Since I found Hipstamp.com I have been really spending a LOT of time building my collections! In the past it was difficult to know where to get stamps I wanted or needed for my collection. Now, at Hipstamp I can search for specific stamps by Scott Catalog number, Topic, or country. This has really become fun! Going to the mail box each day as the stamps I purchase arrive is like having a little bit of Christmas everyday!
Anyway, I renamed my collection. I originally called it "From Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base" from the information I discovered at the Wright Brother's Museum about a piece of the original Wright flyer being taken to the moon by Neil Armstrong. But I realized that the space program continued way beyond the moon landing. So I call my space collection "From Kitty Hawk to the International Space Station".
In past years I was never much of a First Day Cover collector, but now I've been adding more and more FDCs to my collection. I really like the way it looks!
This page features the US issue in 2003 celebrating the centennial of the first controlled powered flight by the Wright brothers. Then I began looking for a FDC to go along with the Sheet of stamps. I found this one with a cache of the Wright brothers and their take off at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The stamp obviously matches the sheet and the post mark that can be seen in the picture is from Kill Devil Hills.
But if you look closely at the rest of the postmark you can see the Wright flyer in the middle, the Space Shuttle to the left, and the Apollo Space Capsule to the right. For me that tied the maiden flight to the moon landing and beyond! As soon as I saw that FDC I knew I wanted it for my collection!
