1968 “Fliegen (Flying)”
“Das Fliegen ein Wunschtraum vom Gedanken bis zur Gegenwart in Bild und Text”
(Flying a Dream from the Beginning to the Present Day in Pictures and Text)
Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH, 196-cards, Germany

• Series Title: Fliegen (Flying)
  Das Fliegen ein Wunschtraum vom Gedanken bis zur Gegenwart in Bild und Text
  (Flying a Dream from the Beginning to the Present Day in Pictures and Text)
• Issued by: Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH
• Country: Germany
• Number of Cards: 196
• Card Numbering: 1 to 196 (Backs only)
• Card Dimensions: 3⅛ × 2⅛ inches
• Circa: c.1968

A Little History About Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH

During the 1960s and 1970s, Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH issued as series of 16 card sets on different subjects. Fourteen of the 16 sets had accompanying albums. According to Köberich and an other catalog, an album was issued for this set. However at this point we do not know the exact name for the album.

“Fliegen” (Flying) Overview

The German 196-card airplane set Fliegen - Das Fliegen ein Wunschtraum vom Gedanken bis zur Gegenwart in Bild und Text which literally translates to Flying - A Dream from the Beginning to the Present Day in Pictures and Text” was issued c.1968 by Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany.

At this point, we only have 12 cards from this series, so the following observations, while correct for our 12 cards, may not apply to all 196 cards in the series. The card fronts feature an aircraft in flight with a nondescript white or blue background. The fronts of the cards are borderless, without any captions or card numbers.

The backs of the cards are printed with black ink on a light tan medium thickness card stock. The card backs are basically generic with the exception of the card number and the card title which is located on the bottom line of the card. The back of the card is basically an advertisement and directions on how to get more cards and the album.

While examining the cards, we noticed some disturbing discrepancies in 2 of our 12 cards. The front of card #147 shows a BAC One-Eleven in British United Airlines livery, while the back of the card lists the aircraft as a “BAC/Sud-Aviation Concorde (England/Frankreich)”. This would suggest that both the “BAC One-Eleven” and the “Concorde” cards are in error. Card #165 had a typo on the reverse side denoting the aircraft as the “Lockheed YF-124” rather than the “Lockheed YF-12A”. The basic question at this point is … Were these cards corrected and reissued, or was no corrective action taken? If the cards were indeed corrected and reissued, the total number of actual cards in the set may be close to 200. Any additional insight would be appreciated.

“Fliegen” Image-Guide

The following “Fliegen” 196-airplane card set by Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH, Germany, Image-Guide shows the fronts and backs of only 12 of the cards. We obviously could use some help completing this Image Guide. Behind each thumbnail image shown below is a 600-dpi card image that you may access.

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“Fliegen”, Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH, Card Wrapper and Album

At this point we do know that an album was issued for the set. However, your help would be appreciated to clarify the following questions:

• Was there a specific product that the cards were issued with?
• How were the cards distributed?
• How were the cards packaged?
• Were the cards sold and packaged as complete sets?
• Were there shipping envelopes associated with set?
• With the cards sold as individual cards with a wrapper? etc.

“Fliegen”, Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH Partial Checklist

Obviously, we need some help completing the 1968 Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH “Fliegen” 196-card check list. If you can supply any additional insight into the composition of this collection, we would certainly appreciate your inputs.

Help!

We need your help to complete the “Fliegen”, Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH, Image Guide and Checklist. If you can help us fill in any of the blanks, please let us know. Scans of the fronts and backs of the missing cards would be appreciated. Scans of 600-dpi are ideal for our needs. If you are able to help us, we will acknowledge your contribution in the “Contributors” section below.

Contributors

A very special thanks to Pieter van der Zwaart¹ of Borne, The Netherlands for supplying us with the basic information about this series.

John Shupek — John is retired Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineer that lives in Southern California. John's 36 year aerospace career/adventure started in the mid-1960s when he worked for Pratt & Whitney at their “FRDC” … Florida Research and Development Center, West Palm Beach, Florida. John was part of the P&W jet engine design team for the CIA/USAF's Lockheed A-12/SR-71A “Oxcart/Blackbird” engines (J58/JT11D-20). He also worked on the RL-10 rocket engine and the JTF-17A which was P&W's entry into the United States' SST competition between Boeing and Lockheed. Several years later, John moved back to California and worked at the AiResearch Mfg. Company at LAX and Torrance. He originally worked on the thermal design of the HRE (Hypersonic Ramjet Engine) which was a supersonic combustion Mach 7 ramjet engine that was to be tested on the North American X-15. John did about three more years of jet engine design work before he disappeared for 13 years into the classified DOE “GCEP” (Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant) Atomic Energy program for the enrichment of U₂₃₅. After the GCEP program was cancelled by the DOE in 1985, John was hired by Northrop Aircraft to do the thermal design for Northrop's entry into the ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter) competition, the Northrop YF-23A “Black Widow II” stealth supercruise fighter. He also worked on the Northrop Grumman B-2A “Spirit” stealth bomber. After several years on a classified stealth missile program, John worked the remainder of his Aerospace career as one of Northrop Grumman's Program Directors on the United States Navy's F/A-18E/F “Super Hornet” jet fighter program.

During John's career at Northrop Grumman he served for five years as Northrop's “Vintage Aircraft Club” Commissioner and the Curator and Webmaster for the Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne, California. Several years later, John was the volunteer webmaster (for about 3 years) for the Yanks Air Museum, Chino, California. He also served as President and webmaster for two different NPO's after his retirement. The Whittier Historical Society & Museum and Whittier Meals on Wheels.

John's love of aviation history and aviation photography lead to the establishment of this Skytamer.com website in 1998. The Skytamer.com site has continued to expand and will always grow and will never be completed. It's sort of analogous to a snowball rolling down a hill without any trees to stop it. In approximately 2002, John remembered that he had collected Topps “Wings” (ACC# R707-4) airplane trading cards while in High School. Somehow the cards had disappeared over the years. So at this point, he started to re-collect airplane trading cards via eBay and become an airplane card “Image Collector” rather than a “Card Collector” per se. After John scans an airplane card for the website, he has no further use for it and he puts it back into circulation via eBay. John's mission statement for the Skytamer.com is basically to restore and preserve high-quality card images/artwork associated with the various airplane card sets from the early 1900s to the present. These cards are wonderful historical “snapshots” into aviation history showing which aviation events and aircraft were important at that point in time. For the Skytamer.com website, basically if it is a trading card collection that features things that fly, but doesn't have feathers, it eligible for the consideration on the Skytamer.com website. John always welcome inputs and high resolution scans (600-dpi) that can be used on this website. John can be reached via the “Contact Us” navigation button on the left.

References

1. Zwaart, Pieter van der Zwaart. email Sammelbilder-Vertriebs GmbH Airplane card set, 12/28,2013
2. Shupek, John. 600-dpi card scans from the Skytamer Images “Skytamer Archive”