PLANES , Planes, and more planes Day

Welcome back, I hope I don't lose you when my theme for today is known. Last time was Indonesia , this time it is PLANES. I know, not everyone likes planes as much as I do, but they do seem to be a popular postcard theme. I wish I could have an update of cards showing manhole covers, but they seem as scarce as hen's teeth . So it's planes this time. And if you stick around until the end, perhaps there will be something you might like or want.

Let's start with a C.P. Air, Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-10. This one was named "Empress of Expo 86". I worked for a few years for C.P.Air , so that's a good one to start with. I don't know for sure but it is possible I may have actually flown on this aircraft to Honolulu. I flew on DC-10's a number of times to Hawaii. I owe a thank you for this card to Joe G of Endwell , N.Y. That's a cool name for a town, I wonder if everything ends well in Endwell. Joe, if you are reading this, a card is on the way to you. I like the 3 Aloha Shirt stamps on this one. They are new , issued in 2012. Almost makes me want to go and put my Aloha shirt on, when I see those.

This second card is of a South African A340 Airbus, sitting on the ramp in Hong Kong, I do believe. Looks like a typical foggy day in the airline world. I had many of those , but more foggy than this one, in C YYT , St. John's International Airport. I have yet to fly on a A340, but some day , I hope. Bruce sent this card along and used a nice 2009 stamp. It is an International Small Letter rate stamp from a set of 5 showcasing the artifacts of Mapungubwe, an ancient iron age society discovered in 1933.

Next up is my most favorite plane that I never had the opportunity or privilege to fly on. A TWA Lockheed Constellation, a Connie. This one appears to be on the ramp at Orly Airport, Paris in the 1950's with all 4 engines running. No doubt the airport is a little different and a lot larger today. Jean Pierre used a couple of Marianne definitives and a 20 gram priority letter stamp showing kites.

Now we have the much more modern Airbus A380. A Lufthansa A380 in fact. Yes, another one I wouldn't mind flying on. Jean Pierre writes that he had just flown on the A380 between Miami and Frankfurt. Lucky guy. The stamp is a Balloon Flower definitive from Germany.

Finally an aircraft type that I have flown on, a Boeing 737. I've flown on 737 100's, 200's, 300's and most recently an 800 to Cuba and back. This is an AirBaltic 737 one of 14 in their fleet . Jelena from Latvia sent this card and used a 2011 Coat of Arms stamp and a 2008 animal ( cat ) stamp from a set of 2.

A military aircraft is up next. A Saab JAS-39 Gripen. The Gripen features delta wings and canards and has a top speed of Mach 2. In service since 1987, more than 264 Gripens have been delivered or ordered as of 2011. They are in service with the Air Forces of Sweden, South Africa, Czech Republic, and Hungary. A rather timely card here in Canada since this country is in the middle of deciding whether to purchase a number of new Lockheed Martin F-35 Stealth Fighter Jets. It seems no one can or will admit what the true cost of the jets will be. A Czech Republic Postcrosser sent this card and used a number of stamps, including flower definitives from 2007 .
The large stamp on the left was issued in 1997 and is from a set of 3 paintings. The other is from a set of 3 paintings issued ion 2002. Quite nice stamps actually. I have written before about Czech Republic stamps, they have issued some very nice stamps over the years, in my opinion. If anyone is looking for a country to collect, try Czech Republic stamps.

And the final plane for today is a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. It was designed for the midair refueling of long range strategic bombers. This one brings back memories for me from 1974-1978. At that time I lived in Goose Bay, Labrador and Goose Air Base was operated by The U.S.A.F. There was always a flightline of anywhere from 11-19 or 20 of these KC-135 on the ramp. Let me tell you, they are quite loud and when they were all starting up , and it happened quite often, the noise was just bearable. And it always seemed to happen in the middle of the night. Oh well, that was another era and so are these planes. On the back we see 2 Purple Heart stamps from 2009 and a Ron Reagan Forever stamp from 2011.



That completes The Planes update . Hope someone out there enjoyed it as much as I did.
Thanks to Joe, Bruce, Jean Pierre, Jelena, and the two unknown Postcrossers for these great postcards.
Now as I mentioned earlier, for those of you who stayed until the end. I have a small number of Canada's 2012 Year of the Dragon stamps , of both the Domestic and International Rates. If there are any collectors of these Dragon stamps out there, I am more than happy to trade for one from your country, if you issued dragon stamps , or if not some other nice stamp will do just fine. Here are the 2 stamps in question , International on the left, Domestic on the right. If you want it on a postcard that's fine , if you want it mint, no problem. We can work out the details.
Remember I only have a small number.

Take care, thanks for reading and comments are always welcome .