Hello everyone, Thought I’d show this video – courtesy of Boeing – of the 787 first landing, in case you had not seen it. Beautiful touch down I think you will agree.
Best wishes, and congratulations to everyone at Boeing who worked on the plane
Michael
Hello, Yes the 787 Dreamliner took off some 30 minutes ago as I write. Wonderful to see it fly.
If you didn’t see it live on the Boing site here is the video clip – just a minute.
And yes I have some covers.. for myself and a friend of mine – why not eh!!
More on these in coming weeks no doubt.
Well done again to Boeing, Best wishes.. Michael
Hello, first, I am pleased to tell you that Jane from Canada won the A380 Christmas Competition cover, and I gave a runner up prize to Chandra from India. Thanks for entering and I hope the research was interesting.
This picture I thought might interest aviation buffs.. I like it.
Heracles was the most famous of the Greek mythological heroes.
Like most authentic heroes, Heracles had a god as one of his parents, being the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Zeus’s wife Hera was jealous of Heracles, and when he was still an infant she sent two snakes to kill him in his crib. well you would I guess !! Heracles was found prattling delighted baby talk, a strangled serpent in each hand. Now why you would name an aircraft Heracles I do not know. Something I missed? You tell me.
Maybe something to do with his extraordinary strength, courage ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females as these were supposedly amongst his characteristic attributes. Sound like something you might associate with the aviation industry!!!!!!! 
This aircraft, actual referred to as the H.P. 42 “Heracles” class of aircraft was the world’s first practical four engine aircraft and for a decade made an outstanding contribution to commercial aviation.
Two types of H.P. 42 were constructed, four of them the 42 E or Eastern Class usually known by the name of the flagship “Hannibal” and four of them 42W or Western Class known normally as “Heracles”. Externally all aircraft were virtually identical but the Western Class which operated mainly in Europe and on part of the India service carried 38 passengers whereas the Eastern Class operating from Alexandria to Karachi and Lake Victoria carried only 24 but had provision for a large quantity of mail.
In service the H.P. 42’s proved completely successful and were probably more popular with their passengers than any aircraft in the world. Never a fast aircraft, the H.P. 42 was said to have a built in headwind, it was exceptionally comfortable and was the only aircraft at the time capable of offering a full catering service, with four or seven course meals and drinks served from a trolley. The cabin was quiet, and as it was slung beneath the wings all the occupants had good visibility; the low fuselage also meant that high steps were not required for entry.
I have not seen this aircraft on a stamp. Anyone help me out here?
Hope you enjoyed this.. Oh… and where did the picture come from? Any ideas.. there is a clue in the picture if you look carefully …
Write me, I enjoy hearing from you.. have a great weekend… Michael
Hello, well the signature on my cover was that of the CEO of Air France, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon. Now how many covers are there with that? The rest of my limited print of 13 covers have crew signatures.. 
You may find some flown covers with stamps from Ireland and Guernsey or San Marino, or Gibralter, or the Ceska Republic or Norway (I am dead serious here) and some other places like Switzerland and Aland ( yes really on a cover stated to be flown from New York to Paris…. can someone explain this to me ??? – and my favourite …. a cover with a stamp from Kenya franked 12 10 09.. ha ha ha ha… .. totally unrelated to Paris or New York and they may look nice and they may even be flown.. with lovely frankings …what do I know.. but while my covers are not postally franked.. hey that is very difficult to get I might add .. these are still in my humble view something special. no stamp or something just silly.. ?? you tell me..
and also … tell me.. if you were on an inaugural A380 flight with covers.. surely you would get signatures.. or photos.. ???
Best wishes.. .. Michael
Hello, what do you think of this.. No stamp I am afraid, but it is a flown cover, with a scribble on it. I guess that is how you will see and think of it. Maybe a bit more to it. Any guesses.
I’ll see if any clever person out there guesses. Clue: I am certainly not letting it go It has to be the only flown cover signed I would expect by this person
Oh, and don’t forget there are only a few days left to get your entries in for the Christmas Competition – scroll down for details. .. Michael
Hi.. I found these today while sorting some stamps. These from the 1979 issue to commemorate flight anniversaries. I rather enjoyed finding them. Hope you enjoy seeing them as well.
Please see previous post on the Christmas competition. It really is not that hard
Best wishes…. Have a great weekend…………. Michael
Hello, Hope everyone is well and getting ready for Christmas. Something to divert your attention from the more mundane preparations perhaps A competition for a prize I hope you will enjoy if you enter and win. This flown first flight cover.
