1948 Sky Merchant World Flight - Buckingham Covers · After WWII the Atlas Supply Company ... when...

Buckingham Covers, Warren House, Shearway Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 4BF. TEL: 01303 278137


ARA136 £150

£50 per month over3 months

ARB149 £100

£20 per month over 5 months



After WWII the Atlas Supply Company purchased a Douglas C-54 airliner which they converted into a ‘flying showroom’ for Atlas products. The plane was branded as the Atlas Sky Merchant and to generate publicity for their showroom in the sky they organised an around the world flight. The company worked with the American Air Mail Society to organise 4,500 air sheets to be carried on the flight.

The flight left New Jersey on January 5th 1948 and was piloted by Captain Ivan Smirnoff, a decorated WWI Russian fighter ace. The flight visited 29 cities, all of which postmarked each of the air sheets.

ARA136 £150


1948 Sky Merchant World Flight

This scarce British Overseas Airways Corporation test letter number 9 was flown from London - Cairo. The mail left London on January 23rd 1946, arriving in Cairo three days later on the 26th. After WWII, BOAC and other airlines were attempting to re-establish many of the pre-war routes. This test letter was part of BOACs trial of the London to North Africa route, which was needed before deciding when to restart a regular service. The airmail also still includes the original BOAC Memorandum which includes the flight details and is signed by the mail superintendent.

ARB149 £100


1946 BOAC London - Egypt Test Letter



ARA136 £150


ARB149 £100




Excellent example of catapult mail which travelled on the steamship Bremen which has the ‘Katapultflug vom D. Bremen des Norddeutschen Lloyd nach Bremen 2.8.1929’ cachet.

Catapult mail was used at a time when aviation technology was unable to operate regular non-stop Atlantic flights. Germany first began their catapult service in July 1929, operating from the liner SS Bremen. A seaplane was literally catapulted from the liner about 250-300 miles from the final destination, the idea being to speed up the delivery time, and was often referred to as ‘ship to shore’ mail. ARE226FD £200


1929 Catapult SS Bremen Mail

This mail was sent from Germany - New York and travelled on the liner Europa as per its purple ‘Deutscher Schleuderflug D. Europa New York’ cachet.In 1930 the Germans expanded their catapult service which had started with the SS Bremen to include the liner SS Europa. A seaplane was literally catapulted from the liner about 250-300 miles from the final destination, the idea being to speed up the delivery time, and was often referred to as ‘ship to shore’ mail.

ARE226GD £200


1933 Catapult SS Europa Mail



In 1911 the Cape Peninsular Flying Fortnight was launched to promote interest in avaition establish a South African flying school. The event ran from the 21st December until January 3rd during which time two aircrafts, a Blèriot monoplane and a Paterson biplane, were used for several demonstration flights in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kimberley. The First South African Aerial Post commenced on December 27th 1911 when Evelyn Driver flew a Blèriot monoplane between Kenilworth Race Course to Oldham’s Field, Muizenberg. The flight took seven and a half minutes to cover the eight mile journey and carried specially produced postcards which were met by Postmaster General Hutchings, who in return.A total of 729 postcards were carried on the 27th December, and over the subsequent 10 months a total of 2597 postcards were produced and flown. This example was flown on the 30th December 1911. The franking is very clear and it’s in good condition, especially considering it’s age. ARE79 £600


Superb collection of 14 Francis Field Helicopter Mails. Each cover has been flown on a different BEA helicopter first flight on June 1st 1948 and all feature an official multi-colour cachet. In 1947 BEA established a Helicopter Experiment Unit and their success saw them launch a helicopter mail service across East Anglia in June 1948. The mail was transported using three Sikorsky S-51s and linked nine towns in East Anglia with Peterborough, which was used as a main operating base.

ARH12 £350


1948 BEA Helicopter Mail

1911 South African First Aerial Post



ARO68 £375


1937 Lorres Bonney ‘My Little Ship II’ Brisbane - Cape Town Flight

This lovely card, whose design was based on the Mulready envelope, was flown by Hugh Vallency from France across the Channel to England. It has a clear French S.20 Army Post Office departure CDS and a violet 7029 censor cachet. Vallaney is a famous name in philately, having edited Stamp Collecting and Stamp Trade Advertiser as well as co-founding the London Philatelic Club.

ARP122 £150


1918 Stamp Collecting Aerial Souvenir Card



ARP144 £500


Claude Grahame-White Mounted Autograph

This terrific airmail is one of the scarce Isle of Man - London covers which have the 10am CDS Douglas postmark. This is a rare first flight cover due to a mistake by RAS official at Douglas Airport which resulted in them postmarking the majority of the souvenir covers with a 4.30pm postmark - after the flight had left! Only ten examples with the 10am postmark are known to exist.

ARR20A £150


1934 Railway Air Services Isle of Man - London Flight



This excellent 1911 card was flown on the first day of the return flight from Windsor - Hendon, the card itself is an example of the Olive Green Dye 2 type.The first UK airmail was between Hendon to Windsor on September 9th 1911 and special postal stationery was carried on the flight. The illustration featured on the stationary was produced in a variety of different colours, and for each colour there were several different shades of dyes available. The type of dye used on any specific stationary can be identified by the number at the bottom of the postmark. Sir Walter Windham of the Royal Navy pioneered the experiment and worked with the Grahame White Aviation Company to transport the mails.

