The route to Africa

Liberia, Scott C43, 1942, 39mm x 24mm

Once again we have a stamp issue commemorating the air supply route from North America via South America to western Africa in the middle of World War II. Only three countries are depicted (the United States, Brazil, and the issuing country of Liberia). An outsized 4-engine transport plane (possibly a C-108 Flying Fortress) is shown alongside the coast-hugging path southward.

I am not sure that the business of transport is considered to have enough charisma to show up much on stamps nowadays, relatives to the most popular topicals.

Previously.

The aeroplane age

United States, Scott C10, 1927, 47mm x 20mm
United States, Scott C8-C9, 1926, 47mm x 20mm

Look! It’s Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis” flying from New York to Paris under the helpful sculptural inscription Lindbergh Air Mail. And on the other two airmail stamps, pairs of mail biplanes on a collision course. In each one, forced perspective makes it appear as the final outcome for good or for ill should occur within one or two seconds, at most. These come from a time where air travel was still new and daring, an exciting human achievement the same way the early space age felt.

Unlike the simple outlines of the countries at the edges of the North Atlantic on the Lindbergh stamp, the biplane stamp maps emphasize the geographical features of the Lower 48, not the political outlines so much, except for the southern border in bold.

The age of competitive flying

Monaco, Scott 151, 1964, 37mm x 37mm diamond
This handsome engraved piece marks the 50th anniversary of the first airplane rally, showing the location of the European cities visited, although not the precise route. The design was based upon a postcard which depicted the monoplane flying over the harbor and the European cities picked out in the margin. The diamond format is unusual – Monaco is partial to unconventional stamp designs such as triangles as well.

This was a golden age of airplane racing, and despite the inscription on the stamp, it seems not the first major rally:

After Reims, a series of races were held across Europe—Paris to Rome; and circuits in France-Belgium and in England—pitting, for the most part, Andre Beaumont against Roland Garros. Here, too, Garros seemed to make more out of losing each time than Beaumont did winning. Garros finally won the races held in Monaco in August 1914, a year after the first Schneider Cup event, and then went on to be first to cross the Mediterranean.

Yes, this was the same Roland Garros of tennis French Open fame, remembered for his flying ace exploits in the first World War.