RR Autograph Auction Orville Wright Private Pilot licensed

Pilot’s license, two pages, 4.75 x 4 opened, 1928. A Federation Aeronatique Internationale United States Annual Sporting License, #5, issued to Ed Nirmaier of Cleveland, Ohio, signed in black ink under the pilot’s personal information “Orville Wright,” as Chairman of the N. A. A. Contest Committee. License also includes a small snapshot of Nirmaier, and official information. An embossed seal lightly affecting Wright’s signature, and scattered light toning and soiling, a bit heavier to the portrait page, otherwise fine condition.

In the late 1920s, Frenchman Henri Mignet was determined to design an airplane that anyone could build and fly safely, taking access to the skies from professional pilots and sharing it with all. After several different designs, he created the HM.14, ‘Pou du Ciel,’ or ‘Flying Flea,’ and published a detailed book of instructions to build it in 1934. Public interest skyrocketed: by March of 1935, more than 500 were under construction in France alone. It was at this time that American entrepreneur Powell Crosley, Jr. came across Mignet’s book and ordered his personal pilot, Edward Nirmaier, to build him one. Nirmaier, whose license we offer here signed by Orville Wright, completed the construction of the first Flea in the United States, taking its first test flight on November 1, 1935. He christened his plane with water from the Atlantic Ocean near Kitty Hawk, commemorating the Wright Brothers’ first successful flight. The airplane, licensed as the ‘Crosley Flea,’ made a short public flight at an air show in Miami, but after some difficulties, remained grounded for good. Although the HM.14 (found to have fatal safety issues) and the Crosley Flea’s times were short-lived, they served as testaments to the power of human ingenuity and determination. This license, allowing an unsung private pilot to take to the skies, signed by one of the foremost pioneers of aviation, captures an exciting time in the early history of flight. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.

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