Aviation Exhibition post card
Fort Recovery, Ohio, hosted a Harvest Festival Aviation Exhibition on August 6-9, 1912. George Schmitt and Earle Sandt flew mail at the exhibition. On August 6, intending to fly mail from a local farm to the post office, Schmitt damaged his plane and returned to the farm with the mail. Since Schmitt's plane could not be repaired at the time, meet officials sent for Earle Sandt, who did not arrive until late August 7, so no mail prepared on that day was flown. On August 8 and 9, Sandt flew the mail to the post office. Flights having been arranged for the first three days only, mail from August 9 is extremely rare. The Post Office Department assigned the flights Route No. 631,004.
A large, circular cachet was used on most pieces to cancel the mail, making a city postmark unnecessary. When the cachet was applied so as not to deface the stamp, a city cancel was then applied. Mail flown on August 9 was postmarked on the morning of August 10. A total of 1,500 pieces of mail were flown.
Sandt carried this post card on his August 8 flight. It bears the large, double-ring postmark, which cancels the stamp. It reads, "AVIATION STATION / FORT RECOVERY, OHIO / AUG 8, 1912." Collector H. A. Truby, New Kensington, Pennsylvania, is the addressee. The card bears a handwritten note - "A. P. S." 4220" in the lower left hand corner. This was Truby's American Philatelic Society membership number.
