Books

The F.I.S.A. Documentation Center

One of the tasks for F.I.S.A. is to provide aero- and astrophilatelists the necessary documentation for their exhibits : from F.I.P. regulations over short articles to the publication of some major exhibits in this Document section of the website. We would appeciate if members send us some short articles about some special events to be published here : these articles will remain on the site for consultation. We provide articles in .pdf file, so each visitor can print or save the article.

Did you know ?

In 1950, a catalogue was published by F.I.S.A., written by Frank Muller :
CATALOGUE des AÉROGRAMMES du MONDE ENTIER 1950.
The book has 459 pages.

Re-Edition de la FISA 1970, 459 pages, with extensive cataloguing of all aerograms published worldwide until 1950. This is the reprint initiated by FISA 1970, well preserved, privately bound as hardcover.

This book was re-edited by Bertrand Sinais in 1991.

Any information on this catalogue is welcome !

Stacks Image 629

1950 - Original edition by Frank Muller

Stacks Image 632

1970 - Re-edition by FISA

F.I.S.A. aims to publish as much information as possible on Aero- and Astrophilately. One of the most important sources of all collections are research works : these can be books, magazines, cd, dvd, internet publications or whatever more. But the basic for all scientific research is finding correct facts on all technics.

The book reviews on this page are provided by the author or publisher, or by Ken Sanford, librarian of the AAMS.

  • Les Légendes de l' Air & de l' Espace par l' Image et l' Autographe - © 2023 - Yves Saint-Ives & Michaël Lopez Saint-Ives
    Les Légendes de l' Air & de l' Espace par l' Image et l' Autographe

    Author Yves Saint-Ives & Michaël Lopez Saint-Ives

    Notre ami Yves Saint-Yves et son petit-fils, tous deux membres du CAF et passionnés de l’histoire aéronautique et spatiale, viennent de publier un nouvel ouvrage intitulé : Les légendes de l’Air et de l’Espace par l’image et l’autographe.

    De Sophie Adenot (seconde femme sélectionnée par l’Agence Spatiale Européenne, après Claudie Haigneré) à Jan Zumbach (as polonais de la Seconde Guerre mondiale) en passant par Ader, Assolant, Bellonte, Breguet, Costes, Dagnaux, Daurat, Dewoitine, Fonck, Glenn, Guillaumet, Hilsz, Latécoère, Lindbergh, Mermoz, Pégoud, Vachet, les frères Wright, etc… , cet ouvrage propose les biographies de 166 femmes et hommes, disparus ou vivants, qui ont marqué l’histoire de la conquête de l’Air et le l’Espace.
    Ces biographies sont illustrées de nombreux plis aérophilatéliques, photos et documents rares signés, souvent inédits, issus des collections personnelles des auteurs.

    Vous pouvez acquérir ce luxueux ouvrage de 300 pages au prix de 60 euros (franco de port pour les membres du CAF). Vous trouverez en pièce jointe le bon de commande, qui vous permettra également de commander, si vous le souhaitez, les 5 autres ouvrages publiés par Yves Saint-Yves depuis 2009.

    Reviewed by Dominique Petit

  • Australasian Crash Mail and Mail from Other Incidents - Volume Five : 1950 - 2005 - © 2023 - Brian R. Peace, FRPSL
    Australasian Crash Mail and Mail from other Incidents, Volume Five : 1950 - 2005

    Author Brian R. Peace FRPSL APR

    This hard cover, 300 page book covers all crashes and incidents with an Australian, New Zealand or Papua New Guinea connection where mail was involved; but it is much more than that. The author has been thorough in setting a context; not simply explaining the distinction between an accident and an incident.

    The book is effectively a comprehensive demonstration of the challenges and hazards facing pilots and the growing airline industry in the post war years, from a social and historical, as well as a philatelic, perspective.

    The tables at the end of each of the first four chapters are useful in that it is a relatively simple task to check air mail covers to establish if they could have been involved in an accident or incident.

    The inclusion in tables of the amount of mail carried, and the recorded or estimated numbers of surviving covers, will be invaluable for auction houses and dealers as well as collectors. Whilst some would prefer to see values, auction realisations or scarcity ratings included, the author has deliberately avoided their inclusion.

    A detailed census has been prepared for all accidents where more than 4 examples are recorded. It must be stressed that each of these is a preliminary census and must be treated as a work in progress. Where 4 or fewer examples are recorded, they are described and illustrated in the text.

    Chapter 2 - New Zealand internal airmails - is larger than in previous volumes. Chapter Three also includes many flights to and from New Zealand including the 1979 Air New Zealand crash on Mount Erebus in Antarctica.

    Chapter 4 covers two hijacks of aircraft carrying mail to Australasia.

    Chapters 5, 7 and 8 include updated censuses from previous volumes.

    The extensive list of references points to this study being not only thorough, but wide-ranging. The possibility of new crash covers emerging is an incentive for aero-philatelists, and dealers, to re-examine their air mail covers from this period.

