STAMP ISSUES RELATED TO ICAO (1984-1985)

Isle of Man : 40^th Anniversary of ICAO and

50^th Anniversary of the first official airmail service to the Isle of Man

Issue date: 27/04/1984
		de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon Mk 2 registered G‑ACXI in United Kingdom and operated by Railway Air Services in the mid 1930s. This stamp shows an early view of Ronaldsway Airport, which originally consisted of a 75-acre field.
		de Havilland D.H.86A Dragon Express of Blackpool and West Coast Air Services Ltd, over Calf of Man, registered G‑ADVJ in United Kingdom.
		Douglas DC‑3 of British European Airways (BEA) over Ronaldsway Airport, registered G‑AGZB in United Kingdom. British European Airways held the mail-carrying contract from 1949 to 1963; the DC-3 was one of the earlier planes used.
		Vickers Viscount 806 of British European Airways (BEA) over Douglas, registered G-APIM in United Kingdom. From 1960, British European Airways used this airplane on the Isle of Man route.
		Britten-Norman BN-2A-27 Islander of Telair Manchester LTD over Ronaldsway Airport, registered G‑AXXH in United Kingdom. In 1984, mail was conveyed on Norman Islander aircraft operated by Telair.
Original paintings by the artist A.D. Theobald.
Presentation folder of this issue. de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon Mk 2 registered G-ACXI operated by Railway Air Services and Britten-Norman BN-2A-27 Islander registered G-AXXH of Telair Manchester LTD.
Gutter pairs.
Upper-right corner blocks of 4, with matching control number.
Upper-left corner stamps (Cancelled to order at Douglas – CTO).
Limited edition lithograph (9500 in total), signed by the designer of the stamps, Tony Richards; the reverse contains information about the series and the designer. Size: 330x250mm.
Aerogramme with Douglas’s cancellation. de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon Mk 2 registered G-ACXI operated by Railway Air Services. de Havilland D.H.86A Dragon Express registered G-ADVJ Ronaldsway of Blackpool and West Coast Air Services Ltd and Douglas DC-3 registered G-AGZB of British European Airways. Vickers Viscount 701C G-ANHD of British European Airways and Britten-Norman Islander G-AXXH of Telair Manchester LTD; control tower at Ronaldsway Airport.
First Day Cover - de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon Mk 2 registered G-ACXI operated by Railway Air Services. Cancel at Douglas, the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man.
First Day Cover - Cancel at Jurby Ramsey.
First Day Cover - Gutters Pairs; Cancels at Ramsey, the second-largest town on the island after Douglas.
First Day Cover by Cotswold Covers - B.P.C.P.A. – Raised printing. Cotswold Covers has been in existence since Christmas 1970 and is easily recognizable by the gold frame in the form of a capital C to the left of the envelope. The envelopes of excellent quality are engraved and die-stamped. The Cotswolds is an area in south-central England containing the Cotswold Hills.
First Day Cover by Cotswold Covers - B.P.C.P.A. - Gutter pairs – Raised printing.
First Day Cover by Mercury – Coloured Raised printing - de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon Mk 2 registered G-ACXI operated by Railway Air Services: Two errors: 1. The aircraft was operated by Railway Air Services and not United Air Services Ltd., as indicated on the nose of the aircraft. See more information in the background section. For information, the name of the airline United Air Services Ltd is misspelled and should have been written United Airways Ltd, which was a British airline founded in 1935. It did not exist as such in 1934, when the first official airmail service to the Isle of Man took place. 2. The aircraft registration is indicated as ACXI-G; the letter “G” indicating the country of registration (i.e., Great Britain in this case) should be in front of the mark. Cachet maker Mercury used a rather similar design for the Jersey issue of 24 July 1984. More information on this cover can be obtained by clicking on the following link: Isle of Man – Reverse Registration Number. See also the background section here-after: First Airmail Service.
Benham Silk First Day Covers; the cachets reproduce the original hand-painted artwork by A.D. Theobald (mounted on 6”x4.5” boards), which was used to illustrate the stamps. The triskelion from the national flag adorns the four corners of the cachet. BENHAM (A. BUCKINGHAM) LTD. is the largest GB first day cover dealer in the U.K. Note that the aircraft on the first cover, registered G-ACXI, is a de Havilland Dragon DH-84. The DH-86 is a larger version of the DH-84.
