Air Race

A stamp issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Monaco's 1st Aerial Rally which is a reproduction of the 1914 rally postcard design.  Those original postcards would be nice to own, an aeroplane picture over the map and signed by the pilots. The magnificent men in their flying machines.  The routes of the race were of equal length over land and sea, their starting points are the places on the stamp map. The winner was the aviation pioneer Roland Garros who covered the circuit in his Molrane-Saulnier flying boat. The stamp shows a flying boat over Monte Carlo harbour.

Roland Garros was the first person to fly the Mediterranean non stop, he also flew high and held many altitude records. He was in Germany giving exhibition flights when war was declared later in 1914. As a French citizen he was in danger of arrest, but fortunately neither he nor his plane was very well guarded, so he set off at night to return to France. A feat in itself, very few pilots at this time flew in the dark. Garros reported for military service. On 5 October 1918 he was shot down near Vouziers in the Ardennes region, just one day short of his 30th birthday. His name lives on as anyone who watches the French Open will know the red clay courts of the Stade Roland Garros. The airport on the island of Reunion, his birth place, also carries his name.

 Roland Garros and Molrane-Saulnier Type L fighter plane

Viridian Postcard is the hostess of Sunday Stamps. This weeks theme, trains planes and automobiles.