
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Check out ABE books if you’re interested in acquiring one. Published by Nicolas Sanabria, Inc., N.Y. The one I used in this article was Sanabria’s Air Post Catalogue – 1940 Tenth Edition, Nicolas Sanabria & Harry M. They are a great resource for tracking down information on the earliest flights.
#Airmail stamp free#
If you have Michel numbers handy, feel free to post them in comments or over on my Facebook page. I don’t have easy access to specialty catalogues like Michel. This cancel isn’t the same as the big bold Erstflug cancel at the top of the cover but does add nicely to the overall appeal.Īpologies for only referencing Scotts stamp numbers. The two airmail stamps (C16 and C20) are clean, with a well-placed cancel. While poking around the Austrian archives, I found an interesting photo dating to the 1918 flights.
#Airmail stamp cracker#
Pulling it out was a bit like opening up a Cracker Jack box and finding a genuine metal whistle rather than a plastic one that thwips instead of tweets. It’s one of those finds you don’t expect in a box of common (and often battered) stamps. The one at the top of the page is a bit of a favourite. But I do have a few later stamps and covers. I don’t have any of the first Austrian airmails in my collection. 53 Sanabria’s Air Post Catalogue, Worldwide, 1944 Imperforate stamps were specially prepared for members of the Imperial Court, and not for public distribution. Original printings were on grayish-white paper (25 x 30 mm), a second printing on yellowish tinted paper (26 x 29 mm) was issued on June 24, 1918. Printed by State Printing Office, Vienna. First Flight took place on March 31, the service being discontinued on October 15.


Issued March 30, 1918, for air post service operated by military aviators between Vienna and Kieve (Ukraine), via Cracow and Lemberg. My venerable, and much loved 1944 edition of Sanabria describes them this way: Issues of the Monarchy

The first stamps were overprints of 1916 Coat of Arms stamps. *figures from 90 Years of Aviation in Austria However, in its short lifespan, the airmail route delivered a substantial amount of civilian mail: The Saint Germain peace treaty further disrupted airmail service when it demanded the dismantling of aircraft in Austria, killing off the establishment of permanent airmail routes for a couple of years. The Vienna to Kiev route ran until and ceased with the end of the war. This route, by-the-way, predates the US airmail permanent route by 2 months. It covered over 1,200 kilometres along a route that included Vienna to Krakow, Lviv, Proskurow, and Kiev at the end. Starting at Aspern airfield in Vienna and ending in Kiev, pilots flew Hansa-Brandenburg C.I 2-seater recon biplanes at first. First Austrian airmail routeĪustria established it’s first regular airmail route during WW1 on March 31, 1918. It’s one of those treats found in the bottom of a junk stamp box lot I purchased at an auction years ago. The stamps are bright and crisp with a clean cancel tying them together. Considering this cover is 89 years old, it’s looking pretty good.
