The Fundación Infante de Orleans (FIO), named after one of the first Spanish aviation pioneers, is a museum of historic flying aircraft. The Foundation organises flying exhibitions every first Sunday of the month at its centre of operations, the Madrid – Cuatro Vientos airport. The Foundation has more than 40 historic aircraft, many of which are in perfect flying condition and which participate at different exhibitions throughout the year.
This year the Correos philatelic service and the Infante de Orleans Foundation have started an interesting collaborative project. Correos has released an ATM design dedicated to the Polikarpov I-16 aircraft, the first of what is likely to be a long series of illustrated issues featuring the aircraft of this historic museum.
The image on the right shows a sheet prepared by the Foundation, with images of its historic aircraft collection.
For the official release of this issue, the philatelic service set up a tent at Cuatro Vientos air base, during the first flight exhibition of the year, on Sunday February 4th. These shows can attract over 2000 spectators. Throughout the morning, visitors are able to view the aircraft on the ground, take part in guided tours and children’s workshops, and wander around the various show stands. The event concludes with the great aerial exhibition.
And the show on Sunday February 4th was really special. Following a long period during which it had been grounded, the Foundation’s Polikarpov I-16 ‘Mosca’ / ‘Rata’ aircraft took part once again in the exhibition and, moreover, its reappearance coincided with the official release of the new issue of variable value stamps. The picture below shows the launch ceremony, with the Correos representatives, along with the FIO’s president and a group of pilots, next to the aircraft in question.
