Aviation

20-1. One of Aviation’s Most Famous Moments.

Two Ls.S., in English, of French flyer (Charles) Godefroy, the first to fly a plane under the  Arch of Triumph in Paris. Montmorency, France, Apr. 20, 1958, 7½ x 8. To Rev. Cornelius  Greenway. “...I am really glad to know you have served with the American Army in France for  the first Great War. Let me tell you that the story about my flying under the Arc is wrong as  you think it yourselves: I did not crack my plan(e). You had many signed photographs from so  many famous aviators and I am very happy to join my own to the others....” Mounted on verso  by Greenway, a clipping about Godefroy from Newsweek, Mar. 31, 1958: “...Godefroy hasn’t  piloted one (plane) since that brief moment of international fame four decades ago - he  promised his girl he wouldn’t - is now 70 and a wine and cakes salesman...On Aug. 7,  1919...Godefroy steered a ‘borrowed’ military plane with a 30-ft. wing span through the 41-ft.  opening of the arch. Why? ‘Everybody wanted to fly under the arch. I wanted to be the first.’”  Two small tape repairs by Greenway on verso. • May 26, (19)58, 8 x 8, 1 full p., with postscript  in his hand in French. “...I am really sorry that the picture arrived completely damaged. It has  been a neglect of myself not to have packed it well...I did not serve during the war first. I just  (taught) the young men to make of them, soldiers and aviators, able to serve for the war. I  send you all my sympathie, to the soldier of the war first you have been....” Both on manifold  airmail paper. Blind clip depression on both, else fine. Rare content letters of one of aviation  history’s most enduring and sensational feats. He died later in 1958; a street is named for him  in Montmorency. $300-400 (3 pcs.)

20-2. Record of the First Flight – from Orville Wright’s Possession.

Retained copy from Orville Wright’s private library of the exhibition literature for the first  public showing of the Kitty Hawk, in June 1916, at M.I.T. Entitled “The Beginning of Human  Flight,” printed by The Wright Co., N.Y. (and certainly written or edited by him), 6 x 9, 4 pp.,  chocolate brown on ivory enamel. Crisp photograph on cover of “The First Flight, Dec. 17,  1903, Kitty Hawk, N.C.,” lasting only 12 seconds. Signed after Orville’s passing in 1948 by his  co-executor, H(arold) S. Miller, within design of large pictorial rubber stamp on p. 4, “From  the private library of Orville Wright.” (Miller’s wife Ivonette was niece of the Wright  Brothers.) Lengthy text, describing the brothers’ experimentation in designing the craft, “...the  first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself into the air  in free flight...At that time there was no published data on air propellers. The Wrights  designed these first propellers on a theory...worked out by themselves....” Marginal dust  toning on pp. 1 and 4 from sitting for years on a table in Wright’s library, light wear, else very  good. A wonderful artifact, with provenance, of one of the crowning achievements of modern  man. Now rare. An example sold in Bonham’s major sale, “The Story of the 20th Century,”  2014, for 2500.00. WorldCat records no institutional examples (though Wright State  University illustrates it on their website). $1500-2000 

20-3. Father of Aerial Bombardment.

Profusely illustrated booklet, stylized eagle on cover clutching signboard title “Gianni Caproni,  (by) Paolo Azzolini,” Milano, n.d. but probably early 1917, 6 x 8½, (36) pp., blue, sulphur, and  red cover, black on cream enamel text. Numerous photos of the air pioneer Caproni brothers  and their flying machines, some quite advanced for this period. Count Gianni Caproni was the  first to manufacture aircraft in Italy, in 1908. Developing a bomber as early as 1917, he sought  to sell his novel airplane to the U.S., a concept revolutionizing “air superiority far beyond the  battlefield...Strategic bombardment offered geopolitical options...The onset of the Armistice  relegated strategic bombardment to the realm of hope but not fulfillment...”--Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority,  Benjamin Franklin Cooling, ed., Air Force History and Museums Program, p. 7. Caproni was a major influence on Billy Mitchell.  Bluetone centerfold photo portrait. Likely intended to be sold as a magazine, Caproni a national hero by this time. Full-color ad on  outside back for Oleoblitz Oil, showing two eagles inspecting a large can of the product, being held by pilot of a flying machine high  above the Alps, the wings painted the colors of Italy. One diagonal fold at back cover, some handling evidence, but very good and highly  interesting. An ephemeral item, understandably very rare. No copies located by WorldCat. $130-160 

20-4. The Gordon-Bennett Balloon Race.

