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802601

Douglas Corrigan

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“I don't know yet if I will be able to get back to your rally this summer or not."

Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, 1907-1995.  American aviator.  Autograph Letter Signed, Douglas Corrigan, one page, octavo, [no place], January 3, 1939.

Corrigan expresses doubt whether he can attend a meeting of the Corrigan Aero Club but sends a small photograph (not present).  In full:  “So glad to hear from the Corrigan Aero Club.  I don't know yet if I will be able to get back to your rally this summer or not.  [T]he only photo I have just now is these small ones."

Less than six months before he wrote this letter, Corrigan achieved fame—and the nickname "Wrong Way"—for flying the wrong direction.  On July 9, 1938, he left Brooklyn, New York, ostensibly for Long Beach, California, but landed instead at the Baldonnel Aerodrome in County Dublin, Ireland, after a 28-hour, 13-minute transatlantic flight.  Corrigan had been denied permission to make a nonstop flight from New York to Ireland for three years because his airplane was deemed unsafe for it, but, an experienced airplane mechanic, he had made several modifications to his plane in order to prepare it for a transatlantic flight.  Thus, while he blamed a navigational error for his trip to Ireland, many saw his stunt as intentional.

Corrigan has penned this letter boldly in green ink.  The letter has two normal mailing folds, neither of which touches the signature, and light soiling.  Overall it is in fine condition. 

Unframed.

 

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$165.00

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