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October 25, 2004
AVIATION STUDY UNIT INAUGURATED BY ATA
On the date that the $10,000,000 Ansari X-Prize was awarded to
the Burt Rutan team for being the first commercial enterprise to
launch a commercial aircraft into space twice within two weeks, the
newest Study Unit of the American Topical Association took flight.
The Aviation Study Unit is open to all collectors of Aviation on
stamps regardless of other memberships.
This Unit marks a departure from other existing Study Units as it
is an affiliation between the American Topical Association and
Thematics SA of South Africa. The new ATA Unit will distribute
copies of the "Aircraft on Stamps" Chapter of the Thematics SA
bi-monthly newsletter. Officers will be those already in place with
that organization.
Negotiations between the President of Thematics SA, Robert Harm;
the Director of ATA Study Units, Dalene Thomas; the Editor of
"Aircraft on Stamps", Barry Lewis; and the ATA Executive Director,
Ray E. Cartier, brought about this new affiliation. The bi-monthly
issues of the newsletter will be forwarded to the ATA office via
email. They will then be downloaded and printed out for members
desiring hard copies of the newsletter. For those members who want
to save a little money in dues, the newsletters will be forwarded to
them over the Internet in lieu of getting printed copies.
In a 2003 survey of the most collected topicals on stamps,
Aircraft came in at number 18. The study of aviation on stamps
includes a variety of subtopics in which members can specialize.
Examples of these subtopics would be aircraft of WWI, aircraft of
WWII, commercial aircraft, jet fighters, flights around the world,
X-planes, seaplanes, aircraft manufacturing companies, aviators and
aviatrixes, helicopters, aviation precursors and so on.
The beauty of collecting this and other subjects by topic is that
specialization based on an individual’s preferences can occur. This
allows those people who enjoy original research opportunities to
ferret out facts that put their own imprint on their collections.
One collector hones in on just the Aircraft involved in the sinking
of the Bismark. Another specializes in the earliest X-Planes such as
the secret Bell X-1 flight that first broke the sound barrier. A
third collects stamps and covers depicting just one single aircraft
manufacturing facility’s products. For those people with an interest
in any aspect of flight, the new Aviation Study Unit will offer
assistance in the collecting and research of this fascinating
subject. Collectors of like interests will be able to share
information and build social contacts, adding an element of fun to
their hobby.
The Ansari X-Prize Competition shows that with innovators such as
Burt Rutan, the study of aviation is still pushing forward. The
Aviation Study Unit will follow these and other future innovations
in manned flight.
To join the Aviation Study Unit, submit your name and all
contact information along with $27.00 for the hard copy format of
the newsletter, or send $22.00 for the same via Internet only.
Send requests to join to: ATA Aircraft Study Unit, PO Box
57, Arlington, TX 76004-0057. $2.00 of this fee is a one-time charge
payable to our South African affiliate for setting up the account.
Payment can be made via check or money order, payable to
the American Topical Association. Visa, MasterCard and PayPal (to
americantopical@msn.com)
is also acceptable.
If you are a member of the ATA or APS, include that
information. Charter membership is open through December 15, 2004.
For additional information on the American Topical Association
contact the ATA Central Office, PO Box 57, Arlington, Texas
76004-0057 (telephone 817-274-1181; fax 817-274-1184; email
americantopical@msn.com, or visit their website at
www.americantopicalassn.org.
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