Four aviation history events:
- 80 francs: Concorde supersonic airliner. Entering scheduled airline service in January 1976 with Air France and British Airways, the iconic delta-winged aircraft regularized transatlantic crossings at twice the speed of sound, shortening London/ Paris to New York flight times to just under 3.5 hours.
- 150 francs: Graf Zeppelin airship. The LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin was the most successful rigid airship ever constructed. Entering service in 1928, it pioneered the world’s first regular transatlantic passenger and mail service. During the golden age of lighter-than-air flight, the legendary vessel safely logged over one million operational miles.
- 300 francs: Lindbergh’s transatlantic solo flight. Released for the 50th anniversary of an aviation milestone, this stamp honors Charles Lindbergh, who, on May 20–21, 1927, completed the first non-stop solo transatlantic flight, piloting the Spirit of St. Louis monoplane from New York to Paris. His grueling 33.5-hour journey galvanized global interest in commercial aviation and won him international fame.
- 500 francs: The tragic disappearance of Nungesser and Coli. French aviators Charles Nungesser and François Coli tragically vanished on May 8, 1927, while attempting the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York. Piloting a heavily modified Levasseur PL.8 biplane, L’Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird), the highly decorated WWI veterans took off from Le Bourget airport to capture the Orteig Prize. Last sighted over Ireland, their aircraft disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean or the remote wilderness of Newfoundland. The pioneering, fatal bravery of Nungesser and Coli remains an enduring mystery and a foundational chapter in French aeronautical history.
Benin