    At 285 + xiv pages, the book is the culmination of decades of research and writings. The author first wrote on the subject 50 years ago, and is the acknowledged authority on the subject. It may be that the readership will turn out to be wider than auctioneers, aero-philatelists and dealers.

    The book has been well researched and will be essential to anyone interested in airmail of Australia, New Zealand or Papua New Guinea.

    POST PAID price is £50 in the UK, €65 to Europe, AU$140 to Australia. NZ$160 to New Zealand, US$100 to the USA & CA$120 to Canada Payment online in GB£ to account of B. R. Peace, Sort 05-00-40 Account 10082204, or in AU$ to BSB 063000 Account 12391146 or by PayPal to brpeace@ntlworld.com adding 4 per cent.

    Volumes 1, 2 and 3 are sold out but will be reprinted, with updates, when ten orders for a volume are received.

    Note: Volume Three of the series covering 1936-1939 (2021) was awarded Large Gold at the New Zealand National Philatelic Literature Exhibition in November 2021. It also received Felicitations for Research, Best Monograph and Grand Award.

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Air Crash Mail of the World - © 2023 - Ken Sanford
    Air Crash Mail of the World

    Edited by Ken Sanford

    A complete revision and update of “Recovered Mail” by Henri Nierinck, and the American Air Mail Catalogue, Sixth Edition, Vol. 1, Interrupted Flights section.

    Covers all known air crashes from which mail has been recovered and is recorded in collectors’ hands.
    Over 2,000 pages and 1600 illustrations of cachets, labels, post office memos, and crash markings, many in full color.
    Pricing has been brought up to date, to reflect the current market.

    Available on a flash drive.

    Order from: Ken Sanford, 613 Championship Dr., Oxford, CT – USA 06478-3128. Make checks payable to American Air Mail Society, or PayPal to kaerophil@gmail.com and add $1.70.

    Price:
    To USA - US$32.00
    To all other countries – US$34.00 (postage included)

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Australasian Crash Mail and Mail from Other Incidents - Volume Four : 1940-1949 - © 2022 - Brian R. Peace, FRPSL
    Australasian Crash Mail and Mail from other Incidents, Volume Four : 1940-1949

    Author Brian R. Peace

    This is the 4th book in the series on Australasian crash mail. This book covers all crashes and incidents where mail was involved; but it is much more than that. The author has been thorough in setting a context; not simply explaining the distinction between an accident and an incident.

    The book is effectively a comprehensive demonstration of the challenges and hazards facing air forces, pilots and the growing airline industry, from a social and historical, as well as a philatelic, perspective. The tables at the end of each of the first four chapters are useful in that it is a relatively simple task to check air mail covers to establish if they could have been involved in an accident or incident.

    The inclusion in tables of the amount of mail carried, and the recorded or estimated numbers of surviving covers, will be invaluable for auction houses and dealers as well as collectors. Whilst some would prefer to see values, auction realisations or scarcity ratings included, the author has deliberately avoided their inclusion. A detailed census has been prepared for all accidents where more than 5 examples are recorded. It must be stressed that each of these is a preliminary census and must be treated as a work in progress. Where 5 or fewer examples are recorded, they are described and illustrated in the text.

    The author estimates that at least 20% more covers have survived than are listed in censuses. For example, in the case of 400122, over 50 covers are recorded in the census, yet it is likely that more than 60 probably exist. One of the main reasons for this disparity is that, until fairly recently, images of covers from crashes were not always included in auction catalogues.

    Chapter Two on New Zealand internal airmails is larger than in previous volumes. Chapter Three includes much of the Pacific theatre during World War II. Research into wartime incidents has been challenging and the attribution of damaged covers to incidents, and the allocation of specific aircraft to incidents where mail was lost or damaged has not always been possible.

    The extensive list of references points to this study being not only thorough, but wide-ranging. There are several serious incidents involving mail-carrying aircraft in Australia and the Pacific which have remained unrecorded in philatelic literature. The possibility of new crash covers emerging is an incentive for aerophilatelists, and dealers, to re-examine their air mail covers from this period.

    At 200+ pages the book is the culmination of decades of research and writings. All of the cover images are in color. The author first wrote on the subject 50 years ago, and is the acknowledged authority on the subject. It may be that the readership will turn out to be wider than auctioneers, aerophilatelists and dealers.

