Transatlantic Flight That Never Happened.

Hi guys..
Excuse the picture quality..My scanner pooped out.

Anyways, here is a Transatlantic cover mailed from Botwood
Newfoundland on June 28th, 1939...Stamp was issued June 17th, 1939.

So far, so good..But here is where the story takes a weird direction....It is mailed to Baltimore, Maryland, U,S,A,...It then went to Shediac, New Brunswick....And then to the final destination in the States.

Now a couple of things are not right in my analyses...Correct me if I am wrong.

1 -It NEVER did travel across the Atlantic as the cover shows.
2 -It went straight to the States via New Brunswick.
3 - Cancel date on Shediac cancel is June 1st, 1939..16 days before the stamp is issued.

See pictures below....
AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE

Shediac is "JUL 1"
It appears to have flown. See American Airmail Society Catalogs (5th ed, pages 1866-67).

Yes..You are correct John..

BUT..It did not travel over the Atlantic as the cover suggests..Incorrect cover..???

Robert

wert

1st cover might be o.k. but the other ones do not fit the description

not quite sure what you mean Rene.

Robert

The cover is listed as FF-59 in "The Airmails of Canada and Newfoundland" with a value of $5.00. This was the westward inaugural of the U.S. FAM-18 (Foreign Air Mail) Pan=American Airway route from London to New York. This cover was carried on the Botwood to Shediac segment of the inaugural flight and then forwarded to its destination in Baltimore.

wert

I think jarnick is getting me out of trouble again !

Rene
I had meant the "route"

Gotcha guys..thanks.

Robert

Wert,

You are so great keeping the NFLD posts going. Here are my thoughts on this cover:

1. Its a common cover, with almost 4,000 of this leg.

2. The AAMC and the other periodical referenced above are outdated, deeply flawed and at best only general resources. My opinion, not meant to offend or upset anyone. As a long time and only Newfoundland collector (with an extensive FFC collection), I'd suggest either NSSC which has an up to date listing, with more details; the NSSC editors constantly update when new information is discovered in archives etc and is focused only on Newfoundland flights (not US or Canadian). This is the drawback of the other books. The other great resource is Dalwick and Hammer's treatise on Newfoundland Airmails.

3. This is a First Flight Cover as you note, and canceled in Botwood on the outbound and Shediac on the back/arrival. You are correct--this cover did NOT fly across the Atlantic. It was the last return leg of the Pan Am flight. SO strictly speaking it was not a Transatlantic cover--more of a quick puddle jump from Nfld to NB. There are covers that flew the Atlantic but they would be postmarked June 24 and flew only East. They are no Newfoundland franked covers coming from England on the flight that crossed the atlantic (because English stamps were required, right?). Only the last return legs from St Johns or Botwood and then to either Shediac or New York.

4. You missed one small part--the stamp was issued June 17, 1939, and the cancel on the back is July 1, 1939...so not before it was issued.

Thanks

4.