Rare local program for National and Gordon-Bennett Air Races, Oct. 24-28, 1912, Stuttgart, Germany. “Nationale Wettfahrt und  Gordon-Bennett-Wettfahrt....” 5¾ x 9, 16 pp. on tan laid + 8 pp. enamel advertising overwrap. Splendid stylized cover artwork of  balloons aloft and on the ground, silhouettes of a crowd in foreground, rendered in mocha and black. Full-page ad for “Mercedes  Motoren für Flugapparate....” Printed in Stuttgart. Among dignitaries: His Majesty Wilhelm II, “Dr. ing. Graf Ferd. v. Zeppelin,” et al.  The lists of balloonists competing are titled “Name der Führer.” Balloons include the American “Uncle Sam” and “Kansas City II,” the  Danish “Graf Zeppelin,” the Italian “Andromeda,” and others. Following a long interlude upon the outbreak of World War II, the  Gordon Bennett Race returned in 1983, and is still run today. Uniform edge toning of text, light dust toning blank outside back, trivial  bend at blank corner of front cover, else excellent. No copies located by WorldCat. $275-350

20-5. Britain’s Cradle of Aviation - at the Dawn of World War I.

Fatefully-dated Official Program, “Flying at Hendon / The London Aerodrome,” Claude Grahame-  White, Managing Dir., July 16-19, 1914 – just two weeks after Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination.  “Coming Events - July 30 - Bomb Dropping Competition.” 5 x 8, (16) pp., illustrated. Maroon and  loden-green cover, with photo of “Carr starting from Hendon on his British Built Morane  Monoplane,” spewing an enormous cloud of smoke. Green-black on cream text. An elaborate affair,  including list of aviators, with make, type, and engine of their “machine,” and “Programme of  Music, Band of the Queen’s Westminster Rifles.” Article on the July 11th event reprinted from  newspaper a few days earlier: “Another Great Victory for Brock - Fine Flights by Garros and  Renaux - Lord Carbery’s Adventure.” Profile on inside back cover of Wm. Birchenough, who has  flown “in winds so strong that, a year ago, few aviators would have ventured out at all. He has  carried a great number of passengers at Hendon....” Hendon is today home of the R.A.F. Museum.  Some edge tears of oversize cover, handling creases, two scribbles with red crayon on cover, but  very good. No copies located by WorldCat. $200-275

20-6. Excessively Rare Aviation Stock - Owned by Beer Barons.