    Postpaid price is £35 in the UK, EUR45 to Europe, US$70 to the USA and AU$100 to Australia. Payment online in GBP to B R Peace Sort 05-00-40 Account 10082204, or in AUD to BSB 063000 Account 12391146 or by Paypal to brpeace@ntlworld.com, adding 4 per cent

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • British West Africa and the French Air Mail Services to June 1940 - © 2021 - Barbara Priddy
    British West Africa and the French Air Mail services to June 1940

    Author Barbara Priddy

    This is a detailed survey of the French air mail services serving British West Africa until WWII. It was first published in “Cameo”, the Journal of the West Africa Study Circle, in six parts. It has been consolidated into book form as a convenience to members and other readers, having been slightly edited by Rob May FRPSL. The list of the original Cameo articles and now chapters in the book are:

    Chapter 1
    - The Toulouse – Dakar Service Stage 1 1926-1934
    - The Toulouse – Dakar Service Stage 2 1926-1934
    - The Toulouse – Dakar Service Stage 3 1926-1934

    Chapter 2
    - The Transsaharan Service

    Chapter 3
    - Aéromaritime, the Coastal Service

    Chapter 4
    - September 1939 – June 1940

    Many first flight covers, commercial covers and crash covers are shown, all in color. There are many rate charts, timetables and route maps, as well as detailed descriptions of the various services.
    There is a useful list of 16 references as well as in index.

    The book is soft cover, 82 pages, and is available from:
    Rob May, Longdown Farm Cottage, Cadsden, Princes Risborough, Bucks, HP27 0NB, UK.

    Price:
    UK£16.00 plus £2.00 P&P within the UK
    UK€19.20 plus €6.30 P&P to Europe by airmail
    US$21.70 plus US$11.30 P&P worldwide by airmail

    Orders can be placed by e-mail to robert.may@cantab.net

    By UK Sterling cheque, to include postage, payable to West Africa Study Circle.
    For payment in dollars or euros please use Paypal to the benefit of treasurer@wasc.org.uk, or pay by BACS transfer after contacting the Treasurer, Philip Quirk on that e-mail.

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights - © 2021 - Cheryl R. Ganz
    U.S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights

    Author Cheryl R. Ganz

    Published by author, 2021

    This book is all about U. S. Zeppelin and airship mail flights and Cheryl is the perfect person to write it. She has collected, exhibited, researched, lectured and written about airships for many years. Each chapter covers a different airship, starting with the “Shenandoah”, and continuing on through the ZR-2, ZR-3, ZRS-4 “Akron”, and ZRS-5 “Macon”. There is background information on each airship with lots of historic photos of the airships and the people connected with them. Then all types of known covers are shown in color, followed by a flight log of all the flights by that airship. There is also a special event cover list for the “Akron”. The final chapters cover Navy airship bases & squadrons, Army airships, and shows covers from those bases, and finally a section on private & commercial airships, which shows all known souvenir covers carried by them, also in color.

    There is an extensive list of references and a comprehensive index. The book is well done and will be essential for the library of collectors of airship and Zeppelin covers.

    279 pages, 8 ½ inch format, hard cover. Available from: classic.stamps.org/Publications $80.00. 10% discount to American Philatelic Society members, plus $5.08 media rate postage within the USA and $37.60 Global Priority mail outside the USA.

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Catalog of Postal Stationery Airgraphs - © 2020 - Wayne Menuz
    Catalog of Postal Stationary Airgraphs

    Author Wayne Menuz

    Published in 2020 by The United Postal Stationary Society, Inc.

    This catalog covers postal stationary airgraphs of the United Kingdom East Africa Command, Ceylon, Egypt, India, Palestine, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. An essential wartime service need of Great Britain in World War II was to enable troops in its far-flung empire to send and receive mail from home via airmail rather than by sea. This could not be done during the first years of the war due to the small number of airplanes available, and the extremely limited cargo capacity of those aircraft. Sending by sea took many weeks or months, and the danger of losing mail due to attack by German or Italian submarine was high. If mail were to be lost, morale of both the troops and their families back home would greatly suffer. Airmail letters, even aerograms that were soon introduced to obviate the need for an envelope, did not weigh much per item, but the volume needed per month was hundreds of thousands, resulting in mail cargo initially weighing more than a dozen tons weekly. The widely used Short Brothers “Empire” flying boats, extensively used to the east, had a 2.2-ton cargo capacity plus 17 passengers, with a 1,500-mile range.

    The novel solution was the Airgraph service. Letters were written on standardized forms, microfilmed at or near the source, then flown to special development centers where the microfilm was developed into prints. These were inserted into window envelopes and mailed to destination. The Airgraph forms were designed so the address information was in a box located such that it would be positioned on the airgraph photo that, when inserted into the envelope, would appear in the window.

    The number of British Airgraphs used in WW II was 313,745,182, and that amount of microfilm weighed 31.7 tons. If, instead, that correspondence had been lightweight aerograms, the air cargo weight would have been about 1,400 tons, and if it had been letter paper with light-weight envelopes, 3,000 tons. Each Airgraph message to be microfilmed was required to be on a special form so that the whole process could be automated to a large degree. The forms were usually printed locally by private or government printers. The result is that there are many hundreds of different types known to collectors. Virtually all were formular (including all USA V-Mail forms), and given out free. These Airgraph forms required the application of an adhesive stamp (though the American V-Mail service was free). The adhesive stamp was placed on the back side, and thus not microfilmed, and not visible on the developed Airgraph mailed to the addressee.

