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Kitty Hawk Wright Flyer: Piece of Original Fabric on a Presentation Certificate. ...
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Description
Kitty Hawk Wright Flyer: Piece of Original Fabric on a Presentation Certificate. 8" x 10", bearing a printed statement of authenticity signed by Lester D. Gardner, founder of Aviation Magazine. The statement reads as follows: "Original Fabric From Kitty Hawk 'Wright Flyer' Certification for C. C. Pearson. When Orville Wright, at my suggestion, assembled the Kitty Hawk machine for the first time, in 1916, at the opening of the new buildings of M.I.T. in Cambridge, he found that the original fabric could not be used and substituted new fabric of the identical material. When he died, his executors found that he had preserved some of the original coverings of the wings and entrusted several pieces of this most valuable relic to me for distribution to notable aeronautical friends. I certify that this piece was used in the first successful flight in history by Orville Wright on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C." An 1.25" x 1.25" section of fabric has been glued to the certificate. The presentation is double-matted and framed to an overall size of 14.5" x 17.5". An attached brass plaque indicates the relic constituted the "John J. Montgomery Award" given to C. C. Pearson "For His Role in the Polaris Project... by the National Society Aerospace Professionals and San Diego Aerospace Museum 1964".Lester Gardner not only personally knew Orville Wright (NOTE: two letters from Orville Wright to Lester Gardner were sold by Heritage in 1992) but was well known throughout the world of early aviation. He had flight status and rank of Major in the U.S. Army Air Service in WW I; in post war years he served on the corporate board of M.I.T. and in his professional career rose to staff member of important New York and Chicago newspapers, becoming president of the Gardner, Moffitt Company as publisher; he was also editor of the leading aviation journals of the era, including Who's Who in American Aeronautics and Aviation as well as holding a position in all important Aero societies then in existence.
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