STAMP ISSUES FROM 2015 TO 2018

Paraguay – 15th Meeting of Civil Aviation Authorities of the SAM Region (RAAC/15)

Issue date: 06/12/2017

Souvenir sheet issued by the DINACOPA (Dirección Nacional de Correos del Paraguay) and imprinted with the hand stamp related to Fifteenth Meeting of Civil Aviation Authorities of the SAM Region (named by the acronym RAAC/15).

On a background of a Ñandutí traditional Paraguayan embroidered lace coloured by the red/white/blue taken from the Paraguayan flag, is affixed the triptych issued by Paraguay on 17 November 2014 commemorating several events related to the famous aviator Silvio Pettirossi.

Pettirossi’s issue of 2014 postmarked with the special RAAC/15 meeting cancel.

Background: The Fifteenth Meeting of the Civil Aviation Authorities of the SAM Region (named by the acronym RAAC/15) was held in Asunción, Paraguay, from 4 to 6 December 2017.

Silvio Pettirossi’s biography.

Silvio Pettirossi was born in Asunción on 16 June 1887. The field of aviation was still young at his time and Pettirossi was eager to take part in this new field. As a young man, he moved to Buenos Aires and became acquainted with the aviator Jorge Newbery, member of the Argentina Military Aviation School, who taught him to fly. In 1912, he received a scholarship from the Paraguayan Government to continue his study of flight in France, where he obtained the licence of aviator pilot from the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) on 27 January 1913. 

From then on, he became well known in France and South America for his acrobatic flights. In 1914 he bought a Deperdussin model "T" monoplane and performed his aerial acrobatics for the first time in Asunción on 17 November 2014. This increased enthusiasm of the Paraguayan people for aviation made it possible to lay down the foundations for the creation of the National Aviation School. The Paraguayan Air Club was born in 1915 with Silvio Pettirossi being its first President and made a great contribution to the Paraguayan civil aviation.

On 17 October 1916, while doing an inverted loop, Pettirossi died in a plane crash; the left wing of his plane broke and the aircraft crashed to the ground.

Asunción's Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (on 11 June 1938) and many other places are named after him.

Pettirossi’s Project (Proyecto Pettirossi).

The Pettirossi project was born on 5 September 2007 among the members of the Sports Flight Yvytu Club, San Bernardino as a way to keep awakening in the country a love for roots and more specifically for aeronautical roots. As a non-profit organization, its goal was to construct an exact replica of the Deperdussin aircraft used by Silvio Pettirossi at the beginning of the last century with which he made his famous acrobatics. The replica of Silvio Pettirossi's plane first flew on 17 November 2014, exactly 100 years after the first flight of Pettirossi in Paraguay.

Triptych and official first day cover issued on 17 November 2014 to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of Silvio Pettirossi’s first flight in Paraguay.

The triptych related to Pettirossi issued in 2014 commemorates various facts:

1. The left stamp refers to Silvio Pettirossi’s first ever flight in Paraguay with his Deperdussin on 17 November 1914 (see picture hereafter);

2. The central stamp refers to the Project to build a replica of his plane, the Deperdussin model "T", with the text PROYECTO PETTIROSSI 1914-2014. It shows Pettirossi’s Deperdussin in flight and the emblem of this project (see picture hereafter).

3. The right stamp refers to the letter ended with the signature that Pettirossi has written about his experience as an aerobatic aviator pilot. It shows a replica of the set of 8 stamps (4 regular and 4 airmail; see picture hereafter) issued in March 1954 by the Paraguayan Post Office paying tribute to Pettirossi on the 40^th anniversary of his first flight in Paraguay on 17 November 1914. The motto on this stamp Voló como no vuelan ni las anguillas is translated into He flew as no eels do fly.

Original picture of Pettirossi’s first flight in Paraguay on 17 November 1914.	Emblem of Pettirossi’s project.
		Eight stamps issued in March 1954 for Pettirossi’s 40^th anniversary of his first flight in Paraguay.

The official postmark.

On 6 December 2017, at the Convention Center of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), the Dirección Nacional de Correos del Paraguay (DINACOPA, the National Post Office of the Paraguay), through its Philatelic Directorate, made the official presentation of the postmark in honour of the Fifteenth Meeting of Civil Aeronautics Authorities of the South American Region (RAAC/15).

