). British External Air Mails until 1934. London: Kingfisher Press. ISBN 0951074903.
- Silombra, Jean. Histoire de L’Aérostation et de L’Aviation Française de 1783 a 1930. Amiens: Yvert & Cie.
- Proud, Edward B. (1991). The Postal History of British Airmails. Heathfield, East Sussex: Proud-Bailey Co. Ltd. ISBN 1872465722.
- Eisendrath, Joesph L. (1979). Crash Covers – An Aerophilatelic Challenge. Cinnaminson, N.J.: American Air Mail Society.
- Collot, Gerard; Cornu, Alain (1992). Ligne Mermoz-Histoire aérophiatélique Lactecoere, Aeropostale, Air France – 1918-1940. Paris: Bertrand Sinais.
External links
- Aerophhilately WebRing
- Air Mail Society of New Zealand
- American Air Mail Society
- British Aerophilatelic Federation
- The Canadian Aerophilatelic Society
- FISA Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Aérophilatéliques
- Irish Airmail Society
- A collection of links to more websites
- Aerophilatelic dealer with many books and links
- Metropolitan Air Post Society
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerophilately”
Categories: Aviation | Airmail