I just got to thinking and there was

 

I just got to thinking and there was this cover in my head. Nearly 4 years ago.. The reason I was thinking this, is,  I am off to Hong Kong on Saturday and   well…  why not show you this cover.  I am trying to remember the flight.. cannot.  was so many years ago ….  How sad….  or just old age    but I hope you enjoy the cover anyway. Signed by the Captain.. and I do remember him.. just not the flight..  oh and the reverse is signed by another 11 of the crew.. I must have had a good time eh!!!!!!

Best wishes.. Michael

Hi, hope you like seeing these. Lovely

 

Hi,    hope you like seeing these. Lovely set. I was filing them today after listing them in my Bidstart Store.    Shameless plug. but if I don’t tell you you wont know will you

Easy to find.. just type Fiji into the “Seach Store For” box and you will see them

http://www.bidstart.com/stores/michaelatcddstamps

Enjoy..    Michael

 

 

Hi, Hope you enjoy seeing these. Issued

Hi,   Hope you enjoy seeing these. Issued in 1976 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Air Services in Fiji.  Not sure why this date but it could be related to Fiji Airways . I found this that might be of interest

Air Pacific Ltd. was not the first airline to connect the islands of Fiji. Fiji Airways, an airline backed by Guinea Airways, was established in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1932. It began short-lived services in the spring of 1933, according to A History of the World’s Airlines by R.E.G. Davies.

 In 1947 New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NZNAC) began a flying boat service connecting New Zealand with Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. This was called the “Coral Route.” ( I showed a cover for this route some weeks back you may recall) The Australian airline Qantas also began flying to Fiji in the late 1940s.

 Harold Gatty, the famous aviator dubbed “the Prince of Navigators” by Charles Lindberg , established a second airline called Fiji Airways in September 1951. I suspect this is the reference to 25 years

Anyway, if you like these.. and how can you not, I have them in my Bidstart Store  How can I not miss the chance to promote that.   http://stampwants-stamps.bidstart.com/Fiji-SG-532-535-MLH-set-/34562588/a.html  

Enjoy your stamps and flying   Michael    www.cddstamps.com

 

 

Hello, am back from Melbourne and the opening

 

Hello,  am back from Melbourne and the opening day, yesterday, of the World Stamp Expo 2013. What an excellent day it was. Met up with some people I had only had email contact with previously, visited many standholders, and, made a few purchases, well one is so tempted.  Hope you like this cover I found.

Wonderful day and if you are in Melbourne I would encourage you to find a few hours to visit the show.

Have a great weekend 

Michael
www.cddstamps.com, and of course

http://www.bidstart.com/stores/michaelatcddstamps

Hello, all ready for tomorrow and my visit

Hello, all ready for tomorrow and my visit to the Australia 2013 World Stamp Expo in Melbourne. Done my reading and research and know which stands will be my priority.  Printed off the Stand layout  and realise there are many that I really want to spend time at ..   lets see what time I have since the show opens to the public at 12:00 and I have a 6pm flight back to Sydney.   I plan to be there early to see if I can get some of the special release from Australia Post. Can but only try. So early to bed tonight as I have a 7:30 flight. Hope to have some pictures for you in coming days

 Michael   http://www.cddstamps.com  and of course http://www.bidstart.com/stores/michaelatcddstamps

Hi, I am sorting stamps again and listing

Hi, I am sorting stamps again and listing for my Bidstart Store. I came across this from Fiji. It was issued in 1981 as one of 4 stamps to commemorate World War II aircraft. Cannot resist showing you as you know I am under the spell of the Catalina after having seen one fly, seen one close up on the ground, and dare I say  been coerced by a friend here in Sydney, pleasantly so I might add,  into loving this awesome aircraft    

Enjoy  ……..   Michael

Hello everyone, another week shot past. Hope it

 

Hello everyone,  another week shot past.  Hope it been good for you all. Here is another cover I hope you enjoy seeing. A couple of very collectible,  as per catalogue value, stamps on this, sadly not the full set for which I have seen a similar cover at auction with opening bid of HK $4000.  Not a First Flight cover per se but an AirMail cover. 

Next week am off to Melbourne for the Stamp Expo 2013. Will be flying there of course. cannot think of a reason to do a cover for that visit. Any ideas?

