24c Carmine Rose & Blue, 1918 Air Post, Fast Plane Variety (C3 var). Mint N.H. top arrow, plate nos. 8492/8493 and double "TOP" block of 12, rich colors, each stamp with significant forward vignette shift of the Fast Plane variety, the top wing of each plane extends well into the Carmine frame and on every stamp the background shading extends into the unprinted margin, top right and left stamps minor gum skips

VERY FINE. A CHOICE AND RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED PLATE BLOCK OF THE 1918 24-CENT AIR POST ISSUE FAST PLANE VARIETY, WITH SHADING ON EACH VIGNETTE EXTENDING INTO THE MARGIN.

The Philatelic Foundation has never published an article defining the criteria for certifying the Fast Plane variety, as they did for the Grounded Plane. The generally accepted definition is a stamp where the wings of the Jenny break clearly into the Carmine frame at left. Like the other shifts, there are degrees of displacement. The two stamps offered in lots 43 and 44 show the wings of the plane shifted well into the unprinted margin and those stamps are the fastest of the Fast Planes -- really they should be called Supersonic Planes. The plate block offered in lot 11 and the other examples in the Price collection show the top wing of the plane well into the Carmine frame. On this plate block the shift is sufficiently strong to show the shading extending beyond the frame on every stamp

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