Air Force History Quiz

1. In the legendary Berlin Airlift from 1948-49, approximately how many sorties were flown?
A. 77,000
B. 125,000
C. 195,000
D. 275,000

​2. Who is the U.S. Air Force's all-time leading ace?
​A. Don M. Beerbower
B. Edward V. Rickenbacker
C. Richard I. Bong
D. Robert W. Aschenbrener

3. Who's the Air Force's top ace in the jet age?
A. Manuel J. Fernandez
B. Joseph C. McConnell
C. Richard S. Ritchie
D. Randell H. Cunningham

4. How many U.S. Presidents have served in the U.S. Air Force?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
 
5. One of the Air Force's most revolutionary aircraft, the F-117 is often thought to use aerodynamics originally discovered studying:
A. Children's paper airplane creations
B. Migrating Monarch butterflies
C. Floating dandelion seeds
D. The common bumblebee

6. When did Jeannie Leavitt become the Air Force's first female fighter pilot?
A. 1991
B. 1993
C. 1995
D. 1997

7. Who is often considered the 'father' of the Air Force?
A. William J. Donovan
B. William "Billy" Mitchell
C. Jimmy Doolittle
D. Curtis LeMay

8. What type of plane was the first official Air Force One?
A. Boeing 747 (VC-25)
B. Boeing 707 (VC-137)
C. C-54 Skymaster
D. Lockheed Constellation
 
9. Actor Jimmy Stewart ("It's a Wonderful Life") retired with what Air Force rank?
A. Lieutenant Colonel
B. Colonel
C. Brigadier General
D. Major General

​10. The Air Force is the same age (and shares a birthday with) what other governmental organization?
​A. DEA
B. CIA
C. ATF
D. NSA

Watermarks - An intriguing article from Doug McGill at APS.  It talks about the purpose and origin of watermarks on stamps.  Click  here  to read this article. 

HALIFAX, PA — Today, the Postal Service issued four new Presorted Standard stamps featuring patriotic rural scenes. These Flags on Barns stamps are intended for business mail and are sold in self-adhesive coils of 3,000 and 10,000. The flag is a symbol of endurance and hope, and barns reflect farming culture that allowed the country to grow and thrive. Together, these two iconic images depict the best of rural America.  Click  here  to visit this web site.

The Chinese 1902 Coiling Red Dragon Postage Stamp

Celebratory Chinese Stamps Depicting The Four Seasons Of The Year.

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Happy Spring

What happens during the vernal equinox?
This year, the first day of spring, the Vernal Equinox, occurs on March 20th at 11:33 am in the Northern Hemisphere. Vernal Equinox occurs when the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis reaches a particular position. We're all aware of the imaginary axle the Earth spins around once every 24 hours.

The Christian celebration of Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the Vernal Equinox. ... So there you go – in 2022 the first full moon after the 21 March is Saturday 16 April, hence Easter is on Sunday 17 April.   “Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum,”

Passover - Friday, April 15th to Saturday April 23rd.  Passover, also called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring.

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The May 1st meeting of GCSC will take place at the St. Martin Library.  The Board Meeting will be at 1:30 pm with a 2:00 pm member meeting.  We will evaluate the success of our GULFPEX Spring Show.  There's one thing you need to remember about walking: don't keep sticking out the same foot.

To all our collectors
Happy Easter, and Chag Pesach kasher vesame'ach!

Albanian                          Gezuar Pashket
​Basque                Aste Santu zoriontsua 
​Belarusian                         ​З вялік днём
​Bosnian                               Sretan uskrs   ​
​Bulgarian                  ​Честит Великден
​​Catalan                                ​Feliç Pasqua
Corsican                             Felice Pasqua
​Croatian                             Sretan Uskrs
​Czech                             Veselé Velikonoce
​Danish                               God påske
​Dutch                                 Gelukkig Pasen
Estonian                           Häid lihavõtteid
Finnish                            Hyvää pääsiäistä
French                              Joyeuses Pâques
Frisian                               Fleurich Peaske
Galician                            Feliz Pascua
German                            Frohe Ostern
Greek                               Καλό Πάσχα
Hungarian                 Kellemes Húsvéti                                           Ünnepeket
Icelandic                         Gleðilega páska
Irish                       Beannachtaí na Cásca
Italian                              Buona Pasqua
Latvian                     Priecīgas Lieldienas
Lithuanian                      Linksmų Velykų
Luxembourgish            Frou Ouschteren
Macedonian                Среќен Велигден
Maltese                          L-Għid it-Tajjeb
Norwegian                    God påske
Polish                              Wesołych Świąt                                               Wielkanocnych
Portuguese                   Feliz Páscoa
Romanian                     Paste Fericit
Russian                      Счастливой Пасхи
Scots Gaelic                 Càisge Shona
Serbian                         Срећан Ускрс
Slovak                           Šťastnú Veľkú noc
SlovenianVesele velikonočne praznike
Spanish                         Felices Pascuas
Swedish                        Glad påsk
Tatar                    Пасха мөбарәк булсын
Ukrainian         Щасливого Великодня
Welsh                             Pasg Hapus
Yiddish                           מזל יסטער

The Story Of Passover

Passover is observed for seven days in Israel and eight days in the Diaspora. The main event of the Passover holiday is the seder (literally, “order”), a festive meal in which the haggadah (the book of Exodus and related writings) is recited in a set order. During the entire duration of the holiday, it is forbidden to eat leavened food products (such as bread, pasta, etc.). The reason for this is that Jewish tradition states that in their haste to escape from Egypt the Jews did not have enough time to wait for bread to rise.  ​Instead, they ate matzah, unleavened bread.  ​ Part of the Passover seder includes hiding the afikoman (half of a matzah that is kept between two other matzahs during the seder and later hidden). Children search for the afikoman and usually receive a prize for finding it.

For many Jews, the process of preparing for Passover involves cleaning every corner of the home and removing all leavened products, known as chametz. Some Jews practice biur chametz (burning chametz). 

Others keep all the chametz in a separate area of the house where it won’t be seen, and symbolically sell the chametz. This can be done through a local synagogue, and chametz is usually sold for a nominal amount of money (often a few coins). Many Jews have special Passover dishes that are only used once a year during the holiday.