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46-619: China Clipper (NC14716) was the first of three Martin M-130 four-engine flying boats built for Pan American Airways and was used to inaugurate the first commercial transpacific airmail service from San Francisco to Manila on November 22, 1935. Built at a cost of $ 417,000 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore , Maryland , it was delivered to Pan Am on October 9, 1935. It was one of

92-614: A perforation gauge (odontometer) to measure the perforation gauge of the stamp. The identification of watermarks is equally important and may be done with the naked eye by turning the stamp over or holding it up to the light. If this fails then watermark fluid may be used, which "wets" the stamp to reveal the mark. Other common tools include stamp catalogs , stamp stock books and stamp hinges . Philatelic organizations sprang up soon after people started collecting and studying stamps. They include local, national and international clubs and societies where collectors come together to share

138-416: A hundred thousand people watched from the various shores of San Francisco Bay . Several speeches were made by various public figures after which there was a ceremonial loading of the numerous mail bags. Musick's sailing orders were publicly delivered by his boss, Juan Trippe, while the entire event was broadcast by CBS and NBC radio and also transmitted on seven foreign networks. The relatively short range of

184-496: Is considered to be a postmaster going by the name Mansen, who lived in Paris , and in 1855 had sold his collection, which contained almost all the postage stamps issued by that time. The stamp merchant and second-hand book dealer Edard de Laplante bought it, recognizing the definitive collector's worth of the postage stamp. Due to the boom in popularity and news of this transaction, stamp merchants like Laplante began to emerge. Towards

230-479: Is the study of postage stamps and postal history . It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums. The word "philately" is the English transliteration of

276-850: The American Civil War . Some authors believe that the first philatelist appeared on the day of the release of the world's first postage stamp, dated to 6 May 1840, when the Liverson, Denby and Lavie London law office sent a letter to Scotland franked with ten uncut Penny Blacks , stamped with the postmark "LS.6MY6. 1840." In 1992 at an auction in Zürich , this envelope was sold for 690,000 francs . Already in 1846, cases of collecting stamps in large numbers were known in England . However, without reason for collection, stamps at this time were used for pasting wallpaper. The first philatelist

322-1020: The China Clipper left Miami on Pan Am's first scheduled flight to what is now Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The route went via Brazil before crossing the South Atlantic Ocean , but the last surviving M-130 did not complete the flight. It broke up and sank during landing at Port of Spain , in the West Indies islands of the British colonies of Trinidad and Tobago on January 8, killing 23 of those on board. Data from General characteristics Performance Related development Related lists Philately Philately ( / f ɪ ˈ l æ t əl i / ; fih- LAT -ə-lee )

368-750: The China Clipper , piloted by Captain Edwin C. Musick and First Officer R.O.D. Sullivan, flew the first trans-Pacific airmail route. A postage stamp , Scott Catalog C-20, was printed for use on the transpacific service. With extended service, two more denominations were later issued. All three have the same design, showing the M-130 in flight. Weekly passenger flights across the Pacific Ocean began in October 1936 when Hawaii Clipper left San Francisco for Manila , stopping overnight at Honolulu , Midway Island , Wake Island and Guam . An S-42 began flying

414-516: The Manila - Hong Kong route in 1937, and the Martins replaced it in 1938. In July 1938, Hawaii Clipper disappeared between Guam and Manila with the loss of nine crew and six passengers. No cause was determined. Their range and capacity made them valuable for trans-ocean military flights during World War II . Beginning in 1942, the two remaining planes were pressed into transport roles for

460-595: The United States Navy .  The Philippine Clipper was on a civilian flight when it encountered – and survived – the surprise Japanese attack on Wake Island in December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor . It crashed in January 1943 , between Ukiah and Boonville , California on a flight from Honolulu. ComSubPac Admiral Robert H. English and 18 others were killed. In January 1945,

506-619: The "China Clipper" aircraft name onto its new Boeing 747-212B registered N723PA, which was named "China Clipper II" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the China Clipper Flight. On November 22, 1985, the China Clipper II began its flight across the Pacific to retrace the original route of the first China Clipper Flight. The flight departed from San Francisco on November 22, 1985, and made several stop flight following

