Item #121228 A vintage photo-montage of the crew of the 'Southern Cross' after their historic first trans-Pacific flight (31 May to 9 June 1928). Charles KINGSFORD SMITH, Harry LYON, Charles ULM, James WARNER.
A vintage photo-montage of the crew of the 'Southern Cross' after their historic first trans-Pacific flight (31 May to 9 June 1928)
KINGSFORD SMITH, Charles, Charles ULM, Harry LYON and James WARNER

A vintage photo-montage of the crew of the 'Southern Cross' after their historic first trans-Pacific flight (31 May to 9 June 1928)

[Sydney, Broughton, Ward & Chaseling, 1928].

An original gelatin silver photograph, recently matted, framed and glazed in a period-style wooden frame (visible image size 104 × 307 mm, overall external dimensions 297 × 490 mm).

The photograph was originally the top portion of a larger photo-montage, the bottom portion of which contained an image of the 'Southern Cross' shortly after landing in Sydney on 10 June 1928. This signed portion has been slightly cropped along the top edge, taking with it the last letter of an inscription by Charles Kingsford Smith; there is a small chip to the bottom left-hand corner of the photograph, and a tiny closed surface crack (7 mm) near the bottom right-hand corner; overall it is in excellent condition, now presented to best advantage.

The photograph is signed in ink by all four aviators, and inscribed by Kingsford Smith 'To W.F. Henderson with regards from the crew of the "Southern Cross" 1928'. We believe this to be Wallace Fyfe Henderson (1871-1955), a long-serving alderman for Mosman Council in suburban Sydney. Charles Kingsford Smith, fellow Australian pilot Charles Ulm, and two Americans, navigator Harry Lyon and radio operator James Warner, left Oakland in California on 31 May 1928. The pioneering flight ended on 9 June in Brisbane, after a journey of 11,585 kilometres completed in three stages. The flight time was 83 hours 38 minutes; the 5042-kilometre Hawaii-Fiji leg was at the time the longest trans-oceanic flight.

Item #121228

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