Manion's International Auctions - EUGENE "SMOKEY" RHOADS WWI NAVY PILOT SIGNED PHOTO

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Manions Live Bidding
Time Remaining To Bid: 14 days 23 hours 2 mins. 11 secs.
Item Will Close On Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 8:30:00 PM CST

Lot Number: 5937382

Category: O51 - Photos

EUGENE "SMOKEY" RHOADS WWI NAVY PILOT SIGNED PHOTO

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Eugene `Smokey` Rhoads member of the original 1919 group was Chief Machinist`s Mate (Aviation) Eugene "Smokey" Rhoads, NAP No. 27. Smokey shoveled coal on railroad steam engines prior to enlisting in the Navy, and became a pilot on his own time using his meager Navy pay to buy commercial flying lessons. Later, he found himself as one of two flight engineers and the only enlisted man in the crew on the first transatlantic flight.
The United States` transatlantic effort proved to be a national venture, and Naval Aviation was its instrument. Determined to be the first to fly across the Atlantic, the Navy intended to do it with four-engine Curtiss flying boats, NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4. After much planning, training and preparation, they departed on 8 May 1919. The flight began in Rockaway, Long Island, N.Y., and concluded in Lisbon, Portugal, on 27 May. Smokey Rhoads was a last-minute replacement for the assigned enlisted engineer who tragically lost his left hand in the prop of the NC-4 just days before the epic journey. The NC-4 was the only aircraft to complete the flight. Upon their return to the States, Congress ordered a special medal struck to commemorate the achievement. Unfortunately for the crew, 11 years elapsed before Congress produced the medal and the recognition they so richly deserved.

8x10" size B&W photo of Rhoads signed by him with dedication and dated 1921. 

For more information on this collection go to http://www.manions.com/block.htm  Condition: 7

Opening Bid Amount: $20

Current Bid Amount: $20 Total Bids: 1
Next Required Bid:

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Manion’s International Auction House understands some of the artifacts listed in our catalog may be deemed sensitive by some. Manion’s does not support or glorify Nazism, fascism or any other dictatorial regime or destructive ideology. We present all artifacts in their original historical context to historians, private collectors, museums, archives, and re-enactors.

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