USN Naval Aviator #19 Wadleigh Capeheart Photos, Letter & 1910 USNA Lucky Bag Grouping

ARTIFACT: This is a lot of photos and a letter in a wonderfully painted envelope, including a 1910 United States Naval Academy at Annapolis Lucky Bag (Volume XVII), originally belonging to Naval Aviator #19 (Navy Air Pilot #16), Wadleigh Capeheart, or "Speck", as he was known to his fellow USNA graduates. The photos are one of Wadleigh alone, a postcard of his father, Capt. Edward Everett Capeheart, in command of the U.S.S. Michigan, and a group shot in which Wadleigh is half-kneeling at left in front of the Flying School office. The Lucky Bag is a great old volume with lovely flocked endpapers, color illustrations, great period advertisements, and of course, many period black-and-white photographs of the Class of 1910 graduates. The letter is to Wadleigh from his father, and is contained within a large envelope with a fantastic painted scene of the Pacific Fleet and four of her ships. Capeheart was born September 3, 1888 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and after graduation at Annapolis went to sea for two years. He received his flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola and became Naval Aviator 19 (Navy Air Pilot #16), a few weeks after his twenty-seventh birthday. He became Commanding Officer of the USNAS at Fromentine, France in 1919, where he earned a Letter of Commendation. He held many other positions, including Naval Aviation Adviser to Brazil. Wadleigh was stationed at NAS San Diego in between the wars, and there earned the words of praise penned on the back of the group photo (see above). Wadleigh spent the early war inspecting aircraft and later was Commander at Cape May, New Jersey. He retired the year following the close of World War II and passed away in 1952. The photos and the letter (in the envelope) were all imaged inside plastic covers to protect them.

VINTAGE: Circa 1910 - World War I.

SIZE: Book: 11" x 9"; group photo: 6" by 4"; envelope: 10-3/8" by 4-1/2".

MATERIALS / CONSTRUCTION: Leather-bound book; photographs; paper.

ATTACHMENT: Glued binding.

MARKINGS: Reverse of Photo 1: Midshipman Wadleigh Capeheart; reverse of Photo 2: Capt. Edward Everett Capeheart; reverse of Photo 3: handwritten information and praise on Capeheart, who is half-kneeling at the left of the first row.

ITEM NOTES: This is from a WWI USN aviator grouping collection which we will be listing more of over the next few months.  CON-RLB-VCJJX14 LAGEJX6/14 hldSAEJJX06/23

CONDITION: 7 (Overall Very Fine): Varies, but overall in very fine condition. Photos and paper are kept in rigid plastic covers to protect them. The yearbook is beautiful inside but the cover is slowly disintegrating.