Signed Photograph of First Flight Presented by Orville to MacCracken, 1st Head of U.S. Aeronautics

William MacCracken, a former Army pilot, was the founder of the National Aeronautic Association. When the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce was established in August 1926, he was selected by President Coolidge to be its head with the title of Assistant Secretary of Commerce. Under MacCracken’s leadership, the Aeronautics Branch set aviation standards, regulated airlines, and promoted safety by certifying aircraft and licensing pilots for the first time. These measures provided a foundation for the success of commercial aviation. 

The program to license pilots got underway in the spring of 1927, with the first pilot’s license being issued on April 6, 1927 to MacCracken himself. Thus MacCracken became the first person to obtain a pilot’s license from a civilian agency of the U.S. Government. At the International Aeronautical Congress in 1928, MacCracken, Orville Wright and Charles A. Lindbergh were grouped together in photographs and became well acquainted.

Signed Photograph. Probably soon thereafter, Wright presented MacCracken with a photograph of the first flight, put to a mat bearing the legend “December 17, 1903, First Aeroplane Flight, Kitty Hawk, N.C.,” and signed by him in the left-hand corner. This is an actual glossy photograph rather than the cardstock printed photograph of Wright generally seen, and is only the second such photograph we have handled. The image is 5 by 7 inches, the matted presentation is 9 by 11 inches, and the piece remains in the frame provided either by MacCracken or Wright himself. Wright’s signature is slightly faded but completely legible.