Charles A. Lindbergh, Orville Wright & Amelia Earhart Archive.

EARHART, Amelia; Charles A. Lindbergh; Orville Wright.

Item Number: 132409

Rare collection of ephemera related to the three greatest aviators of the 20th century, including a bank check and two covers signed by each. Comprised of: a Carried by Lindbergh! First Flight Cover Signed: “C.A. Lindbergh” postmarked Miami, Florida, February 4, 1929 and addressed to John A. Hambleton, Pan American Airways, Cristobal, Canal Zone. Pan American Airways won the contracts for several foreign airmail routes between the U.S. and Latin America, and the company hired Lindbergh as a technical advisor. Stamped pictorial cachet at left: “First Flight Airmail International F.A.M 5 Miami – Canal Zone.” F.A.M. (Foreign Air Mail) 5 was piloted by Charles A. Lindbergh on February 4-6, 1929. His return flight from Cristobal, Canal Zone was made on February 10-13, 1929. When FAM-5 was combined with FAM-6, the combination became known as the “Lindbergh Circle” with flights circumnavigating the Caribbean Sea. Fine condition; a partially printed Winters National Bank & Trust check signed “Orville Wright” with a 1.5” drive chain link produced by the Diamond Chain Co., Indianapolis, marked “155,” representing type of block chain used in the Model 1905 Wright Brother’s airplane engine for driving cam shaft from crank shaft has been affixed between a photograph of man’s first powered airplane flight in 1903. This was given to Louis P. Christman, Chief Production Engineer of the Wright Aeroplane Co., for his later work in restoring the 1905 Wright Flyer; and a Fordham Aero-Philatelic Society Special Event Cover signed “Amelia Earhart” accompanied by a rectangular piece of red fabric removed by the Smithsonian from Lockheed Vega 5B in which Earhart made the first solo transatlantic flight with a letter from the National Air and Space Museum, in part, “the Lockheed Vega made the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight piloted by a woman, Amelia Earhart in 1932. In restoring the plane it was necessary to replace the deteriorated original fabric. The best portions of the fabric have been cut into squares.” In fine condition. Matted with three iconic portraits of Lindbergh, Wright and Earhart. The entire piece measures 34 inches by 28 inches. Rare and desirable.

American aviation pioneers Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright were generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful motor-operated airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, 4 mi (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills. At the age of 25, American aviator Charles Lindbergh went from obscurity as a U.S. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame by winning the Orteig Prize for making the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris on May 20–21, 1927. The first woman aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for women pilots.