Stock certificate of Hamilton Metalplane Co., Milwaukee - then one of America’s aviation hubs,  Nov. 12, 1928, signed by aviation pioneer Thomas F. Hamilton, Pres., William F. Pabst, Sec., and flamboyantly on verso by Fred Pabst,  Jr. 36 shares, issued to company owner Pabst Corp., branched into airplane (and cheese) manufacturing during Prohibition. 10¾ x  13¼, brown and black, eagle vignette, Goes. Vertical surprint in red, “The assets of the Hamilton Metalplane Co. have been distributed  and this certificate is without value.” The firm was added to United Aircraft & Transport’s conglomeration of Boeing, Pratt & Whitney,  et al in 1929, in turn becoming United Aircraft, United Airlines, and United Technologies. Old folds, some file wrinkles at bottom, else  V.G. • With T.L.S. of Chas. F. Barndt, Gen. Mgr., “Boeing Airplane Co. - Hamilton Metalplane Div., Milwaukee,” Nov. 25, 1929, to  August Pabst. Handsome pictorial letterhead, with detailed vignette of a Hamilton airplane. “...The chimney on the building at 530  Park St. now occupied by us has been repaired....” Two file holes, else V.F. • Retained carbon copy of letter to Pabst Corp., on variant  pictorial letterhead, “Speed It There - Mail By Air,” May 21, 1929, regarding check “for the fractional share....” Hamilton officers listed  include William Pabst, Col. Gustave Pabst, Fairchild, and Harold Seaman, Pres., Seaman Body Corp. File card toning, else V.G. Large  purple Pabst office stamp, including the words “Cheese” and “Syrup”: During the Prohibition, under Fred Pabst’s leadership, the  brewery’s salesmen sold cheese instead, aged in their cellar! Pabst also entered the real estate, soft drink, and - as seen here - the  airplane business. Following Prohibition, Fred Pabst built Blue Ribbon into one of the world’s largest-selling brands. A fascinating  character, Hamilton is one of the fathers of modern aviation. A friend of Bill Boeing predating W.W. I, Hamilton produced the first all-  metal airplane to receive an air certificate in America, addressing the problem of decay in wooden craft. Notably warning about “this  fellow Hitler,” he later served as technical consultant for the 1966 motion picture, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines.  Both Hamilton autographs and stock certificates are very rare; the firm only conducted business under this name from 1926-1929.  $700-900 (3 pcs.)

20-7. Post-Gatty Record Round-the-World Flight.

Envelope carried on the record round-the-world flight, signed by Wiley Post as pilot, and by Harold Gatty as navigator. Postmarked  Mineola, N.Y., June 21, 1931; Berlin, June 24; Moscow, June 26; with return to Mineola July 1. Printed cornercard, “Round the World  Flight / of the ‘Winnie Mae.’ One of the great innovators in aviation, Post developed the first practical pressure suit, discovered the jet  stream, and made record altitude and air mail flights. “He may have reached 50,000 feet and, on one Burbank to N.Y. attempt he  attained a groundspeed of 340 m.p.h., which was called the most startling development since Lindbergh...”--The Airpost Journal, July  1986. Their plane Winnie Mae is now in the Smithsonian, along with the Spirit of St. Louis. Howard Hughes described Post’s journey as  the most remarkable flight in history. All this with but one eye, little education, and living to only 35 years of age: Post was killed in the  plane crash with Will Rogers in 1935. Trivial wear, else fresh and very fine plus. $375-475 

20-8. Pilot of the “First” Air Mail.

Airmail cover with purple cachet, “40th Anniversary / Pilot Fred J. Wiseman, World’s First Air Mail Pilot / Petaluma-Santa Rosa, Calif.  / 1911 - Feb. 17 - 1951.” Postmarked Petaluma, Feb. 17, 1951. Red 6¢ air mail stamp. To noted aerophilatelist and aviation photographer  Bill Schneider, Jr., Santa Rosa. Glue stains at two seams, else fresh and V.F. • Envelope with return address in Wiseman’s hand, “F.J.  Wiseman...Berkeley, Calif.,” postmarked 1950, pictorial cornercard of Hotel Pendleton, Oregon. Large red, white and blue air mail  sticker applied by Wiseman just below his name (and on baseline of address). 6¢ purple Wright Brothers stamp. To Bill Schneider. Tear  at upper right margin, shy of stamp, some postal wrinkles, else good plus. Rare in any form. • Photocopy of fascinating article “Who  Was First - Wiseman or Ovington?,” originally in Stamp Collector, Nov. 1986. The plane used for Wiseman’s historic 1911 flight is in  Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. $90-120 (3 pcs.) 

20-9. Pilot of the “Other” First Air Mail.

