Last December I acquired a full sheet of 20 Star Wars Androids commemorative 'Forever' postage stamps (stickers) from the USPS.
One of my numerous other hobbies happens to be stamp collecting.
I'm one of those collectors who prefers used stamps over new, unused mint copies, especially if they are still attached to a postmarked envelope. I've always been of the opinion that stamps that have actually served their purpose and carried letters through the mail-stream are more interesting than those that have not, even though the latter might be a bit more valuable.
Last week, just prior to the March 3rd launch at Dove Valley, I hit on a splendid idea on what to do with some of these Star Wars themed stamps.
I sat down at the computer and created some postcards. After printing them out, each card was then franked with an Android stamp and addressed to one of the other local rocketeers who was to attend the launch.
On rocket-flying day, the post cards were packed along in the range box and taken to the Dove Valley field.
When it came time to launch the maiden flight of the Quest Icarus model, the stack of cards was rolled up and inserted into the bird's payload tube to go along for the ride.
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| Mail Delivery Away !!! |
Later, on my way home from the launch session, I found a nearby postal letter drop box, extracted the postcards from the payload tube, straightened them out, and dropped them in.
Here is a scan of one of the cards which I had addressed to myself and received today in my mailbox. This will be added to my 'postal history' cover collection:
I had hoped that the cards would bear the same postmarked date as that of the launch itself, but they were apparently not picked up from that particular mail drop until the following day.
Nevertheless, I'm sure these cards will make fine little mementos of that particular launch session.
This is by no means a new idea. I've heard about some rocketeers doing similar activities in the past.
I even have this vintage 1970s AVI Astroport sticker still attached to my old range box:
Cheers!