    Eight countries issued some or all of their Airgraph forms prepaid. Two affixed adhesive stamps before selling the forms, so they were prepaid Airgraphs forms, while the other five sold them with indicia imprinted or implied. These are postal stationery, and the exclusive subject of this catalog.

    The catalog shows all the different types of airgraphs in color, as well as many photos showing the photographing and processing operations. The catalog is well done and will be essential to any collector interested in World War 2 airgraphs.

    75 pages, soft cover 8 ½ x 11. Available on the website www.upss.org, under publications, where payment can be made with PayPal or credit card (processed through PayPal, no PayPal account needed). Or, by sending a check to: UPSS Publications Office, P.O. Box 3982, Chester, VA, USA 23831. Postpaid price, domestic and foreign, is $34 to non-UPSS members, or $27.60 to UPSS members.

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • The History of Airmail in Poland and Its Contribution to Airmail Services of Europe (1914-1939) - © 2021 - Dr. Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski
    The History of Airmail in Poland and Its Contribution to Airmail Services of Europe (1914-1939)

    Author Dr. Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski

    Published by the Collectors Club of Chicago, 2021.

    This English edition is accompanied by Synopsis and Table of Contents in Polish and German. The monograph, prefaced by Oxford-based Nobel Prize nominated historian Norman Davies, focuses on the development and operations of airmail services on the Polish territories throughout 25 years of turbulent European history during the 20th century. It begins with events originating in WWI in a remote area of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire's Galicia Province. It concludes with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the outbreak of WWII. It is an in-depth encyclopedic history of the development of air post services not only in Poland but also in all of Europe and beyond.
    The substantive material is presented in twelve chapters. The first chapter highlights the 1914-1915 airmail effort by Austrian Army from the besieged by Russian forces city of Przemyśl. The following chapter includes comprehensive descriptions and illustrations of the airmail postal route in 1918 from Vienna to Kyiv via Krakow and Lviv. Further chapters detail the development of domestic airmail operations, as well as joint services by Polish and foreign carriers to other countries and continents, air rallies, crash (interrupted) mail, and the Zeppelin mail from mainland Poland and the Free City of Danzig to the Americas. There are many tables and appendices which provide useful information about cancellations, cachets, miscellaneous postal marking, quantities of airmail carried between various cities, airmail labels used on the covers, a survey of Graf Zeppelin dispatches from Poland to South America, and much more.

    The book is well researched and contains a wealth of information about early Polish & European airmail and will be essential for aerophilatelists interested in that area of aerophilately.

    The handbook is hardbound in an 8½”x11" format (21.5 x 28 cm) and includes 385 pages containing over 700 color illustrations.
    The book is available in Europe for €65 plus s/h, with PayPal accepted for payment, to: jkupiec@mednet.ucla.edu.
    It is available in the USA for $70.50 plus the following postage: $8.00 within the USA, Europe $15.00 (shipping from Poland) & to Canada $28.50 priority mail. Inquire about shipping cost to other countries.
    See the Collector’s Club of Chicago website for details. (https://www.collectorsclubchicago.org/product/the-history-of-airmail-in-poland/).

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin" 1929 in Japan - © 2020 - Klaus Zwicklbauer
    LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin" 1929 in Japan

    Author Klaus Zwicklbauer

    MULTI-PART ARTICLE ON ZEPPELIN FLIGHTS TO JAPAN

    In the 2020 issue of Zeppelinpost, there is the first installment of a 67 page article about the Zeppelin flights to and from Japan, by Klaus Zwicklbauer. Zeppelinpost is published by Arbeitsgemeinschaft, Im Bund Deutscher Philatelisten e. V. in Germany.

    The article (in German) covers the following:

    1. Introduction
      1.1 The airship hangar in Ksumigaura
      1.2 Crew member Karl Beuerle travels to Japan by ship to prepare the landing in Tokyo
      1.3 Zeppelin Mail from Karl Beuerle in Kasumigaura
    2. Zeppelin Mail to Japan
      2.1 Postmarks in Japan
      2.2 Zeppelin Mail from the US
      2.2.1 Zeppelin Mail from New York
      2.2.2 Zeppelin Mail from Lakehurst
      2.3 Zeppelin Mail from Germany
      2.3.1 Friedrichshafen Post Office. 2.3.2 On Board cancelled at the Friedrichshafen Post Office
      2.4 Zeppelin Mail from other countries
      2.4.1 Danzig
      2.4.2 Liechtenstein
      2,4.3 Netherlands
      2.4.4 Austria
      2.4.5 Saar
      2.4.6 Switzerland
      2.4.7 Czechoslovakia
      2.5 On Board Mail delivered on the Airship during the stage Friedrichshfafen - Tokyo
    3. LZ 127 in Kasumigaura
      3.1 Reception on Airship, crew and passengers
      3.2 Post from crew a/o passengers during the stay in Kasumigaura

    Further installments will be published in future issues.

    Copies can be ordered from:
    Karl Hofmeister
    Alter Messeplatz 2
    D-80339 München, Germany

    The cost is 40 Euros (approximately US$46.75) including postage.