Stiff greentone printed photo postcard of Boston Airport, signed on address side “Earle Ovington / First U.S. Air Mail Pilot (1911).”  Ovington piloted the “first airplane-carried mail flight officially sanctioned by a U.S. Post Office and available to the public,”* seven  months after Fred Wiseman’s flight. Postmarked Boston, Dec. 30, 1929. Pictorial red, white and blue air mail label, showing “U.S. Mail”  plane. Turquoise winged keystone cachet, “Boston Airport Dedication of Memorial Administration Building, Dec. 30, 1929.” Some  postal soiling, else very good, fine signature and endorsement, and pretty for display. • *Quotation of National Air and Space Museum  researcher, in accompanying photocopied article “Who Was First - Wiseman or Ovington?,” originally in Stamp Collector, Nov. 1986.  $70-90 (2 pcs.)

20-10. Unlisted Early Foreign Flight – to an American Air Mail Proponent.

Variant postal artifact of experimental Swiss air mail flight, June 13, 1913, on Swiss  10¢ postcard, pink on buff. Manuscript “Par Avion - Vevey - Villeneuve,” addressed  in same hand to “Mr. A.R. Hawley, Aero Club, New York, U.S.A.” Two magenta  cachets, both “Poste / 0.25 / Vevey / 22.VI.13 / Aerienne.” Verso blank. Old outline  of rusty paper clip at right margin, through lower portion of one cachet, uniform  toning, else very fine. A pioneer aviator and balloonist, addressee Hawley was Pres.  of Aero Club of America 1913-18. Holding the Club’s pilot’s certificate no. 7, he  entered a specially-built balloon in the 1910 Gordon Bennett Race, but was forced to  land in the Canadian wilderness. Hawley was the first airplane passenger to fly from  N.Y.C. to Washington; demonstrating the practicality of carrying air mail, his flight  was the model for the debut of regular air mail service in America, on the same route, two years later. AAMC Early Foreign Flights,  Swiss #17 variant continuing to Morges (all three towns on Lake Geneva), 1990 Pricing Supplement, $1800. Another example of this  Vevey-only style, on a 5¢ card, sold at Michael Rogers Auctions, May 1994, for 375.00 (catalogue cutting accompanies). Ex-William H.  Peters, noted old-time aerophilatelist. Very rare. $475-675

20-11. The Graf Zeppelin, Lakehurst.

Flown heavy buff postcard with the scarce Lakehurst origination postmark of this first return flight, variant purple pictorial cachet  “First Flight Air Mail / Via Graf Zeppelin / United States - Germany - Oct. 28, 1928.” Sender’s notation “Via L.Z. 127 from Lakehurst,  N.J.” To Berne, Switzerland. Three 15¢ and one 10¢ C8 (just overlapping) air mail stamps, tied with two Lakehurst c.d.s., one more  distinct than the other. Friedrichshafen, Nov. 1 postmark on verso, with message from Lakehurst sender, “Three additional cards from  Lakehurst, N.J. Retain one for your collection.” Hand-embellished with red, white, and blue “Air Mail” paper ribbon, wrapping around  both sides of card. Corner creases and tip wear, just overfolding corner of 10¢, else about very good. The Lakehurst cancel is considered  twenty times as scarce as the N.Y. postmark. On very old printed album page. Sieger 22A. $110-140 

20-12. The Graf Zeppelin, Los Angeles.

Flown cover with large purple pictorial cachet “First Round-the-World Flight / U.S. Air Mail,” postmarked Los Angeles, Aug. 26, 1929,  bound for Lakehurst, N.J. Pretty example, with block of four green 13¢ Harrison, four 2¢ red Electric Light, with total of three Los  Angeles postmarks and “21” football grid handstamp. Blue air mail label. To Lakehurst. On verso, green Lakehurst postmark and large  integral indicia showing the Graf Zeppelin, with legend. Rectangular toning on verso, else fine plus. Sieger 29A. $50-70 

20-13. The First Jewish Air Passenger – Two Weeks after Lindbergh’s Flight.

