45 Years of Aerospace History Captured in over 125 Priceless Autographs on a Timeless Photograph of 3 Biplanes Flying in Front of the Empire State Building in New York City, circa 1930
The photo is now almost 100 years old
"The Major" — The Man Behind the Collection
Orville Wright to Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
Zoom in to see all the names
Another unique artifact full of these and other signers
Major James Greenleaf Adams served during World War I in France as one of the first American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps. See his Flight Log Journal from 1917.
From Orville Wright, the "first in flight" to Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon, over 40 years of aviation and aerospace history are chronicled on one iconic photograph. From 1931 to 1975, Major James G. Adams, a former World War I fighter pilot and World War II squadron commander, collected the signatures of almost every aeronautical great – all originals and inscribed on a photograph of three biplanes flying over New York City in front of the Empire State Building.
Among the 125+ signatures are those of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Ruth Nichols & Roscoe Turner. Other famous signatures on Adams' photograph include Gen. Paul Tibbets, who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, and Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel.
Adams began his autograph collection while he was operations supervisor at Floyd Bennett Field, New York City's first airport. He played a role in an infamous airborne exploit. "I cleared Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan for takeoff for California", he said, "but then he flew to Europe instead." Regarding Eddie Rickenbacker, "I trained with him during the first World War," and Gen. Billy Mitchell, "I was his aide for a short time."
"I met Howard Hughes (aviator, millionaire & recluse) after his around-the-world flight, when he landed at Floyd Bennett Field," Adams said. "He was in the lunchroom sketching and doodling. Luckily, I had the photograph with me."
According to Adams, the Smithsonian Institution has expressed great interest in his unique collection. [Excerpts from the article "Picture This: A Souvenir Of Aviation's Entire History, 40 Years Of Autographs" by Kit Salisbury, Palm Beach Daily News, Sunday, June 1, 1975.]
Airplane co-inventor Orville Wright's autograph is at the center of the photo, just below the top biplane. Astronaut Neil Armstrong's is in the right corner. Fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.'s is just to the right of center. Amelia Earhart's (from 1933, four years before her disappearance) is faded, but recognizable, to the right of the bottom biplane.
Eddie Rickenbacker's is to the left of the middle biplane. Below him and close to the left edge are Charles Lindbergh and Douglas Corrigan. Wiley Post, the first person to fly solo around the world, is at the very top, near the left, beside the large autograph of Wm "Billy" Mitchell. Howard Hughes is nearly faded away, but you can find it near the upper right corner, above Gene Vidal.
View the complete List of Signers — virtually all of the names on the photo, with brief biographical data and a link to a webpage for each signer with more detailed information. Most are their Wikipedia page.
Over 25 artifacts, books, letters, news articles, and other documents provide incontrovertible evidence supporting the authenticity of Aerospace Heroes, originally named Pilots of Aviation History — before Space Travel existed. View the Provenance List →
After Major Adams passed in 1979, his daughter, Elizabeth Adams Rardin, became its caretaker. In her later years, the economy took its toll and her finances became tight. As much as she hated to, and felt like she might be letting her "Daddy" down, Elizabeth (his "Betty Ann") looked into selling this priceless family treasure. Unfortunately for her, she trusted the wrong person. Before she knew it, a "wicked scoundrel" sold the photo through an auction house to a millionaire for pennies on the dollar of its estimated value. Even worse, the scoundrel stole all the money. It was months after he sold it that he finally admitted selling it and that all the money was gone!
The millionaire had it on his wall for months by the time Betty found out her daddy's treasure was gone and she had nothing to show for it. Fast forward, literally – years – a relative made a connection to the FBI. After much investigation, filing in a Federal Court and offering a desperate appeal to a Federal Judge, a court order was written.
Betty received a call from the U.S. Marshals. The photo had actually sold again and was now in the mansion of a second millionaire, living in Texas. Very soon, Betty and her son James were in the U.S. Marshal's offices in Dallas, Texas taking pictures with the Marshals. There they all stood — Betty, James, and the Marshals — with Major Adams' "long lost" treasured photo!
The burden of feeling like she had failed her precious Daddy was finally lifted from Betty's heart. Sadly, a few years later, Betty was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and lost that battle after a couple of very hard years. Today, Betty's son, James C. Rardin — namesake of Major James G. Adams — is the caretaker of his Grandpa Adams' amazing priceless treasure, and can be reached at JCR@AerospaceHeroes.com.
A totally separate artifact. When Major Adams had the photo with him (he traveled with it for decades), he often also carried a small leather autograph book. Sometimes he only had the book with him, so it has some very unique signatures not on the photo. View the Autograph Book →