Have a great weekend…  

Michael    

http://www.cddstamps.com  - and worth a read  but I leave you to look and find out why  

 

 

Hello,  well yes it has been a while since I last wrote.. just where does the time go I ask myself. Like you I am busy  doing things, like cutting grass – it rains and then the sun shines, then it rains again and the sun shines again so the grass grows even more..  seems I have to cut the grass every week. And I have a few acres to cut so it takes some time. In between I look at, sort, and list my stamps for my listings on Bidstart.  As you will know from reading my past writings this is my new “hobby”  well I have always sold – small time – but am trying to do more.  I really like Bidstart. I find it easy to use and I hope it becomes more popular now that Stanley Gibbons owns it.  As I have written before – sorry for repeating myself but maybe you are a new reader –  all you have to do when you have open my Store  -  

http://www.bidstart.com/stores/michaelatcddstamps 

 

is type the SG number into the “Search Store For” field and see if I have that stamp listed.  I have just over 3500 stamps listed now, mostly Australia, GB, Canada, Norfolk Island, Christmas Island,  USA, Rhodesia, PNG but many more..     If you are looking for imperf stamps just type imperf, or if you are looking for self adhesive, just type adhesive.. you will see all ( I think) stamps listed in these categories.   Bidstart  is, in my view,  a very good site

I have not started listing Aviation  / Aerophilatelic materials yet.. Maybe something I will do in the future. 

Since I have not written for a while, that means I have not had a competition either. so how about this to get you thinking ………… as a prize I will send the Cover  shown above. All expenses paid by me. Just email me the answer to cddstamps@gmail.com with your mailing address please.  I  will randomly select a winner on Sunday 28th April.

Four  part question:    Cannot make it too easy these covers are selling on eBay from $10 and up……………. what is the Coral Route,  what aircraft type did the TEAL survey flight for the route, in what year, and what was the aircraft registration, 

And if you collect and have some gaps in your collection and only want to buy the stamp(s) to fill that / those  gap(s)  I hope you have time to visit my Store.   Postage and packing is basically at cost  and with recent Australia Post overseas prices increases I have not passed that on.  Have a look if nothing else, you will see I mostly list VFU,  95% of my material is VFU, the rest I give away or bin!!   

 

Best wishes, and sorry not written for a while…………..  Michael  www.cddstamps.com  

 

Hello, the above with an aviation theme. Hope you like this. And for those of you who collect Australia I thought I would let you know I just loaded 219 more stamps to my Bidstart store. mostly early issues.. 1966 -1975 and with excellent selection of the many Booklet issues, with all the positions in the booklets including labels. Hope you enjoy looking. And remember if you have a gap in your collection just type the SG number (eg 1234 no SG required) in the “Search Store For” box and press enter and you will see what I have listed…… for any country that has a stamp with that SG number my store is at http://www.bidstart.com/stores/michaelatcddstamps enjoy.. oh and I have not increased my overseas postage rates even though our wonderful (!!) Australia Post have increased their rates yet again.

 

Best wishes….  Michael

 

Hello, how was your Easter weekend?    Good I hope.  I am back in Sydney and finally have time for stamps. Mostly I spend my time packing orders from my Bidstart Store and the requests I accumulated for free stamps to Children while I have been away.  Anyway,  thanks to all of my customers, and my apology for slow mailing. The past two weeks I was overseas as you may know, and so I had to catch up on my return.

I discovered a search feature I thought I would tell you about. If you visit my Store at

http://www.bidstart.com/stores/michaelatcddstamps

and type the SG number ( just the number,   for example, 2597 is all that is needed –   you do not have to type SG ) into the “Search Store For” field and press enter you will see if I have that stamp listed in the Store.    I now have nearly 2500 items for sale so rather than scroll though that lot why not just look up the stamp you are looking for to fill a gap in your collection.  It works for any country, as long as you know the SG number .  I did it myself and by random SG number   I found I had priced a stamp wrongly – a typo –  (too high). I price by exchange rate on the day so you may get a better bargain than you thought if there are two or more of the same stamp listed as I do not go back and adjust prices.  My prices are 10% of catalogue and up, depending on the stamp and  mostly (95% of listings) I only list stamps  which are VFU. There are some Mint Hinged and Mint Unhinged for earlier GB.  I throw away damaged stamps, or stamps with stupidly heavy postmarks or really bad creases.

Hope you have time to look. A really easy way to fill some gaps in your collection if you collect GB, Australia, USA, Canada, Fiji, Rhodesia, Norfolk Island, PNG and many more.

Enjoy your stamps…………..    Best wishes………… Michael

Oh and the picture above…………  item number  33866400, or type Glass in the search field.