The Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce began pilot certification with this license, issued on April 6, 1927. The recipient was the chief of the Branch, William P. MacCracken, Jr. (Orville Wright, who was no longer an active flier, had declined the honor.) MacCracken's license was the first issued to a pilot by a civilian agency of the Federal government.
When I was a kid, I once got a ride with PH Spenser in his Air Car, (a homebuilt Republic Sea Bee) at San Fernando Airport, near Van Nuys. PH Spencer designed the Sea Bee.
He showed us his first pilot's licence, endorsed by Orville.
