United States, Scott #C118, used air mail (o), 1988, Samuel P. Langley (1834-1906), aviation pioneer, in 1896, he attempted to make a working piloted heavier-than-air aircraft; his models flew, but his two attempts at piloted flight were not successful; he understood that aircraft need powerful thrust to overcome drag from forward speed, and he learned that at higher speed, curved wing plates had higher lift and lower drag; his first success came on May 6, 1896 when his 'Aerodrome' Number 5, an unpiloted model weighing 25 pounds and powered by a steam engine, made two flights of 2,300 ft and 3,300 ft after a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River; the distance was ten times longer than any previous experiment with a heavier-than-air flying machine, demonstrating that stability and sufficient could be achieved in such a design; the stamp shows Langley and his 'Aerodrome'; he was almost there in achieving manned flight; offset lithography and engraved printing, perforated: 11, no watermark, 45 cents, multicolored, Scott 2019 Catalog Value: 25¢, nicely centered, triple strike cancels, all light, circular, red-inked, double-rimmed, half clockwise turned, socked-on-the-nose cancellations, the main, a quarter circular cancel at the lower right corner, the second, a half circular cancel along the top, right of center, and the third a touch cancel in the upper left corner; amazingly, all cancels leave the main image largely clear, sound back, good perforations; centering and image-free cancellation warrants a selling price premium. This is not a 'bait-and-switch;' the stamp you see will be the one you receive.
Please review my terms of sale. If you are not ordering from the United States, there is a $US1.50 additional postage expense that needs to be added to the price of the stamp. If you are ordering from the United States, there is only a $US0.66 added postage expense. Also, if you make additional purchases from my offerings, they can all go in one mailing at no extra shipping expense for the added purchases. I will send the purchase by US first class mail, since the relatively low value of the stamp does not warrant signature or tracking mail. Hence the buyer assumes risk of loss or non-delivery. I will keep a scan of my mailing to verify that the correct mailing address was used. If not satisfied, return the stamp to me at your own expense, and I will refund the cost, but not my postage to you. If the stamp is not as described, I will refund the cost and reimburse you for postage both ways.
By way of reference, I am an American Philatelic Society member (195176) and an American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA) member. Thank you for looking, and I hope this is the perfect stamp to fill that gap in your collection.