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Pan American's Final Flight - © 2021 - Jon E. Krupnick
    Pan American's Final Flight

    Author Jon E. Krupnick

    This book shows Jon Krupnick’s award winning exhibit of historic Pan Am flight covers – 1933 to 1941. There are introductions by Jimmy Buffet and Warren Buffet. Chapter 1: Pan Am Clippers Conquer the Pacific, shows the aircraft used by Pan Am for development of its airmail routes from August 1933 to December 1941 as well as a route map. Many rare survey flight covers are shown, including a unique cover addressed to President Franklin Rossevelt from the 1st survey flight from San Francisco to Honolulu in April 1935. This is followed by survey flight covers to Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam & Manila, the 1st press flight and then the 1st passenger flight in October 1936.

    The next section shows rare covers from the first survey flight to Kingman Reef and Auckland, New Zealand as well as covers flown on the extension flight to Macau and Hong Kong, and the highest franking recorded on covers to China. Covers are shown from the 2nd and 3rd South Pacific survey flights and covers intended for the ill-fated survey flight from Pago Pago, American Samoa in which Edwin Musick was killed. Many different covers are shown from both routes – FAM-14 & FAM-19 through to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

    There are covers shown which were carried between Asia and the UK and the USA on the “Horseshoe Route” after the 2nd World War closed the Mediterranean air routes. Many covers are shown from FAM-19, the South Pacific route from July 1940 to December 1941, as well as many covers carried on the FAM-14 route through December 1941.

    The final chapter shows Whipple S. Hall flight covers from the 1st to the 29th flight. Mr. Hall , who had a paper and stationary business in Manila, created a series of unique covers that included crew signatures and flight details found nowhere else. This is first time many of these covers have been shown in print. The book ends with a bibliography and in index.

    The book shows this fantastic collection in color and will be essential to collectors of Pan American World Airways covers.

    Information
    Soft cover, spiral bound, 117 pages. Available in 2 sizes:
    - 11 x 17 inch – US$125.00 plus $8.00 shipping with the USA
    - 7 ¼ x 11 inch – US$75.00 plus $8.00 shipping within the USA.
    Shipping will be higher to non-US countries.
    Published by Minuteman Press Toledo, Maumee, Ohio, USA, 2021.
    Available at: https://www.ebay.com under Books

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Pioneer Aviation in the Channel Islands - © 2021 - Roger E. Harris
    Pioneer Aviation in the Channel Islands

    Author Roger E. Harris - 2 Volumes

    Volume 1: Dawn to 1933 (278 pages)
    Volume 2: 1934 – 1947 (306 pages)

    The author Roger Harris has been a member of the Channel Islands Specialists’ Society in the UK for over 50 years. The Society published his first Channel Islands history work in 1979 when he wrote “Islanders Deported”, the illustrated history of Islanders deported and interned in Germany during the German occupation and their postal services back to the Channel Islands. In 1980 he changed careers from teaching to become a BBC TV Production Designer and then freelance feature film designer. Now retired from filming he has completed his lifetime’s research on pioneer aviation in the Channel Islands that has also been published in two volumes by the Channel Islands Specialists’ Society.

    Pioneer Aviation In The Channel Islands is the first comprehensive history of aviation in the Channel Islands, spanning from the dawn of aviation with balloon flight, through two World Wars to the nationalisation of the commercial air industry in 1947 and the last pioneer flight to the Islands in 1952.

    The author’s intention has been to record every known flight to, or within the Islands, with descriptions of the aircraft flown and each pilot and passenger identified. There are biographies of the more famous or infamous characters involved including famous pilots and lady aviators, honoured war heroes, brave experimenters, entrepreneurs and even a treacherous aristocratic spy saved from prosecution by Sir Winston Churchill. One of the most interesting people recorded is a Jersey resident who was Britain’s richest and possibly most beautiful and eccentric woman who started life as a show girl but went on to be one of the first five women to be awarded the title of Dame of the British Empire. Her philanthropic financing of the development of the Spitfire helped save the R.A.F. in the Battle of Britain.

    Over eleven hundred original photographs and images from the author’s own lifetime collections illustrate the two volumes of the book. These include postcards, photographs, posters, timetables, tickets, ephemera and airmail letters; many of which are very rare or even unique. As a novel addition and an aid and encouragement to collectors, the author has awarded each of these illustrations a “Collector’s Value” at 2020 market prices.

    For the aviation historian and interested layman, Pioneer Aviation In The Channel Islands is a fully illustrated and comprehensive history of the development of flight in the Islands and for the collectors of aviation ephemera or airmail first flight covers, the book is a complete record and catalogue of every item available to the interested collector and researcher. The reader will discover that the book is much more than just a history of aviation and aerophilately in the Channel Islands.

    Information
    Available from: Richard Flemming, 64 Falconers Green, Burbage, Hinckley, Leicester LE10 2SX, United Kingdom
    E-mail: secretary@ciss.uk
    Payment by Bank transfer or PayPal (Friends and Family) details from above.

