New Issue: Military Jet Aircraft (GB)

During my time in Glasgow watching the Commonwealth games a lot of new stamps were issued so I'm catching up with them now, including this one from Royal Mail.

I've been quite positive about recent Royal Mail issues but I'm not so sure about this one. In focusing on military jet aircraft Royal Mail is going over old ground. There have been so many stamps showing fighter aircraft and we have already had the Concorde issue this year. Some of the previous Royal Mail issues on a similar theme are are:

1986 RAF

1997 British Aircraft Designers

2008 Air Displays

2018 RAF Centenary

2024 Red Arrows

The aircraft shown on the new issue are: Gloster Meteor F1, Gloster Javelin FAW9, Hawker Siddeley Hawk T1, Avro Vulcan B2, De Havilland Vampire FB5, Panavia Tornado GR4, Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B and Lockheed Martin D- 35B Lightning II. The Avro Vulcan B2 also appeared in the 2018 set. As you would imagine, Royal Mail has also issued a miniature sheet:

This marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Sir Frank Whittle, the inventor of the jet engine. This isn't the first time Sir Frank has been recognised on stamps. In 1991, the 37p stamp from the Scientific Achievements set honoured him alongside Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage and Robert Watson-Watt.

Of course there is nothing to say that people should not be honoured on stamps multiple times, especially so many years after the first time, but none of this feels very original.

Design Quality - The illustrations are detailed and I appreciate the use of colour. But are these stamps so different to the style used in 2018? As so often with modern Royal Mail stamps, the design is pretty basic - I won't say disappointing because I don't expect anything different. 4/10

Theme/Subject Choice - It's been done before, we have already had an aviation-themed set this year and the miniature sheet dedicated to Frank Whittle seems more like an excuse than a reason. The fact is that Royal Mail knows these stamps will appeal to certain people. It's all about the money... 2/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance - There is of course a strong historical relevance but I'm not sure that this means there should be so many stamps on this theme. 6/10

Innovation and Creativity - The illustration quality is very good but there's not a lot going on here that I could say is particularly creative and definitely not innovative. 2/10

Collectability - There are of course people who like to collect stamps showing fighter aircraft and that is exactly why Royal Mail has issued this set. But will it appeal to anyone else? 5/10

Personal Appeal - As I said, the illustrator has done a good job but, after some good issues recently, Royal Mail seems to have gone back to its formula of issuing uninspired stamps focused on nostalgia. I have an interest in military history but I am afraid these don't really appeal to me. 2/10 Overall Score: 21/60