The 30 Minute Rule begins October 22 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By October 22 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
Two aviation pieces spanning the pioneering age of powered flight and the dawn of American human spaceflight, pairing an early pilot’s license signed by Orville Wright with a photograph signed by all seven of NASA’s original Mercury astronauts. Issued in 1926, just 23 years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, the license bears the signature of the man who helped inaugurate the aviation age; the Mercury Seven photograph, signed by the astronauts selected in 1959 to lead America’s first human spaceflight program, represents the next great advance in flight little more than three decades later. The items are as follows:
Pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale / National Aeronautic Association of U.S.A., measuring 5.75 x 4 open, Certificate No. 6522, issued to Ray W. McClenaghan, and dated September 1, 1926, signed below by Orville Wright as chairman of the contest committee. McClenaghan’s photograph and signature are on the adjacent page.
Vintage matte-finish 10 x 8 photo of the original Mercury Seven astronauts gathered around a model spacecraft, signed in the lower border in ink by all seven: “Virgil I. Grissom,” “Alan B. Shepard, Jr.,” “Walter M. Schirra, Jr.,” “M. Scott Carpenter,” “Donald K. Slayton,” “John H. Glenn, Jr.,” and “Leroy G. Cooper, Jr.” An inscription in the upper right reads, “Regards to Suzanne & Marilyn – The Astronauts.”
Archivally cloth-matted and framed together with a photo of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to an overall size of 20.5 x 34. In overall very good to fine condition, with scattered toning and some stains to the pilot's license; the photograph bears scattered creasing, and a small mark to the lower left.
This item is Pre-Certified by STEVE ZARELLI
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
(inquire for price)
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
Third-party authentication service applies only to signatures and handwriting, and does not cover the addition of sketches, artwork, musical quotations, etc.