ARU05AW £120


1911 First UK Aerial Post Return Flight

This is an example of one of the emergency printings believed to have been produced by Bemrose & Co, as after the high success of the original stationary many stores had sold out after just 24 hours. They are recognisable due to their darker colour and that the envelope flap lines are visible through the envelope. This particular cover is addressed to France with an extra 1 ½d for the postage and with a French arrival datestamp on the reverse.

ARU07A £150


1911 First UK Aerial Post Flight Emergency Reprint Envelope



ARZ12 £100


1928 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin First Transatlantic Flight

This flight was largely financed by American newspaper publisher William Hearst who paid $200,000 for exclusive media rights, equivalent to $2.5 million today. Money was also raised through the sale of carried souvenir mail. The flight began at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey before flying to Friedrichshafen, Germany, then onto Kasumigaura Naval Air Base in Japan, before heading to Los Angeles, and finally returning to Lakehurst.

ARZ21A £225


1929 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin Round the World Flight

Flown on the first Germany - New York flight aboard the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, with a blue ‘mit Luftschiff LZ 127 befordert’ cachet.The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger airship named after its creator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. It was in service from 1928 to 1937, making 590 flights and travelling over a million miles during its lifespan. In 1932 the Graf began five years of regular services between Germany and Brazil. It made 64 trips to Brazil during this period, and at its height was operating a fortnightly service, becoming the world’s first regularly scheduled, nonstop, intercontinental airline routeFlown aboard the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin across the Mediterranean where mail was dropped over Jaffa, Athens, Budapest, and



ARZ26 £100


1929 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin Mediterranean Flight

1931 airmail carried aboard the Graf Zeppelin during its flight across the Baltic Sea and features a lovely purple ‘Luftschiff Graf Zeppelin Ostseejahr-Rundfahrt’ cachet.The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger airship named after its creator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. It was in service from 1928 to 1937, making 590 flights and travelling over a million miles during its lifespan. In 1932 the Graf began five years of regular services between Germany and Brazil. It made 64 trips to Brazil during this period, and at its height was operating a fortnightly service, becoming the world’s first regularly scheduled, nonstop, intercontinental airline route. This lovely airmail was carried aboard the LZ 129 Hindenburg and has a purple ‘Luftschiff ARZ31 £100


1931 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin Baltic Sea Year Flight

Flown aboard the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin across the Mediterranean where mail was dropped over Jaffa, Athens, Budapest, and Vienna, before flying over Palestine and Egypt. This cover has the ‘Luftschiff Graf Zeppelin Orientfahrt’ cachet added. The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger airship named after its creator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. It was in service from 1928 to 1937, making 590 flights and travelling over a million miles during its lifespan. In 1932 the Graf began five years of regular services between Germany and Brazil. It made 64 trips to Brazil during this period, and at its height was operating a fortnightly service, becoming the worldís first regularly scheduled, nonstop, intercontinental airline route.



This Graf Zeppelin cover was flown from Russia to Friedrichshafen, Germany in September 1930. During the Graf Zeppelins worldwide flight the year before in 1929 a scheduled flyover Moscow was cancelled due to adverse winds. The Russians saw it as a diplomatic snub and resulted in an official complaint from Stalin’s government. To repair relations the Graf undertook a special two day round trip from Friedrichshafen to Moscow leaving on 9th September 1930, and landing to collect mail at Moscow where it was greeted by a crowd of 100,000.

ARZ47 £125


1930 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin Russia Flight

ARZ41 £100


1937 LZ 129 Hindenburg Flight

Hindenburg Deutschlandfahrt am 1. Mai 1937’ cachet. The Hindenburg crashed just six days later on May 6th, meaning this was carried on one of its final flights The LZ 129 Hindenburg was a German passenger airship named after Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. The airship was in service from March 1936 until it was destroyed on May 6th 1937 when it caught fire during an attempt to dock at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.



This 1934 cover was carried on the USS Macon during a training exercise over California. It has a Los Angeles acceptance and New York arrival backstamp, as well as being signed by three crew members including the Executive Officer.The USS Macon was an airship built by the US Navy to serve as a ‘flying aircraft carrier’ and carried both single and double seated fighter and scouting aircraft. Launched on 11th March 1933 she was in service for only two years after crashing off the coast of California in 1935 after sustaining damage in a storm. At 785 feet in length she was one of the largest flying objects in the world and still holds the world record for the largest helium based airship.

ARZ42D £125


1934 USS Macon South California Training

This scarce cover was carried on the USS Macon during its training of war manoeuvres over Guantanamo Bay. It is cancelled with a Miami postmark, with only 8 having been produced. The USS Macon was an airship built by the US Navy to serve as a ‘flying aircraft carrier’ and carried both single and double seated fighter and scouting aircraft. Launched on 11th March 1933 she was in service for only two years after crashing off the coast of California in 1935 after sustaining damage in a storm. At 785 feet in length she was one of the largest flying objects in the world and still holds the world record for the largest helium based airship.

ARZ42F £175


1934 USS Macon Guantanamo Bay Training

1948 Sky Merchant World Flight - Buckingham Covers · After WWII the Atlas Supply Company ... when...

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