HARMON & COLLIER TROPHY AIR MAIL SERVICE PILOT SMITH!

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HARMON & COLLIER TROPHY AIR MAIL SERVICE PILOT DEAN SMITH 1931 SIGNED COVER! Dean Cullen Smith, PIONEER MILITARY AVIATOR, U. S. AIR MAIL SERVICE PILOT AND RECIPIENT OF THE HARMON TROPHY, COLLIER TROPHY, ANTARCTIC MEDAL AND AIR MAIL MEDAL. An air mail commemorative cover, signed by Smith across the cartouche by Smith "TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY SEPTEMBER 23 1931 P.O.D - FIRST FLIGHT AIR MAIL MINEOLA N.Y. SEPTEMBER 23 1911". Postmarked MINEOLA 23 SEP 1931 and bearing multiple backstamps LOS ANGELES 26 SEP 1931. Excellent condition except for stains from the glue used to assemble the envelope, visible in the scan. Smith: (1898- ). pre-WWI aviation training as a New Mexico National Guardsman; USAS (1917-19); F.A.I./Aero Club of America Landplane Cert. no. 599 (10-4-16); Junior Military Aviator (1916); member or instructor, the thirty-fifth Reserve Military Aviator class at Kelly Field, the class of 3-16-1918; Reserve Military Aviator (1918); flying instructor (1918-19); resigned his commission as captain, NM National Guard (1919); U. S. Air mail Service pilot (1920-27); appointed 5-21-1920 and assigned at College Park MD (1920), Bellefonte PA (1920), Cleveland OH (1920), Omaha NE (1920-24), Hazelhurst Field (1924), Maywood Field (1924), Iowa City IA (1924-25) and Hadley Field (1925-27); he flew a total of 3,765 hours and 365,719 miles during his tenure; as of 12-31-1924 he had flown 18,452 miles at night; National Air Transport (1927-28); Transport Pilot rating no. 1909 (1928); he accompanied Richard E. Byrd on his 1928-30 Antarctic Expedition with pilots Bernt Balchen, Alton Parker and Harold June; National Air Transport (1930); American Airways (1930-38) assistant general manager, American Airways (circa 1932-38); flew official air mail on the 20th anniversary of Earl Ovington's first air mail flight, Mineola-New York (1931); forced down in Riverside, Ontario while flying CAM route 27, Buffalo-Chicago (1933); recipient of the Harmon Trophy for outstanding achievement in the arts and sciences of aeronautics in the United States (1934); director of commercial sales, Curtiss-Wright Corp. (1938- ); Director of Sales, Curtiss-Wright's St. Louis Airplane Division (1939-43); dir. of development, Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp. (1943-48); dir. Customer relations, Hughes Aircraft (1948-53); VP and dir. Customer relations, Lear, Inc. (1953- ). Air Mail Congessional Gold Medal; Collier Trophy, with others (1923); Congressional Medal for Arctic Service, for his work with the Byrd expedition; Harmon Trophy (1934); U.S.: Distinguished Flying Cross, for his work with the Byrd Expeditions (1930). (LT, USAS and CAPT, NM NG.). This is part of my personal collection of over 2500 aviation autographs dating from the very earliest days of aviation. The collection includes many, many air mail pilots, record holders, aviation personalities, military/naval aviators from 1914 through Vietnam, etc. I'll also be including about 1000 autographs from a group my mother and father collected during the thirties. All are in excellent condition unless otherwise noted and all are authentic. $5.00 for carefully protected and packaged First Class Mail. THIS AUCTION IS FOR UNITED STATES RESIDENTS ONLY Please DO NOT USE CHECKOUT until after receiving my winning bid notification. I usually do that within an hour after the auction ends. Payment is due within seven days of winning bid notification. I accept cashiers checks, money orders and checks. I accept Visa and MasterCard on orders over $10.00. I accept PayPal but must ad to their requirements that all PayPal orders be mailed with online tracking and only to confirmed addresses . I reserve the right to hold checks until cleared, usually ten business days. Please check my FEEDBACK regarding fast and well-packed shipments. More than 20% of my sales have been to repeat buyers! Please contact me after receiving my winning bid notification if you require insurance. Insurance on items under $50.00 is $1.35. I generally use insurance. I combine au... read more

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