First Vintage Plane Auction Comes to New York

An airplane may soon land in New York City as Bonhams announced that on April 13, the Curtiss MF Seagull Flying Boat will become the first vintage plane to be auctioned in Manhattan. The 1917 model, which came to the auction house from the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio, is expected to go for between $300,000 and $500,000. The Wright brothers’ archrival and aviation pioneer, Glenn H. Curtiss, designed the aircraft. He was the first to fly a public flight and won numerous awards for his efforts in the field. He developed the design based on one from the United States Navy, which has additional aviation significance as it was the model Howard Hughes took his first flight in back in 1926.