Hello again,  perhaps  one more from the 1952 set I was talking about last night. This is the high value 5 zloty value and shows the steel mills and again the Ilyushin Il-12. A dramatic image of the landscape. It strikes me as somewhat Gotham city like.

Some aircraft trivia:   In a previous piece I wrote about the Lisunov Li-2 you may recall. Well there is a connection,  because the Il-12 was developed as a replacement for the Lisunov Li-2.  Initially it was planned to be a 4 engine 29 seater but this was changed to a two engine 27 seater configuration with the result it had a shorter range and slower cruising speed. It made its maiden flight in August 1945.  Ultimately there were various design and engine changes and a total of 663 were built, many used by Aeroflot as one might expect..

And the connection to Poland?  The first export customer for the Il-12 was LOT Polish Airlines, who placed an order for five Il-12Bs after it was displayed at the Poznan Fair in Poland in the spring of 1948.

See you next time    Michael  cddstamps.com …. or visit my online store https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps    where I have  some interesting aviation related