First Catapult Flight - Ile De France 1928

I've been interested in this topic since I found a few other items in my collection. I did some research and found that this letter would have been in the first batch launched from the Ile de France on August 13, 1928. In fact, there is a letter from Uncle Tom to his niece Polly, explaining why the letter was sent - for the stamps, of course.

Perhaps. The three problems with this cover are that it does not have the 6-line cachet that was applied to all flown covers on this flight - which is a major problem, the second is less major but still raises a question in that the letter is addressed to a 'Polly' while the envelope is addressed to a Mrs. R.C. Lewis (this could be her husband's intials which would be okay, but still not having Polly's name is a detraction in that it raises the question), and third, you do not mention a backstamp, which this cover should have, that shows it was received quickly as would be expected of catapult mail. Does it have a New York City backstamp?

Good points Kimo. The backstamp is shown below. I know it is an authentic label because it is addressed to my Grandmother and the letter inside is addressed to her daughter, Polly. Not a very glamorous letter with all of the normal beautiful cancellations, etc., but it does seem authentic. (I am not sure why it was not cancelled with the 6-line cachet that you mentioned.)

Since how long you are collecting these stamps?

I think Great Grandma started sometime in the very early 1900's, probably 1905 or so. Grandma took over in 1930 or so, and was quite the world traveler. Just lucky or determined, but my relatives were at quite a few interesting events and first flights, cruises, etc. Grandma roomed with Amelia Earhardt for awhile, but I never found a cover with anything from or to her. That would be quite the find.

I've only been involved since 1980 or so, but like many others in this forum, I was interested, then left it for many, many years before returning.