Beschreibung:

Historically important 1930’s photograph album for collectors and historians in early aviation history. Most of these are associated with Floyd Bennett Field in New York where a lot of Aviation World Records were made. The following aviators and aircraft are pictured and/or mentioned in period ink on the photos: Aviators: Elinor Smith, (Elinor Regina Patricia Ward; Elinor Smith Sullivan), American aviator (born Aug. 17, 1911, Long Island, N.Y.—died March 19, 2010, Palo Alto, Calif.), set several flying records and captured the country’s imagination with stunt flying in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Smith created a sensation in October 1928 when, on a dare, she flew a Waco 10 biplane under all four East River suspension bridges in New York City. She set a women’s solo endurance record of nearly 13.5 hours in January 1929 and surpassed it in April of the same year with a flight of nearly 26.5 hours. In 1930 Smith shattered the women’s altitude record when she flew a six-seat Bellanca up to 8,357 m (27,419 ft). The following year she took the plane up to 9,929 m (32,576 ft), high enough to make the fuel line freeze and to cause her to lose consciousness when she accidentally cut off her oxygen. In 1930 the licensed pilots of the U.S. voted her Best Woman Pilot in America. Wiley Post, (born November 22, 1898, near Grand Saline, Texas, U.S.—died August 15, 1935, near Point Barrow, Alaska), one of the most colourful figures of the early years of American aviation, who set many records, including the first solo flight around the world. Post, accompanied by navigator Harold Gatty, made his first around-the-world flight from June 23 to July 1, 1931, in a Lockheed Vega named Winnie Mae (now part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection), completing the voyage in 8 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes; later that year their account of the trip was published as Around the World in Eight Days. Two years later, again piloting the Winnie Mae, Post achieved his solo record, covering a total of 15,596 miles (25,099 km) in 7 days, 18 hours, 49 minutes, from July 15 to July 22, 1933. On this flight he proved the value of navigational instruments, including the automatic pilot. He later went on to establish altitude records, wearing a pressure suit of his own design to survive the high-altitude conditions. In 1935 Post and humorist Will Rogers his passenger, were killed when Post’s aircraft crashed in Alaska. Frank Monroe Hawks was born March 28, 1897, in Marshalltown, Iowa. He was an early aviation enthusiast and racing pilot. He served in the U.S. Army Air Service in WWI, attaining the rank of captain, and was a flight instructor at Love Field in Dallas, Texas. After the war, he was a professional pilot, setting speed records in experimental and often dangerous new aircraft. He held many city-to-city speed records in the 1930s and set new transcontinental speed records in 1929 and 1930. Hawks' most famous plane was the Texaco No. 13 Travel Air Mystery Ship. Travel Air built five of these sleek racing planes to secret specifications. Texaco No. 13 was the fourth of five to be built and was purchased by the Texas Oil Company and piloted by Hawks in many races and record setting flights. It differed from the other models in having special instrumentation for long distance flights. Texaco No. 13 now hangs in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Hawks was the childhood hero of many an air-minded youth and supplemented his pilot's pay with all sorts of merchandising and commercial endorsements. He was a paid spokesman for the Marmon Automobile Company. There were at least two fan clubs for Hawks: Frank Hawks' Air Hawks Club sponsored by Post Bran Flakes and Capt. Hawks Sky Patrol sponsored by a radio network in conjunction with Hawks radio show. Club membership pins in the form of a set of wings with Hawks' likeness at the center, are hot memorabilia items. In addition to his radio program, Hawks was featured on gum trading cards and in Big Little