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The Billionaire Collection

Signed Orville Wright 1917 Check: "Lying in bed thinking about how exciting it would be to fly”

$4,400.00

“I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all- while lying in bed thinking about how exciting it would be to fly.” -Orville Wright

The conditions on the morning of December 17th, 1903, were perfect.  At 10:35am a man climbed onto the center of a wooden wing, brought it's engine to life, and prepared himself to change the corse of history.  That man was Orville Wright and he became the first man in history to maintain controlled, sustained flight, of a powered, heavier than air, aircraft.  

The Wright brothers were not engineers and held no fancy degrees. Orville and his brother Wilbur owned a bicycle repair shop, but in 1896, the brothers became inspired with the idea of creating a machine that could fly, but it was their experience making bicycles that offered them a very different perspective.  

For the next seven years their lives would be all about flight, and how they would achieve it.  Then on that Thursday morning in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, after many failures, two bicycle repairmen succeeded where so many had failed.

The Wright brothers invention changed the way we live our lives.  Sixty six years later we've gone from flying wooden planes to flying to the moon, but even on that historic moon flight, American astronaut Neil Armstrong carried a piece of the 1903 Wright Flyer into space and onto the moon.  The Wright brothers will always be remembered as two of the greatest innovators of all time. 

This beautiful piece pays tribute to that majestic morning in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, when Orville Wright did something that no other man before him had ever done.  An 11x16 photo depicting Orville Wright on that historic first flight.  Over the top of the photo is a one hundred year old, original check from "The Winters National Bank", dated February 5th 1917.  This extraordinary check is written in Orville's own hand, for the sum of $25, and signed by him, "Orville Wright", with that beautiful exaggerated "W" that has come to be his signature.  

We've included at the bottom one of Orville's most prolific quotes, that speaks to his constant focus on his dream or goal, to build a machine that could fly.  

“I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all- while lying in bed thinking about how exciting it would be to fly.” -Orville Wright

All of this is beautifully framed in our hand built, contemporary, wide frame, enhanced with professional black matting.

As with all of our works, every piece is original.  Only the highest quality materials have been used in the assembly of this item.  Sourced from the best manufacturers around the world, we build every frame tailored specifically for the item it will hold.  Protected with 99% UV museum quality glass, and carefully crafted with acid free paper whenever possible.  Our premium wood moldings are cut using the newest technology and every single piece is assembled and inspected by our team here in Los Angeles.

All autographs have been authenticated by third party experts from the top authenticators in the country, and notarized certificates of authenticity are included in a black leather portfolio.  Copies of the original authentications are kept on file with Billionaire Collectibles and can be retrieved by the original purchaser. 

We stand 100% behind all of our works of art, and offer a lifetime guarantee on every piece, for as long as you own it.

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