Flight post office, officially air mail, is the transport of mails on the airway. This does not have to take place compellingly by means of aircraft. The flight post office took place in former times usually only against a paying of increased postage, which was sometimes drawn in by freeing with special air mail stamps. The scientific argument with flight post office history as well as systematic collecting of air mail stamps and pieces of voucher are called Aerophilatelie.

Historical development

The beginnings of the flight post office

The beginnings of the flight post office go back far before the invention of the first flight machines. Already in the antiquity messages were brought by means of flight post office. By different breed methods it had become possible humans to use letter pigeons as deliverers of messages.

Letter pigeons were used for the first time in the old person Egypt for message delivery. The earliest well-known recordings over the use of letter pigeons originate from the year 5600 v.Chr. Ever more military, political and also economic attention was attached to this particularly fast kind of the delivery of messages. In the year 1279 v. Chr. those was spread customer by the coronation/culmination of the Egyptian Pharaos Ramses II. by letter pigeons. The letter pigeons were used immediately also by numerous other advanced cultures. The Roman field gentleman Julius availed himself of the special abilities of the letter pigeon. It let messages of unrests in the conquered Gallien bring by own messenger pigeons, in order to know as fast as possible its troops befehligen.

Also in the Middle Ages the letter pigeon was very in demand as message deliverers. Them became of Kreuzrittern in 12. and 13. Century to Europe brought. Before it was used particularly in the front Orient. The Kalif of Bagdad, only Eddin, furnished its own letter pigeon post office. It was again adjusted however after the destruction of Bagdad in the year 1258 by the Mongols. Also Egyptian Sultane furnished its own national pigeon post office in the Middle Ages.

The first flight machines

At present the Renaissance emerged in Europe the first serious drafts of flight machines. The most well-known come from the Italian universal genius of Leonardo da Vinci. The first flightworthy constructions developed however only over 250 years later. The brothers Montgolfier discovered by a coincidence that hot air is strong enough, in order to lift a paper bag into air. This discovery was the basis of the development of the first hot-air balloon, the On 21 November 1783 the first flight of humans with a hot-air balloon took place.

The invention of the hot-air balloon had large effects on the history of the air mail. The pilots smaller messages or reports already carried one year forward after the first manned balloon flight on their travels. However it came only in the year 1793 the actual at the beginning of balloon post office history. From the two fortresses besieged Valenciennes and in France with small balloons reports for the allied ones of the including were left open. This messages were intercepted however by the enemies. In the following decades it came to further uses from balloons to the transmission of news in the war.

The most famous example under Philatelisten of all world is those Paris balloon post office. The connection between Paris and the vacant France during the French-German war in the years 1870 and 1871 could be maintained only by a skillful interaction between balloon post office and letter pigeons. One gave altogether 363 letter pigeons to the balloons from Paris beside 2.500.000 letters and postcards, so that this later with answers or other messages could return. Into Metz it came likewise during the French-German war to similar attempts to send with balloons allied messages; this attained however never a as large celebrity as those Paris balloon post office (Metzer balloon post office compares).

The first official balloon post office flight took place on 17 July 1859 in the USA. This led 1,290 km from pc. Louis into the removed Henderson in New York. Pilot John Wise had 123 letters on board. Only one of these post office-historical vouchers remained preserved. In Germany the first official balloon post office flight took place in the context of the Leipziger industrial show in June 1897. Pilot Louis Godard handed the carried postcards after the landing to the realm post office over for reforwarding. The maps received private confirmation stamps.

Up to the end 19. Century always took place such air mail transports in the framework of special meetings or for military reasons. The German general post office master Heinrich of Stephan referred however in a much-considered lecture to the possible meaning of the air mail for the everyday mailing in the year 1874. This lecture appeared even as book under the title "world post office and airship travel".

Articles in category "Flight post office"

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