DOUGLAS
CORRIGAN
(January 22, 1907- September 9, 1995) was an American aviator born in Texas. On
July 17, 1938, Corrigan took off from Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Airport in a
small single-engine airplane. He had recorded a trip plan for California, but
arrived in Ireland twenty-nine hours later.
He claimed his unauthorized
flight was due to a navigational error, caused by heavy cloud cover that
obscured landmarks and low-light conditions, causing him to misread his
compass. Almost immediately he gained the nickname “Wrong-Way Corrigan.”
He had been denied permission to
make a non-stop flight from New York to Ireland, and his “navigational error”
was seen as deliberate. Nevertheless, he never publicly admitted to having
flown to Ireland intentionally.
Nice lot of two significant
items, including an ALS and the actual Associated Press wire photo dated July
19, 1938, with information on the verso as follows: “Dublin, Ireland, July
18—CORRIGAN’S ROUTE TO FAME--Here’s the route Douglas Corrigan, mechanic flyer,
followed on his ‘sneak’ flight to Ireland. It’s the route of Lindbergh, Byrd,
Earhart, Post & Hughes, a route that took him 28 hours and 13 minutes to
fly in a second-hand plane of the same vintage Lindbergh used.”
The wire photo was amended for
use by a newspaper, including some white areas on the front and editing marks
on the verso, along with the above cutline (description).
The one-page 5” x 8” ALS is from
Corrigan, 3214 W. 59th St., Los Angeles, CA, to Mr. Noeleke.
“Am sending the four copies of
the book to-day. 5 dollars will cover everything.
“This is my last day at the fair
for a while, so I’ll probably see Goodwin later in the season, as I’ll in in
Los Angeles for some time.
“Best wishes,
“Douglas Corrigan
“2-23-39”
The book Corrigan is referencing
is very possibly his autobiography, “That’s My Story.”
Letter has folds, light toning,
but overall in excellent condition. Wire photo is strong, but contains the
editing and amending marks as noted above.
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us, please contact us immediately (617-236-4893). Our goal is to please every
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Club, The Manuscript Society and The Ephemera Society. [A103]