The Benham Silk cover with the 11-p stamp commemorated the actual date of the 50^th anniversary of the railway Air Services to the Isle of Man, i.e., 20 August 1934, at Ronaldsway airport located in the south of the island near Castletown. Airmail blue label.
First Day Covers with Colorano Silk Cachet. The aircraft shown on the stamps are reproduced on the cachet. Some covers bear the cancel related to the 70^th anniversary of the first British win of the Schneider Trophy in 1914, with the date of the stamp issue (i.e., 27  April 1984); this cancel at Jurby shows a Sopwith Tabloid aircraft, the triskelion from the flag, and the Schneider Trophy.
First Day Cover commemorating the First Digital Schneider Trophy Race (70^th Anniversary, 1914-1984). Among the 1984 British Air-Racing calendar, the Digital Schneider Trophy Air Race was held on 23-24 June at Bembridge, Isle of Wight. Charles Howard Pixton (1885-1972) was the first British to win the Schneider Trophy in 1914. Cancels are dated either 27 April 1984 (Date of stamp issue), or 23 June 1984 (First day of the Digital Schneider Trophy Air Race held in 1984).
The First Day Cover with silk cachet (Ramsilk No. 60) and raised printing shows the Sopwith Tabloid in a float-equipped version which won the Schneider Trophy in 1914; the race number 3 is painted on the tail.  The floatplane variant consequently became known as the Sopwith Schneider, of which 136 were built.
First Day Cover with silk cachet (Ramsilk No. 60), signed by Stella Pixton, daughter of Howard Pixton; limited edition with control number (107/125).
First Day Cover (Ramsilk No. 66), raised printing and silk cachet. The Royal Aero Club of the UK sponsored the major events and organized the 1984 event of the Digital Schneider Trophy air race on 23-24 June at Bembridge (Isle of Wight) airfield (start and finish), among a calendar of various air races.  The cancel at Jurby was reutilized on the latter dates to commemorate both events, i.e., the 70^th anniversary of the first British win of the Schneider Trophy by Great Britain and the Digital Schneider Trophy held for the first time in 1984.
First Day Cover (silk), raised printing, Ramsilk No. 67, issued on JURBY DAY, which was held on 11-12 August 1984. Jurby was a disused airfield activated once a year for the annual air show named Jurby Day.  The annual JURBY DAY Air Show, organized by the Isle of Man Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, came into being shortly after Howard Pixton’s death in 1972. Pixton was the Founder Member (Vice-President) of the Association. The Royal Air Forces Association, more often known as RAF Association, or simply RAFA, is a UK-based charitable organization which provides care and support to serving and retired members of the "Royal Air Forces" (that is, Air Forces of the British Commonwealth) and their dependents. The cachet pays tribute to the Supermarine Spitfire. The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Supermarine Spitfire is unquestionably the world's most famous military fighter aircraft of WWII. The Spitfire is affectionately remembered as the symbol of the Battle of Britain. The truly remarkable design and engineering of this fighter gave the allied forces a much-needed advantage against the onslaught of the full force of the German Luftwaffe. Reginald J. Mitchell, designer of the winning Supermarine Schneider Trophy entrants in 1925, 1927, 1929 and 1931, also designed the Supermarine Spitfire.
Maximum cards. The aircraft registration on this maximum card is: G-ADDI (de Havilland DH-84 Dragon 2) and differs from the number shown on the stamp (G-ACXI).  The aircraft registration on this maximum card is: G-ACZP (de Havilland DH.86B) and differs from the number shown on the stamp (G-ADVJ). The aircraft registration on this maximum card is: G-AGJV (Douglas DC-3) and differs from the number shown on the stamp (G-AGZB). The aircraft registration on this maximum card is: G-AOYG (Vickers Viscount 806) and differs from the number shown on the stamp (G-APIM). The aircraft registration on this maximum card is: G-AXXJ (Britten Norman BN-2A-26 Islander) and differs from the number shown on the stamp (G-AXXH).
Cover autographed by Pilot M. Richards and flown on 20 August 1984 (i.e., actual date of the 50^th anniversary of the Railway Air Services to the Isle of Man) from Isle of Man’s Ronaldsway Airport to Liverpool by Telair Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander aircraft registered G-AXWH; only 450 of these covers exist (limited edition).
