About This Stamp
The Seaplane 1914 stamp features a Benoist Type XIV airboat, which had been designed and built by Thomas Benoist in St. Louis, Missouri. The airboat initiated the world's first regularly scheduled airline service on January 1, 1914, with its flight between Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida. It carried a pilot, one passenger, and a load of express cargo on the 18-mile flight, which took about 23 minutes. The stamp was issued on April 20, 1990, at the ARIPEX stamp show in Phoenix, Arizona.
The stamp was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing first on the B press using plate 1 with dull gum and all over tagging and had a plate number every 52 stamps. In 1993 plate 3 was printed on shiny gum paper with mottled tagging using the C/D press with a plate number every 48 stamps.
Chuck Hodgson of Newhall, California, designed the stamp. Gary M. Chaconas of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing engraved the vignette, and the lettering was engraved by John Masure, also of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.