"French Aviation Pioneer" Jean Macaigne Signed FDC JG Autographs COA For Sale

The Early Birds of Aviationis an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization wasstarted in 1928 and accepted a membership of 598 pioneering aviators.Membership was limited to those who piloted a glider,gas balloon,or airplane,prior to December 17, 1916, covering the entirety of the pioneer era of aviation, and just over twoyears into World War I. The cutoff date was set atDecember 17 to correspond to the first flights of Wilburand Orville Wright. 1916 was chosen as a cutoffbecause a large number of people were trained in 1917 as pilots for World WarI.Twelve of the aviators were women.The original organizationdissolved once the last living member had died. This occurred with the death of99-year-old George D. Grundy Jr. on May 19, 1998.The organization was restarted and is devoted to collectingand publishing biographies on those who met the 1916 deadline. There were manypilots who soloed before the 1916 deadline who never applied to the club to bemembers. Some have been made honorary members.