COVER N. 524 - FRANCE
Postmark: Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour - 21.10.2024
Posted on the 21st October; Received on the 24th October 2024
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Covers, stamps and postcards from my mailbox
COVER N. 524 - FRANCE
Postmark: Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour - 21.10.2024
Posted on the 21st October; Received on the 24th October 2024
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POSTCARD N.167 - RUSSIA
Postcard sent on the 21st September, received on the 22nd October 2024
Postcard image: Immanuel Kant
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A surprise from Russia in the guise of a Maxim Card dedicated to one of the lights of the Enlightenment, sent by The Flying Dutchman. Hartelijk dank, Eric, que é o mesmo que dizer: Muito Obrigado!
Postage was completed with a 30 Ruble stamp issued on 17MAR2021, part of a set of identical face value stamps dedicated to Fedoskino miniature lacquer paintings, a type of folk art that emerged in the 18th century in the city of Fedoskino, consisting of miniatures painted with oil paints on papier mâché.
The images on the stamps are those of lacquer boxes from the collection of the Moscow Regional Museum of Folk Art Crafts and besides Tea Party (1946) by V.I. Lavrov, which illustrates the stamp on the card, there are stamps featuring images of the following works: "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1971) by M.S. Chizhov; The Firebird (1959) by S.V. Monashov; and Ivan da Marya (1989) by Yu.V. Dotsenko.
The Very Nice maxim Card which is cancelled with a First Day postmark from Moscow, was mailed to me from the City of Saint Petersburg, as can be grasped from the Postmark cancelling the stamps actually used to post the card.
COVER N. 523 - SRI LANKA
Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 10.09.24
Posted on the 9th October; Received on the 14th October 2024
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COVER N. 522 - FINLAND
Postmark: Lempäälä 37560 Posti 08.10.2024
Posted on the 8th October; Received on the 15th October 2024
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COVER N. 521 - FRANCE
Postmark: Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour - 07.10.2024
Posted on the 7th October; Received on the 10th October 2024
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COVER N. 520 - FRANCE
Postmark: Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour - 07.10.2024
Posted on the 7th October; Received on the 10th October 2024
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Canadair…. On
first look it may sound strange, but the noun formed by juxtaposing a distant country’s
name and the place wherein everything undulates, everything exists, as Mario de
Sá-Carneiro, the famed Portuguese Modernist poet once put it, is a summer
household name for the south of Europe.
Forest
fires…. a consequence of climate change and mismanagement of forest but also of natural
causes or not so natural devious minds fuelled by the pleasure of seeing
everything gown down in flames…..
Every year
my country is plagued by this reality and the situation only tends to get worse
for indeed climate is changing fast and the summers are getting hotter and
drier with each year that passes. All it takes is a spark, and huge expansions
of forest are decimated, property and life put at risk. The current year was
one of the worst, with almost 150 thousand hectares of land affected by fires,
with the loss of 9 lives, direct of indirectly due to the fires, not to mention
property and the horrific impact on
fauna and flora.
Aerial
means like helicopters, airplanes and drones are irreplaceable in their role as
first line fire-fighters, and for large forest fires like the ones we
unfortunately have to deal with, heavy water bombers are really a much needed
tool.
Enter the
Canadair, in its several guises: 215; 415 and now 515
Conceived
in the 60s of last century right from the start as a water bomber by Canadian
concern Canadair (which would in time be incorporated into Bombardier) the
original type, the twin-engined 215, first flew in 1967 and was produced
between 1969 and 1990. It has two 1,400 litres water tanks which can be
discharged simultaneously or individually or in sequence, and be filled rapidly
by means of rotatable scoops that direct the water into the tanks while the
plane moves across a large body of water like a lake or a reservoir.
Introduced
in 1993 and produced until 2015, the
CL415, has an improved water tank capacity, of up to 6,140 litres and more
powerful engines, but it too has been superseded by the new DHC 515 (DeHaviland
Canada now holding the manufacturing and development rights) of which the first
units are now being built, with again an improved water tank capacity of up to
7,000 litres.
The
Canadair, as the mighty workhorse will be forever known irrespective of
manufacturer or type, has more than proved its worth with the Civil Protection
bodies of several countries and I’m am very pleased to know that Portugal will
finally have its own Canadair fleet (2 aircraft) by 2029, after years and years
of contracting services and relying on the help of the European Mechanism for
Civil Protection.
The
contract for the acquisition of the two DHC-515 to be delivered in 2029 and
2030 was signed on the last 18th June, both aircraft being paid for
by Portuguese and EU funds, under the RescEU Programme. The two aircraft will
be operated and maintained under the responsibility of the Portuguese Air
Force, and they will be stationed at the Ovar Air Base, in the north of the country.
France has
been an operator of the Canadair since 1967, first with a fleet of CL215 and
nowadays with 12 CL415 which are based at the Sécurité Civile base of de
Nîmes-Garons.
Their
importance within the European Civil Protection Mechanism is quite relevant and
I, for one, am thankful to France and the EU to have had more than once French
Canadairs (or Pélicans, as they are also known in France) helping to
dramatically quench forest fires here in my country. Merci, la France, Merci
l’Union Européenne.
And Merci Eric, for this beautiful cover featuring the 1,29€ stamp issued by La Poste on 05JUL2024, dedicated to the Canadair of la Securité Civile, illustrated with a painting of a CL415 doing what it does best.
COVER N. 519 - BRASIL
Postmark: ACC Beira Mar Shopping Florianópolis - SC 19.09.2024
Posted on the 19th September; Received on the 3rd October 2024
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