Pan American Flight Medals, ca. 1926
Watch
GUEST:
It's my grandfather. He founded the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, which was the precursor for the Air Academy. And at the Air Academy,
the academic building and library is named after him.
APPRAISER:
The gentleman's name is Muir Fairchild.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And if you are interested in United States Air Force history, you know the name Muir Fairchild because he had a very long and distinguished career. But how did he come to be interested in aviation?
GUEST:
It wasn't so much a question of getting interested in aviation as in getting uninterested in horses. He began chasing Pancho Villa as a young cavalry guy, I guess. And he volunteered for air service and became a test pilot and flew a number of different aircraft. And the one that he was probably most familiar with is the one that's pictured right there in that photograph. It looks like a boat Because it was flown in places where there'd never been airplanes before. Five of them took off and were meant to circumnavigate all of Central and South America. Of the ten pilots that took off, eight of them returned. The eight that returned were among the first recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross.
APPRAISER:
In that giant career, this is the event that really stands out.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And the one that we have represented by the artifacts today. We lose track of how dangerous aviation was. This was all part of the Pan American Good Will Tour of 1926, which was a very significant moment in aviation history. They hit all these different South American countries on good will stops, promoting aviation.
Aviation's in its infancy, and a lot of these military officials hadn't seen military aircraft at this point. So they're coming in with these flying boats, which are rather interesting aircraft. They have the engine mounted upside down so that the prop will clear the bottom of the fuselage for a water landing. You don't want your prop hitting the water. But it was a very dangerous exercise, and they did end up losing two fellows. One of the fellows had gone out on the wing to lower the landing gear because there was a problem. And they had a mid-air, at that point. He had taken his parachute off, and the pilot, rather than let him perish on his own and jump to safety himself, he tried to rescue him and it couldn't be done, and they both lost their lives as a result of that. But it was a very dangerous exercise, a very bold exercise that was done at that time. And at every stop they would have a reception, and they would get medals. The medal over here that is of particular interest to us is the Distinguished Flying Cross, and we can see on the back of this, it is engraved with his information and his name. This one is also indicative of this event. This is the Mackay Trophy medal. The Mackay Trophy is kind of like the Stanley Cup. It's the big aviation award from 1912 that was awarded for the most important flight of the year. There weren't that many individuals at this time who had received such a thing. The individual medals themselves--especially when we're talking about the South American awards--if you found them out in the world yourself as a medal collector, you wouldn't expect to pay a whole lot for them. They average between $100 and $300 apiece. But with what it means to aviation history and his significance to the United States Air Force, an auction estimate for the entire set would be between $15,000 and $20,000.
GUEST:
Wow. Well, it's our intention as a family to return all of these items to the Air Force at the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