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552-636: The 1860s. Herpin took the Greek root word φιλ(ο)- phil(o)- , meaning "an attraction or affinity for something", and ἀτέλεια ateleia , meaning "exempt from duties and taxes", to form the neologism "philatélie". As a collection field, philately appeared after the introduction of the postage stamps in 1840, but did not gain large attraction until the mid-1850s. In the U.S., early collectors of stamps were known as "stamp gatherers". The United States Post Office Department re-issued stamps in 1875 due to public demand for 'old stamps', including those from before

598-744: The Air . The China Clipper is also a significant setting in the contemporaneous radio serial Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police (1937–1939). More recently, it was referenced in the Monkees song "Zilch" from their 1967 album Headquarters . Davy Jones can be heard repeating "China Clipper calling Alameda" in that track. The flying boats and Treasure Island, San Francisco were featured by Huell Howser in California's Gold Episode 906. In 1985, Pan Am resurrected

644-472: The FIP brought together national societies from 57 countries, which held over 100 exhibitions, and in 1987, over 60 countries entered the FIP. Since the middle of the 20th century, philately has become the most widespread field of amateur collecting, which was facilitated by: Philately magazines, at this time, were published as far east as Poland, and as far west as North America. In Canada, Canadian Stamp News

690-458: The French " philatélie ", coined by Georges Herpin in 1864. Herpin stated that stamps had been collected and studied for the previous six or seven years and a better name was required for the new hobby than timbromanie (roughly "stamp mania"), which was disliked. The alternative terms "timbromania", "timbrophily", and "timbrology" gradually fell out of use as philately gained acceptance during

736-609: The Pacific was a significant event for both California and the world. Its departure point is California Historical Landmark #968 and can be found in Naval Air Station Alameda . Although each clipper that joined the Pan American fleet to serve on their Trans-Pacific routes was given an individual name, collectively they were known as the China Clippers . Although a Sikorsky S-42 flying boat

782-677: The Pacific. By October 1936, points along the route were finally ready to accommodate passenger service. In January 22, 2024, Emmanuel Calairo, Chairperson of the National Historical Commission in the presence of MaryKay Carlson , the US Ambassador to the Philippines and Commodore Marco Tronqued, unveiled a historical marker at the Manila Yacht Club , honoring the arrival of China Clipper to

828-494: The Philippines in 1935 (in the presence of MaryKay Carlson , the US Ambassador to the Philippines and Commodore Marco Tronqued). The China Clipper was painted olive drab with a large American flag painted below the cockpit. The China Clipper was referred to as "Sweet Sixteen". The "Sixteen" is a reference to the aircraft's registration number NC14716. The China Clipper remained in Pan Am service until January 8, 1945, when it

874-568: The United States across the Pacific Ocean. On its inaugural airmail flight the China Clipper took off from Alameda, California, on November 22, 1935, making its way to Manila via Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam over the course of one week. All stops were chosen on the basis that were links in an “all-American” flag route, i.e. countries friendly with the United States. There were no passengers, only crew-members aboard

920-540: The World Stamp Championship was held for the first time in the history of world philately in Singapore. Traditional philately is the study of the technical aspects of stamp production and stamp identification, including: Expanding range of activity: Philately uses several tools, including stamp tongs (a specialized form of tweezers) to safely handle the stamps, a strong magnifying glass and

966-417: The aircraft meant that hotel, catering, docking, repair, road and radio facilities had to be put in place at the intermediate stops along the route, particularly on the virtually uninhabited islands of Wake and Midway. Nearly a half a million miles were flown along the route before any paying passengers were carried. The China Clipper was the first commercial aircraft to establish a regular airmail route from

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1012-412: The basis of all available evidence": Both the United States and Philippine Islands issued stamps for air mail carried on the first flights in each direction of PAA's Transpacific China Clipper service between San Francisco and Manila (November 22 – December 6, 1935) First National Pictures released the movie China Clipper in 1936. It told a thinly disguised bio of the life of Juan Trippe during

1058-518: The celebrations for the inaugural trans-Pacific airmail flight included fireworks, while a band played a Sousa march. Eleven days prior, Musick had flown the China Clipper from the Glenn L. Martin factory in Middle River, Maryland to California for the inaugural event. Ships docked in the bay to observe the historic event, sounding their whistles and sirens in tribute. It was estimated that up to