The cover was flown (Singapore – London Heathrow, March 2008) by me and is produced by Buckingham covers, so is one of, if not THE best covers around. Comes with a certificate photocopy signed by me and Tony. I met Tony at Heathrow when I arrived, and also signed some covers for him.
To win please send me, by email to cddstamps@gmail.com , answers to the following. All entries must be received by my post on 12th December, to give me time to mail to you, for you to receive for a Christmas Present. I will print all entries, fold and place in a box and draw one entry as the winning entry. Please include your mailing address with your entry, No mailing address, No chance to win because I will not be able to mail to you.
1) Where in France did the A380 (powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines), successfully completed the Maximum Energy Braking Test? – name the city please.
2) At which airport in the UK did the A380 make it maiden flight to?
3) What was the purpose of the maiden flight to the UK for the A380 flight referred to above?
4) The two words “Singapore Airlines” is painted on the Singapore Airlines A380 aircraft – see the prize Flight Cover for what I mean – what is the measurement in metres of the lettering on the fuselage?
5) On which aircraft did SQ conducted pre-delivery tests on the A380 test aircraft? Please give the tail number, that is the aircraft registration given to the aircraft by Airbus.
6) What was the original lettering designation for the A380? It was not A380, it was something else until it got branded A380-800.
7) What is the maximum fuel capacity of the aircraft – in litres please
As of today 2nd December, how many A380 aircraft have Singapore Airlines taken delivery of?
Enjoy the research if you don’t already know the answers
Best wishes… Michael
Hello, have I lost all my readers because I have not been writing… oh dear.. had a great time in Las Vegas… didn’t lose too much money but it was worth the visit I have to say. If you have never been I do recommend a visit. So much to see and do. Nothing on stamps.. will get round to that in coming days but two aviation related pictures. On landing at Sydney yesterday morning I saw not one, not two but three A380s.. one a Qantas plane taxiing for takeoff, and another an Emirates plane, on arrival. The third was of course a Singapore Airlines A380 parked at a gate but I was not able to get a picture. Hope you enjoy these two anyway.
Stamps tomorrow Best wishes ………. Michael
Well, I am sorry for not writing recently, I don’t know where the time has gone but somehow I have been busy doing other things. Stamp things as well including listing many lots on eBay and Stampwants.com – hey have a look if you want to treat yourself for Christmas – all lots start at 99c – you can easily find all my lots by searching user ID michaelatcddstamps at both auction sites.
Two stamps to show you. The first thanks to a good friend of mine, who rumour has it flies aeroplanes every once in a while 
Together we saw one of these down at Temora many months back now. I had forgoten that Royal Mail issued this in the 2009 Design Classic issue. Did you know the Spitfire was said to be the smallest an aircraft could be built around man and engine. It went through 40 different incarnations – with more than 20,000 planes produced – by the time it was retired in 1954.
The second stamp has nothing to do with aircraft but I thought I would show it anyway because I’m wondering if anyone will send me a Christmas card with it on. 
Would be nice to get a copy for old times sake as it has been many years now since I lived in Toronto.
I will try to write again over next few days before I go away for a week. Am off to the US on Monday for Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. Someone’s got to do it eh!!!
Best wishes…………. MIchael
Hello, first this cover which I hope you enjoy seeing.
It is not BA 001, but at least a Concorde cover, best I can find. I have others somewhere, where is a good question, they will turn up one day.
Anyway why the BA 001 reference? well BA started a new service from London Airport to New York. I had read about this service but was not aware until today that the srvice would be BA 001………..from the news bulletin ……….. British Airways has launched a new intercity service using two relatively small Airbus A318s to fly its premium passengers direct on the first long-haul flights between London City Airport and New York’s JFK International Airport in super-luxury.
In standard configuration the smallest jet of the Airbus “family” normally carries eight first-class passengers and 99 in economy.
But the British Airways version is configured for an all-business service, with just 32 seats that convert into fully-flat beds, with on-board connectivity provided by an Airbus-SITA joint venture called OnAir, so passengers can work during the flight via e-mail, web surfing and mobile phone text messaging.
To mark the importance of the new route, the mid-day outbound service was given the BA001 designation previously used for transatlantic flights of the supersonic Concorde. The new operations became double-daily this month using both of BA’s A318s and operating under the BA001-004 numbering. Departures from London City are at mid-day and early evening, with return flights leaving John F. Kennedy International in the late evening and late night.
Not quite as fast as Concorde but certainly a pleasant way to travel, and if you take off ( pun, ha ha) the Heathrow hassle probably closer to Concorde timings than one might imagine. I am surprised BA have not promoted that. Or maybe they have?
have a great weekend … Michael
