C5 - 1923 16ยข Airmail
See below for details
Basic Info
16¢
Dark blue
Printing Method: Flat Plate
Printer: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Subject: Air Service Emblem
Number issued: 5,309,275
Perforations: 11
Watermark: Unwatermarked
Scott #: C5
Issued: August 17, 1923
Value
Used
$1 - $3
No postmark with gum (MH)
$6 - $10
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$10 - $50
Plate #'s
#C5 was issued with the following plate # range
14828-14831
The Inspiration for the Design
US Air Mail 2nd Type Lapel Wing in Sterling Silver
The design for #C5 was based on the lapel badge of the Air Mail Service
A Complete Pane
A complete pane of 100, there were four panes to a sheet of 400
First Day Cover
First day cover from August 17th, 1923.
Usage
The Post Office decided to expand the Philadelphia-Washington D.C.-New York route. A network of routes across the country was set up and the country divided into three zones., East, West and central. The 16¢ stamp was for mail across two zones
Night Air Mail
DH-4 mail plane equipped with lights on nose and wingtips, for night flying, around 1924.
Airmail personnel at Offutt Field near Omaha unload the first eastbound mail plane on July 1, 1924, the first day
of regular through-service (night and day flying).
Business's found it quicker and cheaper to send mail by train as appeased to the accident prone, daylight only airmail service. The post office implemented night flights.
The Plane
Airmail flight, 1924
Airmail flight, 1924 (the pilots view). With danger and daring do!
1932 full length movie about Air Mail flights
At the end of WWI the army had hundreds of de Havilland DH-4's which it had no use for. The Airmail Service helped themselves to as many free DH-4's as they needed.
As they were, they were not fit for purpose. Due to the design the pilot would be crushed between the gas tank and the engine if they had a rough landing. They were called "flying coffins".
The design was modified and new 400 horsepower liberty engines were fitted, now to become the DH-4B. They were in service from 1918 through to 1926, when they were replaced by the Douglas M-4
1918-23 Airmails
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