    Two Volumes £60
    Postage & Packing for two volumes:
    - Europe: Royal Mail International Standard £15.25 + £1.50 package
    - USA: Royal Mail (6-7 working days) £30.45 + £1.50 package - Up to 42 days delivery £12.24 + £1.50 package
    - Australasia: £30.70 + £1.50 package (6-7 working days) - Up to 84 days £12.95 + £1.50 package

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Australian Airmails Across the Pacific Ocean 1937-1951 - © 2021 - Laurence Kimpton
    Australian Airmails Across the Pacific Ocean, 1937 – 1951

    Author: Laurence Kimpton

    Over the past 35 years or so there has been increased interest in the airmails of the Second World War, encouraged by the research of various aerophilatelists and postal historians. About 20 years ago Bill Legg, member of The British Society of Australian Philately (BSAP) and the British Air Mail Society, acquired copies of various Tables of Air Mail Charges, Air Mail Schedules and Air Mail Notices of the Australian Post Office dating from 1939 to 1945. It then became possible to work out air mail rates on covers flown across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, often with high frankings. This led the author to write articles for the BSAP's Bulletin (in 2006) and the British Air Mail Society's journal Air Mail News (in 2016 and 2017) on Australian airmails across the Pacific Ocean to North America and Europe between 1937 and 1945.

    This book is a revised and considerably expanded version of the articles in Air Mail News, with much additional information and many more illustrations. Much more consideration is given to incoming mail and mail in transit through Australia. Content also includes mail which was sent across the Pacific to USA or Canada by ship and then forwarded by air to Europe. Also, the subject has been extended to consider mail carried on survey and other special flights, American forces mail and the restoration and development of trans-Pacific services from Australia in the immediate post war period.

    Besides the Australian Post Office's tables and notices, for mail to and from the United Kingdom, the GPO's Overseas Mail Branch's Weekly Reports and the Air Ministry's Civil Aviation Intelligence Reports Summaries (compiled by Peter Wingent) were very useful sources. Research on New Zealand airmails, particularly by Robin Startup (author of Airmails of New Zealand, Volume 3, International Airmails 1940-1970) and by Robert Clark (compiler of the website www.nzstamps.org.uk) has also provided much information relevant to Australian airmails. A variety of aerophilatelic and aviation history books have also been of help in producing this book, especially in providing details of survey and other special flights.

    The covers are in full color and are very good quality. There are a number of maps, charts and airline timetables, which are very useful. There are also seldom seen photos of some of the aircraft involved.

    The various chapters in the book are as follows: - Introduction
    - Chapter 1: Airmail via PAA’s North Pacific Service (FAM 14) from Hong Kong to San Francisco, 1937-1941
    - Chapter 2: Airmail via PAA’s South Pacific Service (FAM 19) from Auckland to San Francisco, 1938-1941
    - Chapter 3: Mail by Sea across the Pacific with Onward Air Transport, 1942-1945
    - Chapter 4: Survey Flights, Special Flights and Mail via Trans-Pacific Military Services, 1939-1945
    - Chapter 5: Restoration and Development of Trans-Pacific Services, 1945-1951

    • Appendix 1: Australian Trans-Pacific / Trans-Atlantic Air Mail Rates
    • Appendix 2: Locations of United States Army and Navy Post Offices in Australia
    • Appendix 3: The Flying Boats of Pan American Airways
    • Appendix 4: The Airliners of British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines
    • Appendix 5: British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Timetables

    The book is very well written and will be essential for collectors of trans-Pacific airmails for the period covered.

    Information
    Published May 2021
    140 pages, over 220 illustrations (almost all in colour), A4, laminated card cover. Price: UK£20.00.
    Order from Laurence Kimpton l.j.kimpton@blueyonder.co.uk, 20, Greytree Crescent, Dorridge, Solihull. B93 8SL, United Kingdom.
    Postage within UK: £3.50 (first class).
    Postage to outside UK (below cost): Europe £6.50, Australia & New Zealand £12.00, USA £11.00, Rest of World £10.00.
    Payment by bank transfer, £ Sterling cheque or by Paypal (outside UK only).

    Reviewed by Ken Sanford

  • Deley et Vachet, piliers de la Ligne - © 2020 - Bernard Bacquié
    Deley et Vachet, Piliers de la Ligne

    Avec cet ouvrage, Bernard Bacquié clôt définitivement sa série de beaux livres sur les Lignes aériennes Latécoère – Aéropostale. En point final, grâce à la participation de René Angel, il offre une gerbe de documents iconographiques inédits, minutieusement restaurés et colorisés, ainsi que des pans inconnus de cette épopée. On y découvre les rôles éminents qu’ont tenus ces deux pionniers : extension de la Ligne de Casablanca vers Dakar en ce qui concerne Deley, ouverture de la liaison par hydravions entre Alicante et l’Algérie pour Vachet ; et la création de la Ligne en Amérique du Sud à laquelle ils participèrent tous deux.

