STAMP ISSUES RELATED TO ICAO (1994-1995)

 

Cuba : 50th Anniversary of ICAO

 

Issue date: 09/11/1994

 

 

Douglas DC‑3A from Compańia CUBANA de Aviación S.A. and 50th anniversary logo. Aircraft registered in Cuba: CU-T172.

The article "la" is not needed in the Spanish name of the Organization, which should be written: Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional.

 

Imperforate proof stamp: the 50th anniversary numeral (in gold) is missing.

 

Imperforate proof block of 4 stamps: the 50th anniversary numeral (in gold) is missing.

 

Proof pair, imperforate and ungummed.

 

Proof block of 4 stamps, imperforate and ungummed.

 

Block of 4 stamps with hand-stamped Control Number.

Philatelic notice. Error: It is interesting to note that the name of Organization in the heading (ORGANIZACION DE AVIACION CIVIL INTERNACIONAL) is correct, whereas this name is wrongly spelled in the second paragraph of the Spanish text (Organización Civil Internacional).

 

Official First Day Cover. Black cancel.

 

First Day Cover with cancel in red and different from the cancel on the cover here-above.

 

Background: The picture of the DC-3A CU-T172 is derived from a nice photograph, the background of which provides a fascinating insight as to what might be found at Havana Airport in the late 1940s.

This Douglas DC-3A CU-T172 was originally delivered on 8 April 1943 to the U.S. Army Air Forces as a Douglas C-53D-DO Skytrooper (a military version of the Douglas DC-3). On 8 January 1945, it was transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. It was then purchased by Pan Am in 1945 and later assigned to Cubana, registered CU-T172. On 15 April 1961, the CU-T172 was destroyed at Antonio Maceo International Airport, Santiago de Cuba, by a CIA-supplied Douglas B-26B Invader bomber at the beginning of the famous Bay of Pigs (Bahia de Cochinos) invasion.