Uncommon and desirable commemorative airmail postal cover, 9.5 x 4, carried by Hughes on his triumphant 1938 around-the-world flight. The cover, issued in conjunction with the 1939 New York World’s Fair, bears several postage stamps, postmarks, and rubber stamps indicating the primary stops on the record-setting journey: Paris, Moscow, Omsk, Yakutsk, Fairbanks, Minneapolis, and the final destination, New York City. Cover is signed in the lower right by Hughes’s co-pilot Harry Connor; along with a flown printed fabric American flag, 12 x 8, carried on the flight. Both are attractively matted and framed with a small descriptive plaque to an overall size of 19.25 x 24. In fine condition. In 1938, Hughes set a new around-the-world record of 3 days, 19 hours and 8 minutes. The flight took off on July 10 from an airfield on Long Island, New York, in a specially designed Lockheed 14N ‘Super Electra’ aircraft with a range of nearly 5,000 miles, making stops in the aforementioned cities, and establishing Hughes as a national hero. RR Auction COA.
