Card Dated 08-08-08

Today's mail brought one postcard. A small number, but a nice card , nonetheless. It is from Taiwan, Republic of China and was sent by Wu Wei Yi, a frequent reader of this blog. It is another addition for my airlines on postcards collection. Since he used the stamp that he did , the stamp will be an addition to my planes on stamps collection.
The card pictures a Japan Asia Airways B767 in flight. Japan Asia Airways is a now defunct subsidiary of Japan Airlines., based in Tokyo and existed between 1975 and 2008. JAA was established by JAL on 8 August 1975 to operate between Japan and Taiwan. Following an agreement between Japan and China , the Japanese flag carrier would be permitted to fly to mainland China only if it ceased its routes to Taiwan. These routes were discontinued immediately after the agreement in April 1974, but JAL , through Japan Asia Airways took up the route to Taipei in September 1975. JAL decided to merge JAA back into itself to reduce operating to costs. JAA ceased operations on March 31, 2008.
Japan Asia Airways operated 3 Boeing 767-300s and 2 Boeing 747-300s, however they did operate at various times with DC-8s, B747-100s, DC10s, and B747-200s.

The Boeing 767-300 had its first flight 30 January 1986 and went into service in Japan on 20 October 1986. Earlier -200 models flew as early as September 1981.
The B767 is a mid size , wide body , twinjet airliner, produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 767 can carry between 181 and 375 passengers depending on the configuration requested. It has a range of 5200-6590 nautical miles.

One of the most notable and successful landings of a B767 was on July 23, 1983. Air Canada flight 143, a B767-200 , ran out of fuel in flight and had to glide to an emergency landing at Gimli, Manitoba, Canada. The pilots used the aircraft's ram air turbine to power the aircraft's hydraulic systems for control. There were no fatalities. The aircraft was forever after nicknamed the Gimli Glider. The aircraft was retired in January 2008.

Wei Yi used 2 stamps on the card. The small one on the left was issued in 1980 , 1 of a set of 8 issued between 1978-1980, showing the National Flag. The larger stamp on the right was issued in 1980 , 1 of a set of 3 airmail stamps, for aviation and planes. The aircraft on the stamp is a B747.
Thanks Wei Yi. Of note , is the postmark, dated 8-8-08. Quite a lucky postdate.