Pair of items: Original candid snapshot, apparently 1948, of aviator Clarence Chamberlin, pilot of monoplane Miss Columbia in the  first Transatlantic passenger flight - also setting the record for distance, nonstop from N.Y. to Germany, June 4-6, 1927, with Charles A.  Levine as passenger. Boldly signed at bottom, 3½ x 6, showing Chamberlin posed with Lincoln automobile, front portion in photo, his  Conn. home in background. • With airmail cover, postally unused, signed by Chas. A. Levine, the first passenger to fly the Atlantic, and  the first recorded Jewish passenger in an aircraft. Levine, a millionaire scrap dealer, was Chamberlin’s sponsor, vying for the same  first-flight prize as Lindbergh. In a little-known twist, Levine’s legal dispute with another pilot resulted in temporary grounding of Miss  Columbia, allowed Lindbergh to take off for Paris first. Indeed, Lindbergh used Chamberlin’s weather charts, given him the day before!  Chamberlin did gain some historical satisfaction: On the way back to America, he delivered the first ship-to-shore mail - and Miss  Columbia would become the first plane to make the Transatlantic crossing twice. Very light wear, else both fine plus. Two remarkable  personalities. $300-375 (2 pcs.) 

20-14. The Ill-Fated Akron.

Better example of U.S.S. Akron flown cover, postmarked Lakehurst, N.J., Aug. 1, 1932, Roessler, with legible light green pictorial back  stamp. Large red and blue checkered border, large purple pictorial cachet, positioned free of Wedgwood-blue simulated label, applied  atop wide ghost of the airship in pale blue, and tying 5¢ airmail and 3¢ Washington. “Tactical Training Flight / U.S.S. Akron / Carrying  Mail / United States Navy / 1932 / U.S. Post Office Dept.” Back cancelled Lakehurst, Aug. 2, nearly perfectly centered on flap, with light  green rubber stamp, “U.S. Navy... Carrying Mail / Returned to Lakehurst, N.J., Aug. 2, 1932...Back Stamp.” Glue staining of seams on  verso, much lighter toning on front, minor postal wear, else about fine. $120-150 

20-15. Explorer of North and South Poles.

Group of three items relating to famed aviator Col. Bernt Balchen, Arctic and Antarctic explorer, World War II hero, and Adm. Byrd’s  emergency pilot and mechanic on the America. T.L.S., 10th Rescue Sq(uadron), Ft. Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska, Mar. 23, 1949, 7¼  x 10¾. To G. Kaufman, Gerard Ave., Bronx. “I am sorry to inform you that my organization do not at the present time fly any jetplanes.  Our work is search and rescue of aircraft in distress.” On airmail lettersheet. Uniform toning, else fine. • Original wire service glossy  from files of N.Y. Herald Tribune, 8 x 10, sepia. Marked “Daily / Jun(e) 30, 1927.” Clipping from use in their rotogravure section  affixed, “Bernt Balchen, hero of the Byrd trans-Atlantic flight, who will, with Bennett, aid Commander Byrd in his aerial exploration of  the Antarctic.” Pencil, red and blue crayon notations. An engaging shot, looking directly into the camera. Cropped square by Art Dept.  with white opaque and orange pencil. Lacking minor ¼ x ½” fragment at right edge, handling creases, but very satisfactory and highly  charismatic. • Glossy, 7¼ x 9½. Caption in editorial pencil on verso, datestamped July 1, 1927. An almost Lindberghian pose, looking  skyward with an expectant smile, goggles atop his leather flying helmet, wearing the same necktie as in preceding. Opaque white  applied by Art Dept. to accentuate cameo. Lacking sliver at lower right corner, else very good. Hired by Amelia Earhart as technical  advisor for her solo Transatlantic flight, Balchen’s World War II adventures included a bombing raid on the last remaining German  outpost in Greenland, and commanding clandestine air transport allowing VIPs to flee the Nazis. Using OSS crews, Balchen’s operation  saved over 3,000 people. One of the world’s top experts on the Arctic, he stated in 1972 that “a general warming trend over the North  Pole is melting the polar ice cap....” $110-140 (3 pcs.) 

20-16. The Antarctic Explorer and “old Lady Fate.”