Background: Several different inserts can be found inside the covers related to the Schneider Trophy. More information on this Trophy can be found by clicking on the following link: Isle of Man - The Digital Schneider Trophy. 1) 2) Reproduction of Pixton’s original Air Pilot License No. 50 granted by the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain on 30 December 1910. 3) 4) Description card. 5) Post cards with red borders (red colour remembering the backgrounds of Pixtons’s crest and the national flag of the Isle of Man; see here below): reproductions of Pixton’s Aviator’s Certificate (Air Pilot License No. 50 granted by the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain on 30 December 1910) and ad announcing Sopwith’s biplane triumph.
Charles Howard Pixton (1885-1972) was an early British aviator; his later career involved flying the first newspapers to the Isle of Man and Pixton is reputed to have flown the first fare paying passengers, also to the Isle of  Man. He is buried at Jurby, Isle of Man. The crest seen on covers related to the Schneider Trophy (at the lower-right side below the cachet) is an adaptation of the Coat of Arms of the Pixton family. Each corner of the cachet on the Benham covers shows the triskelion taken from the National Flag of the Isle of Man. A triskelion or triskele (both words are from Greek "τρισκέλιον" (triskelion) or "τρισκελής" (triskeles), "three-legged") is a symbol consisting of three bent human legs (or more generally three interlocked spirals) joined in such a way that the overall emblem has a threefold rotational symmetry, but no reflection symmetries; although it appears in many places and periods, it is especially characteristic of the Celtic art. The three-leg symbol is said to represent the three dynamic elements: water, air, and fire; others say that it symbolizes the Sun, the seat of Power and Life. It is to be noted that, because Great Britain was the first country to issue postage stamps and the early issues were easy to identify (as they all bore the profile of Queen Victoria), the Universal Postal Union exempted Britain from the requirement that the country’s name must be part of every postage stamp issued. In return for this exemption, it has been a requirement that all British stamps include a representation of the reigning monarch as part of their design to designate the country of origin. In 1966, the photographic representation was replaced with a silhouette or cameo. Later, the size of the cameo was reduced, and it has remained small on all commemorative issues until now; in general, the queen’s cameo faces left, but occasionally it faces right. The Isle of Man (or Manx, also known simply as Mann) is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom, but its foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the UK Government. Although it does not usually interfere in the island's domestic matters, it’s good government is the ultimate responsibility of the Crown (i.e., in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom). First Airmail Service The Isle of Man was served by Ronaldsway airport in the South-West of the Island. During the 1920s airplanes occasionally landed in a field at Ronaldsway farm, Derbyhaven, near Castletown. In October 1934, Capt. Olley obtained landing rights in this area and adjoining 20-acre field and founded Isle of Man Air Services to run the aerodrome. The area was levelled, drained and extended in 1935. After further improvements in the 1940s, Ronaldsway became the main Isle of Man airport and is still open today. In 1934, inland airmail began with the town-to-town service. This served major centres such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow. It was initially an experimental service with de Havilland D.H.86 (which first flew on 14 January 1934), but it lasted until World War II. The Island's first experimental airmail service was started with using a newly delivered Railway Air Services de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon Mk 2, registered G-ACXI, on 20 August 1934. This operated on the route Glasgow-Belfast-Isle of Man-Manchester (southbound run). Capt. Gordon Store landed the Dragon MK 2 at Ronaldsway on that day. The number of letters and postcards carried on the first flight was 797; weather conditions on the flight were turbulent. Letters weighing less than 2 ounces (57 g) were carried at no extra cost. An air mail service ceased in late September; the main reason cited was an unsuitable landing ground for winter operations, as Ronaldsway was deemed not up to the required standard. Blackpool and West Coast Air Services resumed the air mail service from February to October 1935; and from 1st November 1935, United Airways (formed in 1935) secured the main contract from the Post Office. Railway Air Services (RAS) The RAS was a British airline formed in March 1934 by the big four railway companies and Imperial Airways. By forming a partnership, the railways and the airline benefited as they were not competing against each other. Imperial Airways agreed to supply everything to do with the flying side of the business, including planes, pilots, maintenance, and airfields. For its part, the railways agreed to handle administrative duties, the selling of tickets, and marketing. The airline was a domestic airline operating routes within the United Kingdom linking up with Imperial's services; it was based at London's Croydon Airport. RAS ceased operations on 31 January 1947 with the state Corporation British European Airways (BEA) acquiring the RAS aircraft, staff and routes. Cover flown from Douglas, Isle of Man on 20 August 1934 by Railway Air Services.