Aerophilately is the branch of

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

that specializes in the study of

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

. Philatelists have observed the development of

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

transport by air from its beginning, and all aspects of airmail service have been extensively studied and documented by specialists.

Scope

The scope of aerophilately includes: *airmail

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s, both official and unofficial (see list of US airmail postage

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

) *other types of labels (such as airmail etiquettes) *postal documents transmitted by air *

postal marking A postal marking is any kind of annotation applied to a letter by a postal service. The most common types are postmarks and cancellations; almost every letter will have those. Less common types include forwarding addresses, routing annotati ...

s related to air transport *rates and routes, particularly first flights and other "special" flights *mail recovered from aircraft accidents and other incidents ( crash covers) While most of the study of airmail assumes transport by

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...

, the fields of balloon mail, dirigible mail, zeppelin mail,

missile mail Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile. The rocket lands by deploying an internal parachute upon arrival. It has been attempted by various organizations in many countries, with varying levels of success. It has never become ...

, and rocket mail are active subspecialties. Astrophilately, the study of mail in space, is a related area.

Organizations

International Federation of Aerophilatelic Societies (FISA) is the umbrella organization for aerophilately though aerophilatelists have formed a number of organizations around the world; many of them put out a variety of specialized publications. Federation Internationale de Philatelie (FIP) also maintains a commission.FIP official commissions webpage
Retrieved 27 June 2017.

References

External links

FIP Commission for AerophilatelyAmerican Air Mail SocietyBritish Air Mail SocietyFédération Internationale des Sociétés AérophilatéliquesIrish Airmail SocietyMetropolitan Air Post Society
{{airmail-nav Airmail Philatelic terminology

Scope

Organizations

See also

References

Further reading

External links