T.L.S. of Richard E. Byrd, Admiral, polar explorer, aviator, and Medal of Honor recipient with a vast resumé of adventure. Signed  “Dick,” on letterhead of “United States Antarctic Programs, Officer in Charge,” re-datelined Boston, July 17,1956 - in the period of his  final project, Operation Deep Freeze. 8 x 10½. To Polan Banks, N.Y. “...I have had an enormous mail since my return and because I  travel around quite a bit I have unfortunately lost a number of letters...When I came to N.Y. last Apr. 3 I was just there for the day and  there were so many preliminaries to the dinner that I just didn’t have time to look up any personal friends. I am still looking forward to  that get-together with Linda. You are a lucky fellow. Perhaps if my duties don’t bring me to N.Y...the two of you might be able to drop in  on me in Washington. I’d like very much to have you as my guests for luncheon or dinner...I hope it won’t be too long before old Lady  Fate brings us together again.” Some postal wrinkles, trace of blue ink at top edge, probably printer’s ink, else about fine, attractive,  and interesting. It is not widely known that Byrd was competing against Lindbergh to be first to fly nonstop from America to France in  1927: Byrd’s plane crashed in a practice takeoff; while it was being repaired, Lindy completed his flight. Recipient Polan Banks was a  novelist and playwright, author of Manhattan East, Black Ivory, Maharajah, and others. Motion picture adaptations of his work  included 1932’s Street of Women and 1951’s My Forbidden Past, a romance of Old New Orleans, with Robert Mitchum and Ava  Gardner. $200-250

20-17. The Lindbergh Kidnapping.

Group of four original wire service glossies, all used in N.Y. Herald Tribune: Seven-month-old Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., 5 x 7, purple  Acme News handstamp and caption slip on verso, “...The child is now missing from the home of his parents, at Hopewell, N.J., from  where he disappeared on the evening of Mar. 1st (1931).” Showing the smiling boy’s hands held by adults, one of them probably his  father’s. • “Miss Anne Spencer Morrow, whose engagement to Col. Charles A. Lindbergh has been announced....” Feb. 24, (19)29 in  editor’s red crayon-pencil on verso. Hand-silhouetted to oval with opaque white, by Art Dept. • “Miss Anne Morrow riding on the  Morrow float among the merry crowd at celebration of arrival of flower season at Santa Anita Canals, Mexico City.” Mar. 28, 1929.  Cropped in orange grease-pencil by Art Dept.; handstamps and pencil markings on verso, “...(1)st Edit(ion).” • Mournful sepia glossy of  oil portrait of Mrs. Lindbergh, by artist Robert Brackman, “shown at Macbeth Gallery,” E. 57 St. Purple datestamp Jan. 3, 1940.  Gallery’s manuscript copyright on verso. “1½ Col(umn)” in pencil. The Lindberghs remained deeply affected by the kidnapping.  Handling evidence from this lamented great newspaper, else about V.G., and now very scarce. $140-180 (4 pcs.) 

20-18. The First Commercial Transatlantic Round-Trip Flight.

Attractive flown cover, 1937, signed by pilot Dick Merrill, the highest-paid airmail pilot, later Eisenhower’s and Eddie Rickenbacker’s  personal pilot, flying the longest distance of any pilot in commercial aviation history - reportedly 8,000,000 miles! Large onionskin  airmail envelope, postmarked N.Y. May 8, London May 13, and again upon return in N.Y. on May 14, respectively cancelled on three  postage stamps, U.S. and British. Blue and pink pictorial handstamps, “Anglo-American Goodwill Coronation Flight....,” with crossed  flags and Royal crown. The first fully-successful round-trip crossing, this flight of the Lockheed Electra was made in honor of the  coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. “On board the aircraft were photographs of the Hindenburg airship disaster which  had only happened a few days before and served to highlight the use of aircraft as the future for global air transporation...A few covers  were autographed by either Dick Merrill or Jack Lambie and these unsurprisingly command premium prices among collectors  today...The legacy of the...flight was that Capt. Merrill was widely judged to have proved that quick and reliable commercial  transatlantic flights were a viable proposition”--gbstamp.co.uk. Light edge creases of the lightweight paper, else colorful and fine.  AAMC 1280. $55-75

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