The Canadian Aerophilatelic Society (CAS) traces its origin to July 1985, when the Canadian Chapter of the American Air Mail Society (AAMS) launched its own quarterly newsletter, The Canadian Aerophilatelist, with issue No. 1 published on 1 July 1985. At its July 1986 Executive Meeting, the Canadian Chapter formally adopted a new name — “The Canadian Aerophilatelic Society” — effective 1 July 1986, with the change proposed by Major Richard K. (“Dick”) Malott, CD, then Vice‑President and Editor of the newsletter. Library and Archives Canada records the Society’s official founding year as 1986 and notes that it was created to “promote Aerophilately in this country, provide a forum for this specialty, and represent Canadian Aerophilatelists nationally and internationally,” with an interest in all aspects of aerophilately from its beginnings to modern flights and, notably, astrophilately.recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc+1

The Society’s first President was E. P. “Pat” Sloan (1985–1992), with Dick Malott as Vice‑President and Editor, Nelson Bentley as Treasurer, and Ken R. Johnson as Secretary; membership stood at 69 in early 1987, when the Society was already established as RPSC Chapter #187. Malott went on to serve as CAS President for many years and remained the driving force behind the Society’s publishing programme; a UK Canadian Philatelic Society tribute credits him as “the moving force in the formation of the Canadian Aerophilatelic Society”. Today the CAS is also APS Affiliate No. 189, the Canadian Chapter of the AAMS, and a Club Member of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Aérophilatéliques (FISA) (The Canadian Aerophilatelist Final Issue masthead; The Canadian Aerophilatelist Issue 80).aerophilately+3

From its earliest years the CAS was outward‑facing. It hosted the Aerophilately programme at CAPEX ’87 in Toronto — with an information booth, lectures, a slide programme, and a banquet at the Royal Canadian Military Institute — and later hosted a meeting of the FIP Aerophilatelic Commission at CAPEX 22, drawing on its role as a bridge between Canadian collectors and the international exhibiting community (The Canadian Aerophilatelist, February 1987; CAPEX 22 Spotlight on Societies). The Society today provides a forum for the exchange of information among Canadians interested in worldwide aerophilately and for collectors elsewhere who study Canadian material, with membership of about 150.capex22+1

Publishing has always been the Society’s flagship activity. The Canadian Aerophilatelist has appeared quarterly since 1985 and, in only its first year, earned a Silver Award Certificate at the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum’s Tenth Annual Philatelic Literature Fair in April 1986. The Society’s landmark reference work, The Air Mails of Canada and Newfoundland (AMCN), was co‑published with the AAMS and edited by Dick Malott as Editor‑in‑Chief from about 1990; Neil Hunter succeeded him in that role. Chris Hargreaves has served as Editor of The Canadian Aerophilatelistfor many years and as coordinating editor of the current AMCN2 and its Supplement. Steve Johnson established www.aerophilately.ca as CAS Webmaster and later succeeded to the presidency.aerophilately+2

The Society was, from the outset, dedicated to supporting exhibitors. Library and Archives Canada notes that CAS “has created awards for exhibitors in this specialty”. Under a formal policy adopted around 2010, the CAS offers two awards — Best Canadian Airmail and Best World Airmail — at any Canadian show fielding three or more airmail, aerophilatelic, or astrophilatelic exhibits, open to CAS members and non‑members alike, and it provides a one‑year complimentary CAS membership to first‑time airmail exhibitors at Canadian national shows. The Society also presents the annual Canadian Aerophilatelist Editor’s Award, which recognizes outstanding current research and contributions to the journal; recent recipients include Dr. Robert Galway for his research on 1920s Canadian airmail flights (2023) and Marc Castel for his study of the 1927 London‑to‑London flight and its semi‑official stamp (2025) (Canadian Stamp News, 2023; Canadian Stamp News, 2025). The Society’s Annual General Meeting is held each spring at ORAPEX in Ottawa, and each autumn its co‑hosted Day of Aerophilately in Toronto, run jointly with the BNAPS Air Mail Study Group at the Vincent G. Greene Foundation, gathers members and guests for a full afternoon of presentations — carrying forward, four decades on, the founding purpose Dick Malott and his colleagues set in 1985–86