COVER N. 414 - RUSSIA

Postmark: Kaluga 03.02.2024

Posted on the 3rd February; Received on the 28th February 2024

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More mail from Julia, as usual featuring a nicely illustrated envelope and interesting stamps, mostly aviation related.Спасибо большое, Julia!

This time, the envelope and the usual postcard, which I will enclose in a subsequent post, is illustrated with an image of an Ilyushin 96, a four engine wide-body, which first flew in 1988, developed for long haul flights as a substitute and improvement over the previous Il 86, capable of accommodating 262 passengers in standard configuration.

According to Wikipedia, in civil usage, only 23 aircraft have been in operation, and other than Aeroflot and some lesser known Russian airlines, only Cubana de Aviación have used the type, whose main claim to fame is its usage as the presidential aircraft of  the Russian Federation.

- Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin (1894-1977) was an aircraft designer who has to his credit the conception of one of the most produced aircraft ever, the ground attack  Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, famous for the havoc it created in German tank units, during the second world war.

After the war, Sergey Ilyushin would turn his drafting pen to the creation of civil aviation aircraft in the Design Bureau that bore his name and that in various corporate forms has subsisted until today.

On 23OCT2019, marking the 125th anniversary of the birth of Sergey Ilyushin, Ruspost issued a celebratory  minisheet comprising five 50 Ruble stamps, illustrated with Ilyushin aircraft and a vignette with Sergey Ilyushin's effigy with a line drawing of the Sturmovik in the background.

The vignette and the stamp featuring the Il-28, a twin engined medium bomber, extensively used by the countries of the Warsaw pact, and which was taken out of service in the 80s of lat century, due to obsolescence. 

- Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (1919-2013) was the father of what I believe must be  the most produced assault rifle ever in the world, the ubiquitous AK-47 Kalashnikov, which although not having seen service in the second world war, since it only became operational in 1947, has been widely used in all parts of the world ever since, in regular and mercenary armies.

On 24OCT2014, Ruspost issued the 15 Ruble stamp which can be seen on the cover, honouring the memory of  Mikhail Kalashnikov.

- According to Wikipedia. Goodnight Little Ones (Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi!) is a children show that has been airing in Russian television since 1966. 

On 08DEC2023, Ruspost issued a four 20Ruble stamp set featuring heroes of the current iteration of the show, one of which can be seen on the cover. Of note is the fact that all the characters are depicted playing with their stamps or postcard collections.

The Postmark, as usual, hails from the city of Kaluga.