The protocolary ceremony was chaired by Mr. Luis Manuel Aguirre Martínez, President of the National Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DINAC or Civil Aviation Authority) of Paraguay, who was accompanied by:

1. Dr. Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu, President of ICAO’s Council,

2. Mr. Oscar Quesada-Carboni, Deputy Director of ICAO’s SAM Office, and

3. Mrs. Raquel Comán De Pereira, DINACOPA’s Philatelic Director.

During this event, the first souvenir sheet as shown here above was postmarked by the President Aliu; the second by Oscar Quesada-Carboni and the third by Luis Manuel Aguirre Martínez.

This postmark was also applied on all correspondence entering or leaving the country during the week following 6 December 2017.

During this ceremony, the President of the ICAO Council presented the ICAO Council President Certificate to the DINAC President, Dr. Luis Manuel Aguirre Martinez. See picture here below.

A second Certificate was awarded to Brigadier Antonio Alarcón, the Head of Uruguay’s CAA, DINACIA.

Further to the award received by the DINAC, Mrs. Raquel Comán De Pereira, DINACOPA’s Philatelic Director, confirmed that the Post Office planned to later issue a stamp in honour of the DINAC. See more information on this issue at the following link: Tribute to Dirección Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil (DINAC).

Postmark released for the RACC/15 Meeting.	Awarding of ICAO President’s certificate to Dr. Martinez, President of DINAC. From left to right: Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu (President of the ICAO Council), Luis Manuel Aguirre Martinez (DINAC President) and Oscar Quesada-Carboni (Deputy Director of the ICAO SAM Office).

The ICAO Council President Certificate.

The ICAO Council President Certificates were discussed on 16 November 2015 during the 206th Session of the Council (held from 2 to 20 November 2015). They recognize the States’ significant progress in resolving safety oversight deficiencies and improving the effective implementation (EI) of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), as identified through the objective and transparent results determined through ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme. The effective implementation of ICAO’s global SARPs is considered a fundamental prerequisite today for establishing air transport’s rapid global connectivity, and in turn the many socio-economic benefits it helps to realize. Council President Certificates are issued to States from every ICAO region on an annual basis and showcase that NO COUNTRY IS LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) by ICAO. The inaugural Certificates were presented to 14 States from all ICAO regions on 28 September 2016.

Model of the Council President Certificate (here awarded to Kenya). Its basic layout was taken from the commemorative plaque unveiled during the Extraordinary Session of the ICAO Council held in Chicago on 8 December 2014

(see 70^th anniversary celebrations).

The Ñanduti lace.

Ñandutí is a traditional Paraguayan embroidered lace. The name means spider web in Guaraní, the official, indigenous language of Paraguay. Lace making was introduced by the Spaniards to Paraguay in the mid-16th century. The women of the countryside incorporated geometric designs, stars, or typical Paraguayan flowers like the jasmine into the pattern of the lace.

The lace is worked on fabric which is stretched tightly in a frame. The pattern is drawn on the fabric and the threads, which go to-and-fro across the circular motif and are either taken through running stitches worked along the pattern lines or stitched directly through the fabric. When finished, the motifs are released by either cutting the running stitches or cutting away the backing fabric. While single motifs can be worked like this, it is more usual to work the whole item as one piece - the pattern for the complete mat or collar is drawn on the fabric and the wheels are linked together as the radial threads are laid down.

The Paraguayan flag.

The souvenir sheet shows the colours of the official flag of the country. The colours of the Paraguayan flag (three equal horizontal bands of red white and blue, with the emblem) were influenced by the French Tricolour flag, which had become a symbol of liberation. The official symbolism of the flag is very rich. To mention only colour symbolism, red stands for patriotism, courage, heroism, equality and justice; white for purity, firmness, union and peace; and blue for tranquility, love, knowledge, verity and liberty. Centred in the white band of the flag, the coat of arms (a yellow five-pointed star - the Star of May recalls the declaration of independence from Spain on 14 May 1811 - within a green wreath capped by the words REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY) is reproduced in the cachet.

Sala de los Pioneros de la Aviación Civil de Sudamérica

As part of ICAO’s South American (SAM) Office, a room (or museum) is dedicated to the main aviation pioneers in South America; it is named “Sala de los Pioneros de la Aviación Civil de Sudamérica”. It was inaugurated in 6 December 2018 on the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of the SAM Regional Office in Lima. A few pictures of this museum are exhibited hereafter. More pictures can be found at the following link: Peru – 70th Anniversary of SAM Office.

Frame of stamps issued by Paraguay in honour of Sylvio Pettirossi