Rainbow Stamp Club: AMSIPEX-25

Report - AMSIPEX-25

The 1st International Virtual Aerophilatelic & Astrophilatelic Exhibition

Amsipex-25 is the 1st International Virtual Aerophilatelic & Astrophilatelic Exhibition, organized by the Air Mail Society India Foundation (AMSI) to celebrate World Air Mail Day on February 18. The event took place from February 15-23, 2025, and was held virtually. (www.AMSIPEX.com).

AMSIPEX-25 received Patronage from the International Federation of Aero-and Astrophilatelic Societies (F.I.S.A.) and the Philatelic Congress of India (PCI). It was also Jointly Sponsored by the American Air Mail Society and the Royal Belgian Astrophilatelic Society/COSMOS. Commercial sponsors were David Feldman (Gold), Robert A.Siegel (Gold) and Argyll Etkin (Silver) along with Philauctions (webinar sponsor) and Phila Arts (souvenir book sponsor).

The Exhibition:

Entries were open to exhibitors from across the world featuring Aerophilately: Development and Operation of Airmail Services, Airmail stamps, and their use in Airmail Service, and Astrophilately: Exhibits related to space exploration and astronomy.

The exhibition was in various categories, including Competitive Class: 5 & 8 frame exhibits and 1-frame exhibits; Literature Class; Youth: Youth Class: between 10-21 years in three age groups; Novice Class: Exhibits by new collectors in 1-5 frame exhibits.

Besides the competitive class, there was a Court of Honour with 3 outstanding exhibits (21 Frames)

The Invitee Class saw another 17 Exhibits & 70 Frames (8 from Jury & 9 other non-competitive). All exhibits can be viewed at www.AMSIPEX.COM

Judging the exhibits: The exhibition followed FIP Guidelines for Judging Aerophilatelic Exhibits and for Judging Astrophilatelic Exhibits. The Jury comprised of 8 world renowned international experts in Aerophilately and Astrophilately and awards were given based on the exhibits' scores.

AMSIPEX-25 also introduced some innovations that were well appreciated by all:

• Novice Class exhibits for persons who were otherwise ineligible participate in such events

• Medals for eligible 1 Frame exhibitors

World Air Mail Day Celebrations, 18th February 2025:

The Inaugural Function lasted 30 minutes, and started with a 2600 year old Sanskrit invocation known as Shanti Mantra (Sahana Vavatu) reminding us all to work as one for the pursuit of knowledge in a spirit of peace and brotherhood.

A Special Cover was then released to commemorate the 114^th Anniversary of the first Airmail flight from Allahabad to Naini on 18th February 1911. Designed and Executed by Naveein O.C. and Akhil Reddy, the cover carried the special cancellation issued earlier that day from Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad) thanks to efforts of Rahul Ganguli and from Bengaluru thanks to help from the Karnataka Philatelic Society and its committee members.

The AMSIPEX-25 Souvenir Book was then released. Compiled and edited by Pragya Jain, this book is divided into three sections – All about AMSIPEX-25, expert articles on Indian Air Mails, and a technical section with rules and guidelines for aero- and Astrophilatelic exhibiting. This is available for free download from the AMSIPEX-25 website (https://www.amsipex.com/test1-361884.html ).

The Jury Chair, Glen Stafford then read out the Jury Report and the exhibition results were announced with names of winners of all Special Prizes. The jury was divided into 3 teams, with Team 1 led by Charles Bromser evaluated all the Astrophilately exhibits and the Novice exhibits, Team 2 led by Glen Stafford for the aerophilately exhibits and team 3 by Javaid Muhammad evaluated the literature exhibits. The high standard of the exhibits was also recognised by the Jury.

The AMSI Chairman, Piyush Khaitan then spoke about the importance of World Air Mail Day, and future plans of AMSI, the need for all air mail enthusiasts to work together to create renewed enthusiasm for this wonderful hobby.

This was followed by the announcement of the winner of the Air Mail Society India Foundation’s first Lifetime Achievement Award and inductee in their Hall of Fame, Ronald M. Lee. His 5 volume The Story of Australia’s Overseas Airmails was recognised and the citation recognizing Ron was read out by the chairman, followed by a video recording of Ron’s acceptance speech.

Pratisad Neurgaonkar proposed the Vote of Thanks where he thanked the patrons, jt. sponsors, commercial sponsors, jury, exhibitors the team work by the 10-member organizing committee.

World Air Mail Day Webinar:

The highlight of the day was the webinar featuring 6 Speakers & 5 hours of Non-Stop Fun on Aero & Astro Philately.

• Terry Hare Walker - (Imperial Route to India 1972-29).

• Markand Dave FRPSL - (Indian Rocket Mails during WWII Period).

• Pradip Jain RDP FRPSL - (By the First Aerial Post of the world 18th Feb 1911).

• Davis S Ball - (Pushing the Envelope).

• Cheryl Ganz RDP FRPSL – (The Basel Zeppelin Post Exchange Office).

• Ken Sanford – (Air Crashes of Imperial Airways).

Despite the long session, audience remained glued to their screens, and we had many participants. Each session was followed by a Q&A. Recordings of all these talks are being made available on the AMSI YouTube channel @HawaSaeByAir. Some have already been uploaded, and the rest will be posted during March 2025.

Jury Feedback Session:

We had a Jury feedback session on Saturday 22nd February 2025 for Astrophilately & Aerophilately exhibitors, where the Jury for Team 1 & Team 2 provided feedback and suggestions to exhibitors on how to improve their exhibits. Questions were taken from participants and detailed responses were provided.