An archive of materials relating to Amelia Earhart's navigator Fred Noonan sold for $18,750 at Bonhams New York on June 8.
It features photographs (including some of Earhart) and a scrapbook containing clippings about the 1935 flight of the Pan American China Clipper - the first plane to deliver mail across the Pacific Ocean.
 The archive includes letters Fred Noonan sent while flying with Amelia Earhart's in 1937 |
Noonan had served as navigator on the trip.
The collection also includes telegrams and letters sent from Noonan to his wife during his 1937 voyage around the world with Earhart.
In one, dated June 16, he writes: "We should be back home in about two weeks from now...
"We received word this morning that reports in the States said we had crashed. How such a rumor would materialize is beyond me because we have had no trouble whatsoever."
Tragically Noonan was killed alongside Earhart when her plane went down near Howland Island in the Pacific less than a month later, on July 2.
No trace of the plane or its occupants was ever recovered.
Earhart's status as one of the few female pioneers of flight, coupled with the sensationalism and mystery surrounding her disappearance, mean her memorabilia remains in high demand.
A pair of her flight goggles made $17,775 at Clars Auction Gallery in 2011.
You can take a look at all our space and aviation memorabilia for sale here.
Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about memorabilia auctions.
