December 2004

On this page I will periodically place before you my views on certain topics, and give you the opportunity to react with your own opinions, which will be added to the page at a future time.

For this first column I would just like to talk about this website. First, I would like to thank Egil Thomassen for allowing me to use his prior Aerophilately Commission site as a starting point for this new development. The home page is basically his, with some editing by our new webmaster. But, much has already been added. A wonderful young man, Andrew McFarlane, has developed and maintains this site for me as his contribution to international aerophilately. He is a true professional, as you will see as you use this site. Andrew has his own computer business, ICSoftware, Inc. and website design and maintenance is just a very small part of it. I’m certain that he would appreciate a few paying customers in addition to what he does gratis. If you need computer help and it is something that he can do, don’t hesitate to contact him at the e-mail address found on this site. Andrew lives in northeast Pennsylvania and can travel short distances from his home/office also.

How do you like what you see on the website? The information provided will be updated as I receive more material from you. If there is something that you believe needs to be added please do not hesitate to contact me. One area yet to be developed is a “Question & Answer” feature. As soon as I receive the first appropriate question I’ll get this feature going. What you need to do is E-mail me a good quality scan of the airmail item under consideration, and your question(s) about it. I will then place it on the site and wait for someone to come up with the answer, which will then be added. As with other areas of the site, material will be removed or archived on a regular basis.

I need your help with the features presently on the site. I’m certain that there are books to be added that have been published in 2004 (not before, please). Here I want to thank Ken Sanford for his help with reviews of current airmail books. He has kindly allowed me to take information from his reviews and use it here. He maintains a wonderful stock of aerophilatelic literature for sale. Should you be looking for an airmail publication I can strongly recommend him. His E-mail address is kaerophil@ch.inter.net

I presently have an item for the January “Cover of the Month” feature but could use help after that. Check the feature to see what is required.

I don’t mean to slight any airmail societies that publish journals on a regular basis. However, I can’t list them if I don’t know about them. I will list those journals that are more than just newsletters. They should include serious research articles of value to aerophilatelists worldwide.

The bottom line is that this is your site and without information flowing in from you it cannot exist. Let’s all help make this the best Commission site of all.

Next time: One-frame Exhibiting.