Aviation

519. Charles Kingsford Smith Signed

Photograph. Australian aviator (1897–1935) who made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia. After setting off from Allahabad, India on the second leg of an attempt at the England-Australia record in 1935, his plane went missing over the Bay of Bengal and he was presumed dead. Vintage glossy 7 x 9 photo of the aviator in front of his famed plane the Lady Southern Cross, signed and inscribed in fountain pen to the manager of Los Angeles Municipal Airport, “Cheerio to Dick Barnitz, from C. Kingsford Smith.” In fine condition. Accompanied by an original vintage glossy 9 x 7 press photo of the Lady Southern Cross being taken in for repairs upon landing in Hawaii in 1934. Kingsford Smith made the first eastward trans-Pacific flight from Australia to the United States on the Lady Southern Cross, and it is the plane in which he disappeared. Starting Bid $200

520. Orville Wright Signature. Neat fountain pen signature, “Orville Wright,” on an off-white 3.75 x 3 card, annotated along the bottom in another hand: “Dayton, 1.19.10.” In fine condition. Starting Bid $200

Scarce 1908 French dinner menu signed by Wilbur Wright

521. Wilbur Wright Signed Menu. Menu created for a special “Diner de la Marmite” hosted for pioneering aviators on November 20, 1908, measuring 15.75 x 11.75 open, neatly signed at the bottom in ink, “20 Nov. 1908, Wilbur Wright.” The printed text makes note of several of the attending luminaries, including Ernest Archdeacon, Louis Bleriot, Leon Delagrange, Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Henry de La Vaulx, and Wilbur Wright. In fine condition, with three vertical folds, and a small stain to the bottom edge.

Wilbur Wright had traveled to France to host demonstration flights of the Wright Flyer, designed to prove his plane’s capabilities. On December 18, 1908, Wright flew his plane to an altitude of 115 meters (approximately 360 feet) and set a new altitude record. A few weeks later, on December 31st, he won the Michelin Prize of 20,000 francs for the longest flight of the year, which departed from Camp d’Auvours and lasted 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 53 seconds. Starting Bid $500

522. Wilbur Wright’s Flyer Original Photograph.

Original vintage semi-glossy 9 x 6.75 photograph of the “Aeroplane de Wilbur Wright” at the 2e Exposition Internationale Aéronautique (Salon de l’Aviation), held October 15 to November 2, 1910 at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. Across the plane’s wings is a large panel listing its world records. Stamped on the reverse by photographer M. Rol of Paris. In very good to fine condition, with light overall creasing, and a repair to the lower left corner. Starting Bid $200

Immensely desirable 1908 handwritten letters from the Wright Brothers, dating to their important demonstration flights in Europe and the States

523. Wilbur and Orville Wright (2) Autograph Letters Signed. Hugely desirable pairing of ALSs from legendary avia-

tion brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, both one page, similarly sized at 5.5 x 8.5 and 5.25 x 8.5, and addressed to engineer and businessman Hart O. Berg, a Flint and Company representative contracted to help manage the Wright Brothers’ business in Europe. Berg’s wife, Edith, became the first American woman to fly as a passenger in an airplane when she joined Wilbur for a two-minute and seven-second flight at Camp d’Auvours in Le Mans, France, on October 7, 1908.

Orville’s letter, handwritten on blue Wrights Brothers letterhead, dated May 27, 1908, reads: “I herewith send the Weiler contract. It slipped my mind before we went to Kitty Hawk. I presume Wilbur is just arriving at Paris, and that he is giving you an account of our experiments. With kind regard to Mrs. Berg.”

Wilbur’s letter, addressed from Le Mans on December 22, 1908, in full: “The enclosed letter from Hubert Haddon & Co., states that the Russian patent was filed on the 13/26 March 1904. The patent lawyer at Vienna had charge of the Austrian Patent and not the Russian. Thierry wishes to get Austrian papers.” Wilbur adds below, “(File Haddon’s Letter).” French patent agent Charles Thierry was the proxy for the Wright Brothers in 1908. Ostensibly half of the patent agency Mennons et Thierry, Thierry helped patent inventions made by Adolphe Francois Joseph Doutre, Preston Albert Watson, and, of course, the Wright brothers (Patent FR-1908-384124 and Patent FR-1908-384125). In overall fine condition. Starting Bid $1000