Page 67 - Demo

This Cover celebrates two occasions that occurred on two consecutive days. One was a First Flight, by Air Mail, utilizing an X-13 Vertijet aircraft. The X-13 was an experimental airplane, built by Ryan Aircraft Corp., that was designed to take off vertically, hover, transition to horizontal flight, then transition back to land vertically. This certainly wasn%u2019t a regularly scheduled flight. Instead, it was a demonstration flight of an experimental airplane that happened to carry some Covers, which ended up back in Washington, DC where they started. While it is a valid First Day Cover, the idea of it being a First Flight is somewhat of a stunt.The X-13 made its first vertical takeoff on May 28, 1956, and was in Washington on July 28%u201329, 1957 for a demonstration. The next day, on July 30, it took off, with 1,500 Covers, from a roadway near the Pentagon Building, flew to Ft. Meyer, VA, on to Alexandria, VA, then it returned to the Pentagon. The 1,500 Covers aboard the plane were cancelled the next day on the First Day of Issue of the 6-cent Air Force 50th Anniversary stamp. Most of the 1,500 Covers were distributed to delegates to the Air Force Association Convention. The last flight of the X-13 was two months later, on September 30, 1957.X-13 Vertijet