    À partir de 1933, pour renforcer son réseau, Air France profita de l’expérience de Pierre Deley et de Paul Vachet, appréciés pour leur sens du commandement et de l’organisation, et membres de la phalange des pionniers qui pouvaient se compter sur les doigts d’une main. À ce titre, l’ouvrage fait le lien avec l »histoire d’Air France.

    S’inscrivant dans la série des beaux livres des EDITIONS LATÉRALES, incluant trois ouvrages sur Saint-Exupéry, un sur Mermoz, un sur Guillaumet et celui sur Dieudonné Costes, le présent ouvrage, disponible depuis ce jour, 18 mai 2020, offre une complète narration de l’histoire des Lignes aériennes Latécoère et de l’Aéropostale à travers les carrières de Pierre Deley et de Paul Vachet, et cela par des illustrations inédites et un texte truffé d’anecdotes inconnues.

    Il est étonnant de découvrir que si Mermoz avait défriché la traversée commerciale de l’Atlantique Sud, avait cherché des passages dans les Andes, il n’était pas de ceux qui, bien avant lui, avaient défriché les sables en ouvrant la ligne Casablanca - Dakar, de ceux qui avaient créé l’hydraviation commerciale entre Alicante et l’Algérie, de ceux qui avaient défriché les terrains d’Amérique du Sud. Parmi ces tout premiers pionniers, deux hommes se détachent nettement : Pierre Deley et Paul Vachet. Les figures de Robert Collet, d’Émile Lécrivain et de Marcel Reine sont également largement évoquées, ainsi que celle de Louis Mingat pour la partie des pionniers des hydravions.

    Ouvrage disponible au prix de 30 euros + 4 euros de participation aux frais d’envoi : sur le site www.editionslaterales.com via Paypal ou carte bancaire par chèque à l’adresse : Bernard Bacquié, ÉDITIONS LATÉRALES, 24 clos de la LLANURA, B-33, 31130 BALMA

  • Katalog der deutschen Luftpost / Teil 20 - © 2019 - Reiner Stimm
    Katalog der deutschen Luftpost - Teil 20

    Author Reiner Stimm

    This Katalog was published in April 2019 during the Stamp Show AeroBerlin 2019 and the Jubileum of the first regularly airmail flight from Berlin-Johannisthal to Weimar in the year 1919. That's why the catalogue was published a year earlier as planned.

    The catalogue is in DIN A5 format and has 128 pages.
    All flights from 2015 to 2018 are shown, as well as an update for catalogues 16 to 19 (16 pegaes). Price of the catalogue is 17,00 euro + P&P.

    Since Reiner Stimm passed away in 2020, please contact APCD for more information.

  • The Race to the Moon - © 2018 - Umberto Cavallaro
    The Race to the Moon, chronicled in Stamps, Postcards and Postmarks

    Author Umberto Cavallaro

    It is the Story of Puffery vs. the Pragmatic in the race to the Moon between the United States and Russia in the sixties of past century. The book covers the story from the first triggers from Sputnik over the Man in Space for both countries, to the changed directions in the space race. When the astronaut sits in the driver's seat, technological developments are big, until two tragedies block the race in space. The final leap is of course the landing of two astronauts on the Moon and safely returning home. The last chapter talks about the philatelic side of Apollo 11 and the Insurance Covers.

    The preface is by Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 astronaut.

    This handsome book reads like a novel and brings several seldom know facts about this Race to the Moon, especially marked on gray print in the book. The book measures 17x24 cm and has pictures of stamps, covers, postcards and oter material on this mission, divided over 340 pages.

    The book is published and sold by Springer Verlag.

  • JUSQU'A hand stamps and other indications - © 2018 - Jan C. Ter Welle
    • JUSQU'A hand stamps and other route indications, 2nd and rev. edition - Jan C. ter Welle, © 2018

    In the early days of airmail transmission untill the mid 50-ies direct worldwide connections did not exist and the mail was partly flown and partly transmitted by surface mail. Even if total air transmission was possible one could choose from a cost point of view for partly air transmission.

    Special handstamps were necessary to direct the mail via the required routes. I have collected these handstamps for 35 years and together with available information from other publications I completed this book. The data are presented by country in alfabetical order.

    The book measures 17x24 cm , contains picures of some 3.500 handstamps, divided over 400 pages.

    The price is (including postage and handling) for delivery in Europe: EURO 42.00 and for delivery outside Europe: US$ 64.00. Please contact janterwelle@online.nl

  • Katalog der deutschen Luftpost / Teil 19 - © 2018 - Reiner Stimm
    • Katalog der deutschen Luftpost - Teil 19 - Reiner Stimm, © 2018

    Updated edition of the Haberer Catalogue 200

    The President of the Herman Club APCD has updated the catalogue from Mr. Haberer from 2001, with a total of 27 new pages. Since 1971, the Special flights and Airmail differentiations have not been updated, the covers on the Luftbrücke Berlin, and the Fairs at Hannover and Leipzig were adapted and updated. In the catalogue, the flights of the Government in BRD and DDR are included.