1104-532: The development of philately. In 1968, Cuba dedicated a postage stamp for Stamp Day with an image of G. Sciltian's "El filatelista". In 1926, the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) was founded, where international philatelic exhibitions have been regularly organized since 1929. The first World Philatelic Exhibition in Prague was held between August and September 1962; in 1976,

1150-594: The early 1880s, "collector experts" appeared, specializing their collection to only one part of the world, a group of nations, or even only one. Philately as one of the most popular types of collecting continued to develop in the 20th century. Along with the " Scott ", " Stanley Gibbons ", and " Yvert et Tellier " catalogs, the " Zumstein " (first published in Switzerland, 1909), and the "Michel" (first published in Germany, 1910) catalogs began publication. In 1934,

1196-414: The end of the 19th century, stamp collecting reached hundreds of thousands of people of all classes. Some countries had collections of postage stamps – for example, England, Germany , France , Bavaria , and Bulgaria . In countries which held national collections, museums dedicated to the nation's history with philately were founded, and the first such appeared in Germany, France, and Bulgaria. Allegedly,

1242-503: The famous private collections are those of the Royal Philatelic Collection , F. Ferrari (Austria), M. Burrus (Switzerland), A. Lichtenstein , A. Hind , J. Boker (U.S.), and H. Kanai ( Japan ). In the mid-1970s, national philately organizations and associations existed in most countries, and 150–200 million people were involved in philately during meetings established. From 28 August to 1 September 2004,

1288-421: The first airmail flight. The payload consisted of 111,000 envelopes weighing approximately 2,000 pounds, making it the largest mail shipment ever taken on board an airplane. Prior to the clipper’s departure, the post office, which anticipated only a third of the final total volume, continued to bring in more plane loads of mail from across the country. In San Francisco some 100 postal clerks were kept busy preparing

1334-599: The first of these museums housed the collection of the British Museum , curated by MP Thomas Tapling and bequeathed to the Museum in 1891. The Museum für Kommunikation Berlin also had an extensive collection of stamps. The largest private collection of the time belonged to Philipp von Ferrary in Paris. As the number of postage stamp issues increased every year, collection became progressively difficult. Therefore, from

1380-480: The founding of PanAm. The film made use of much documentary footage of the actual airplane, as well as aerial photography created specifically for the production. It was also one of Humphrey Bogart 's early roles. Footage of the China Clipper, and/or possibly other M-130s loading and taking off from Alameda, is included in the 1937 comedy film Fly-Away Baby and the 1939 adventure film Secret Service of

1426-497: The hold-over time spent in the several ports along the route, the actual flying time of the aircraft was 59 hours and 48 minutes. The same voyage by the fastest steamship of the time would have taken more than two weeks. Following the inaugural flight over the Pacific Ocean, the China Clipper's sister ships, the Philippine Clipper and Hawaii Clipper , also of the same model, carried mail and cargo back and forth across

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1472-489: The hull in two which quickly flooded and sank. Twenty-three passengers and crew were killed; there were seven survivors including Captain C.A. Goyette, Pilot-in-Command for the flight, and Captain L.W. Cramer, First Officer, who was flying the plane from the left seat when it crashed. On April 24, 1946, the Civil Aeronautics Board released its accident investigation report with the following findings "upon

1518-442: The idea to celebrate an annual Postage Stamp Day was suggested by Hans von Rudolphi, a German philatelist. The idea was adopted rapidly in Germany, and gained later adoption in other countries. Stamp Day is a memorial day established by the postal administration of a country and annually celebrated, which is designed to attract public attention to, popularize the use of, and expand the reach of postal correspondence, and contribute to

1564-499: The ill-fated Wake island at the start of WW2, which was soon invaded by the Empire of Japan. Designed to meet Pan American World Airways President Juan Trippe 's desire for a trans-Pacific aircraft, the M-130 was an all-metal flying boat with streamlined aerodynamics and engines powerful enough to meet Pan Am's specified range and payload. They were sold at US$ 417,000. The first flight was on December 30, 1934. On November 22, 1935,

1610-483: The largest airplanes of its time. On November 22, 1935, it took off from Alameda, California on commission to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean. Although its inaugural flight plan called for the China Clipper to fly over the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (still under construction at the time), upon take-off the pilot realized the plane would not clear the structure, and

