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Balsan Encheres

81 - FRANCE / MADAGASCAR – PIONEERS IN AERONAUTICS - RARE ENVELOP…
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Estimate €90
Sale commission
Description
FRANCE / MADAGASCAR – PIONEERS IN AERONAUTICS - RARE ENVELOPE from Mr ASSOLANT’s STUDY TRIP from 29 October 1936 to 1 November 1936, with a view to establishing a regular service. ( * ) Envelope “BY AIR”, postage 50c by air over Madagascar, Tananarive postmark 28 October 1936 + COMMEMORATIVE STAMP for the TRIP, 16 x 72 mm, red stamp framed “Letter carried / Exceptionally by aeroplane”. BEARS ON THE BACK THE STOPOVER STAMPS FOR THE OUTBOUND AND RETURN JOURNEYS – Muller 91 a. ( * ) Jean ASSOLANT, aviation pioneer, the first French pilot to cross the Atlantic aboard the “Canari”. Born in 1905, died on 7 May 1942, shot down by a British fighter during the attack on Diego Suarez. A pilot of raids, Atlantic crossings, Indochina missions, the longest scheduled flight, etc., he completed the first flight between France and Madagascar. He did not return to France but remained in Tananarive, where he took up the post of chief pilot for the island. There, he inaugurated the Tananarive postal route to the British Cape Line, thereby establishing a regular link between France and Madagascar. He organised Madagascar’s domestic air network with a view to establishing a regular postal service there. This was a colossal undertaking in a country covering 624,700 m² with mountains reaching 3,000 metres and challenging weather conditions. These domestic flights proved a great success amongst the 15,000 settlers and military personnel, for whom Assolant’s aeroplane ‘was France’.
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About the sale STAMP SALE: lots 1 to 299 – French and foreign stamps, sold individually and in lots. Beautiful, genuine collections. Philatelic reference material
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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