    The catalogue is in Format DIN A5 and has 196 pages. Prices correspond market investments.

    Reiner Stimm: Katalog der deutschen Luftpost, Teil 19 Sonderflüge und Luftpostableitungen, Luftbrücke Berlin, Messeflüge Hannover und Leipzig

    Der Katalog kostet 15,00 € (Inland) incl. Porto, Ausland auf Anfrage. Bezug bei Reiner Stimm, Ravensbergstr. 34, in 14558 Nuthetal, OT Bergholz Tel.-Nr.: 033200/83 673 - E-Mail: reinerstimm@web.de

  • Přehled České Letecké Pošty 1993-2017 - © 2017 - PUNČOCHÁŘ Jaroslav
    • Přehled České Letecké Pošty 1993 – 2017 - PUNČOCHÁŘ, Jaroslav, © 2017

    Nach dem Erscheinen des grundlegenden Kataloges der tschechoslowakischen Luftpost der Nachkriegszeit von Petr Horka 1993 klaffte eine Katalogisierungslücke, die nun durch den vorliegenden Katalog geschlossen ist. Auf 80 Seiten werden alle Erst- und Sonderflüge einschließlich Helicopter- und Ballonflügen, Ganzsachen und Sonderstempeln des Zeitraumes 1993 – 2017 registriert. Die übersichtliche Gestaltung ermöglicht eine praktische Handhabung, zudem sind alle Belege als Ganzstücke in Farbe abgebildet. Angegliedert sind sieben Seiten mit Ergänzungen des Horka-Kataloges.

    Die Bewertung erfolgt in Punkten, wobei 1 Punkt = 1KČ entspricht.

    PUNČOCHÁŘ, Jaroslav: Přehled České Letecké Pošty 1993 – 2017, Brno 2017 Eigenverlag, Format A 5, Ringbindung, durchgehend in Farbe. Bezug beim Autor (Bieblova 22, CZ-613 00 Brno, Tschechische Republik) für 15 € (einschl. Versand)

  • First Airmail USA-France 1927 - © 2017 - Jean-Pierre Dupont

    First Airmail USA-France 1927 Jean-Pierre Dupont est le conservateur du musée de Ver-sur-Mer. Cet ouvrage de 40 pages très abondamment illustré relate l’histoire du premier vol aéropostal entre les États-Unis et la France sur le Fokker « America » par l’équipage R.E. Byrd, G.O. Noville, B. Acosta et B. Balchen (New York 29 juin - Ver-sur-Mer 1 juillet 1927).

    Il a été publié à l’occasion du 90ème anniversaire de ce vol historique. Les textes sont bilingues français et anglais.

    Ce livre publié aux éditions OREP est disponible au prix de 10 € à la boutique du musée (Musée America, 2 place l’Amiral Byrd, F-14114 Ver-sur-Mer), ou par correspondance au prix de 15€ : http://www.goldbeachmusee.fr/ ; tel : 02 31 22 58 58.

  • L’aviation commerciale à l’Aéroport de Bordeaux-Mérignac - © 2017 - J.-F. Labrousse

    L’aviation commerciale à l’Aéroport de Bordeaux-Mérignac de l’origine à nos jours This booklet of 42 pages tells the history of this airport and is available from the author for 10 euro + P&P for members of CAF, others 12 euro + P&P.

    Jean-François LABROUSSE, 709 Avenue de la Bécasse, F-40150 Soorts-Hossegor labroussejf@orange.fr - Téléphone +33 (0)5 58 43 51 87 Consultez le site de Jean-François LABROUSSE

  • Caravelle S.E. 210 - © 2017 - J.-F. Labrousse

    Caravelle S.E. 210 - Premier avion commercial français à réaction Notre ami et collègue du CAF Jean-François Labrousse, présente son dernier ouvrage : CARAVELLE S.E.210 Premier avion commercial français à réaction

    Ce répertoire (prix 18 € + port ) retrace l’histoire de l’utilisation de Caravelle par Air France. Annexes sur les autres compagnies ayant utilisé la Caravelle France et Etranger avec immatriculations, sur les versions de Caravelle et les immatriculations Air France. Tous les accidents sont aussi répertoriés.

    Ouvrage de 78 pages dont 27 planches couleurs et 5 noir et blanc de cartes postales, photos, et surtout plis aérophilatéliques. Commande et renseignements auprès de Jean-François LABROUSSE : 709 Avenue de la Bécasse, 40150 Soorts-Hossegor, labroussejf@orange.fr , +33 (0)5 58 43 51 87 Consultez le site de Jean-François LABROUSSE : http:// www.airfrance-jflabrousse.fr/

  • Airmail from Bulgaria - © 2016 - Richard Saundry

    F.I.S.A. Board Member Richard Saundry is the author of this original article and presents this paper to FISA as a first publication (première). It is a rather long but original, hopefully controversial article about Bulgarian airmails.