1656-449: The original China Clipper flight route, such as Honolulu , Wake Island , Guam and all the way to Manila with its final destination to Bali , which was a new route that was not included in the original itinerary. Pan Am also made several advertisements and television commercials to promote the new China Clipper II plane which shows the original China Clipper Martin M-130 plane and also the new China Clipper II Boeing 747-212B aircraft and

1702-585: The smaller Sikorsky S-42 (first flown in 1931) and larger Boeing 314 (first flown in 1938). All three were eventually lost; the first in 1938 disappeared on flight over the Pacific, then in 1943 one flew into a California mountainside in poor weather, and finally in 1945 the last broke up on landing in Trinidad and Tobago. In their time, they blazed some of the longest airline routes yet and also served in WW2 as transports. One helped evacuate about 40 civilians from

1748-710: The tens of thousands of letters in preparation for their delivery aboard the Clipper. The payload of mail was nearly all philatelic , consisting of envelopes prepared by collectors who wanted an example of mail flown on the “first flight”. To accommodate the unexpected volume of mail the furnishings onboard intended for passengers were removed to make room for the mail many dozens of mail pouches. The China Clipper arrived in Manila on November 29, 1935, eight thousand miles away from San Francisco, making prior stops at Honolulu , Midway Island , Wake Island and Guam . Not counting

1794-414: The usual aircraft seating. On early flights, the crew outnumbered the passengers. As a result, the price of a return air ticket from San Francisco to Honolulu was $ 1700 (equivalent to $ 36,000 in 2023). In comparison, a brand-new Plymouth automobile cost about $ 600 in the late 1930s. Considerable effort was put into preparing for the inauguration of the first Trans-Pacific airmail flight. In San Francisco

1840-842: The various aspects of their hobby. The world's oldest philatelic society is the Royal Philatelic Society London , which was founded on 10 April 1869, as the Philatelic Society. In North America, the major national societies include the American Philatelic Society ; the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada ; and the Mexico-Elmhurst Philatelic Society, International . Local clubs and societies have been established in many cities of

1886-547: Was 130 feet and it weighed 52,000 pounds. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp 14-cylinder radial engines and could achieve a maximum speed of 180mph. The aircraft had a maximum range of 3,200 miles, with a cruising ceiling of 17,000 feet and could carry 18 passengers on overnight trips, or 46 passengers on single day trips. The clippers were, for all practical purposes, luxury flying hotels, with sleeping accommodation, dining rooms and leisure facilities in addition to

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1932-607: Was aired in several countries as part of Pan Am promotion to commemorate China Clipper 50th Anniversary Flight. Notes Bibliography 10°35′43″N 061°20′14″W  /  10.59528°N 61.33722°W  / 10.59528; -61.33722 Martin M-130 Martin named them the Martin Ocean Transports, but to the public they were the "China Clippers", a name that became a generic term for Pan Am's large flying boats - including, retroactively,

1978-545: Was destroyed in a crash in Port of Spain , Trinidad and Tobago . Flight 161 had started at Miami bound for Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo , making its first stop to refuel at Puerto Rico before flying on to Port-of-Spain. After one missed approach, on the second approach to land it came down too low and hit the water at a high speed and nose-down a mile-and-a-quarter short of its intended landing area. The impact broke

2024-626: Was established in 1976 as an off-shoot to Canadian Coin News , which was launched about a decade earlier. Philately was largely advanced by the USSR and nations within its sphere of influence, and the United States, France, the UK, and Austria. The British Library Philatelic Collections and the postal museums in Stockholm , Paris , and Bern had unique national philately collections at that time, and among

2070-401: Was forced to fly narrowly under instead. On November 29, the airplane reached its destination, Manila, after traveling via Honolulu , Midway Island , Wake Island , and Sumay, Guam , and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail . The crew for this flight included Edwin C. Musick as pilot and Fred Noonan as navigator. The inauguration of ocean airmail service and commercial air flight across

2116-470: Was used on the initial proving flights, it had insufficient range to carry passengers along the route. Consequently, the passenger service was started with Martin M-130 flying boats: Later the larger Boeing 314 Clipper flying boats were assigned to the route: Additional clippers were assigned to the Trans-Atlantic and South American routes operated by Pan-American. That China Clipper's wingspan

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