N. Atlantic Air Mail Ireland To Canada

Is this associated with the "China Clipper" service in some way?

Not "China," but "Yankee."

http://www.clipperflyingboats.com/t...line-service

nice ronv
similar to these covers sent to me a couple of years ago by our late great friend I_Love_Stamps (Jeff)



I see a Pennsylvania connection.

Ronv: "Is this associated with the "China Clipper" service in some way?"

Not really, though as KGB intimated there is a distant relationship. This first flight cover was flown by Pan American Airlines as were the trans-Pacific flights that included the China Clipper along with a number of other Clippers. This flight was flown on the Yankee Clipper by Pan Am. There is a big difference beyond the China Clipper flying the trans-Pacific routes of Pan Am and the Yankee Clipper flying the trans-Atlantic routes of Pan Am in that they were very different aircraft. Both were so called "flying boats" but the China Clipper was built by the Martin Aircraft Company while the Yankee Clipper was built by the Boeing Aircraft Company. The China Clipper was a Martin M-130 that first flew in 1935 and had a crew of 9 and could carry up to 36 passengers at a cruising speed of 130 miles per hour. The Yankee Clipper was a Boeing B-314 that first flew in 1939 and was a much larger and faster aircraft. It had a crew 11 and carried up to 74 passengers at a cruising speed of 188 miles per hour. In other words the Yankee Clipper was larger, faster and more modern than the China Clipper.

Your first flight cover is listed in the American Air Mail Catalog as Foreign Air Mail Route number 18-15b. There was about 100 pounds of mail on this leg of the flight from Foynes, Ireland to Shediac, Newfoundland which is a large amount - around 3,600 covers give or take. However, it is scarcer than the leg of the flight from Foynes to New York which was the end point of the flight. There were 27.954 covers flown on that leg and is listed as 18-15 in the catalog. JamesW's two covers to addresses in Pennsylvania were flown on that Foynes to New York leg of the first flight. Then they, along with the many thousands of other covers that were on that leg with addressed to various towns around the country were simply dropped in the ordinary mail stream in New York for regular transport and delivery to those towns. Those towns are not considered to be part of the flight of course. All of the legs on this flight are very attractive first flight covers, but since there are so many they have only a minimal commercial value.

Thanks to everyone who responded, especially Kimo... Lots of great info. I know the cover has no value but I can provide a write-up now and place it in my collection... Isn't this forum the best!

One other bit of trivia on these Irish covers on this first flight, they are canceled at Baile Átha Cliath. That, of course, is the Irish Gaelic name for Dublin, the capital city. It is all the way on the east coast of Ireland while Foynes is over on the west coast near Shannon. I am not sure why all of the mail was cancelled in Dublin and not Foynes or at least Shannon except perhaps it might have been that the main Irish post office in Dublin was set up for philatelic handling, while the small Foynes or Shannon post offices were not.

I'd like to know how these items were arranged in 1939. Were the covers mailed in another envelope to Dublin with a note? Was there an extra cost? Did a private company handle the arrangements for a fee? Was it PanAm?

Normally, there were announcements in the philatelic press and sometimes the regular newspapers of when a new first flight was being planned. The most efficient way to know of every first flight, though, was to be a member of the American Air Mail Society or similar air mail specialist group who would provide a service to their members of mailing to them announcements of every first flight coming up and how to prepare covers to be flown on the first flight. Most often it was simply preparing the covers that you would put the appropriate postage on if it was in the US or including an International Reply Coupon for each one which was the first class stamp equivalent for other countries and that you would buy the IRCs at your local post office, and then you would put your prepared covers in a larger envelope and mail it to where ever was handling the first flight. Usually it was to the main post office in the city where the flight would take off, though sometimes it was to the Airline's office in that city when the local post office said they would not help. The larger envelopes would be opened by the authorities managing the first flight cover process for that particular flight, they would apply a nice cachet and have the stamps cancelled, or if it was in another country they would trade in your IRCs at the local post office for local stamps, apply those stamps and then have them cancelled and ensure the covers were put on board the first flight. There were some variations on this process but this is how is was done, and also how it is done today. For example, the American Air Mail Society still has its notification of upcoming first flights service for its members.

Thanks, Kimo!