Autographs & Autograph Shows

My name is Derek Horne and I am the author & owner of this web site. Over the past 10 years or so (the length of time I've had a web site) I've been very fortunate with the friends and acquaintances I've made since creating my website. Through these friendships and acquaintances I've managed to gather quite a collection of autographs, paintings, lithographs, models and other items of memorabilia pertaining to the history of Edwards AFB, flight test and manned space flight. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those that have been kind enough to send me this material and for all their friendship, support and generosity. Many of these items are shown in the galleries below along with items which I have bought from various individuals or bought at auction.

Below you will find some photographs taken at various events I've been fortunate enough to attend.

The thumbnails below take you to the relevant Autograph Galleries

Autographica 2004 - March 2007

Autographica 2004 - March 2007 Gallery

I have been very fortunate to be able to attend various Autographica shows, starting with my Autographica 2004 at the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry which was held on October 8th to October 10th, 2004. It was an honour to meet Valery Bykovsky, Valentina Tereshkova, Ed Mitchell, Al Worden and Charlie Duke all of whom took time to speak with me and pose for the following photographs. Then following event in 2005 was held at the Radisson Hotel near Heathrow Airport. At this event I met Buzz Aldrin, Dick Gordon, Jack Lousma, Scott Carpenter, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Valery Kubasov & Yuri Romanenko.

The 2006 event was also held at the Radisson and there I met, Alexei Leonov, Brian Binnie (SpaceShipOne pilot), Yuri Onufrienko & Rusty Schweickart. The March 2007 event was again held at the Radisson and I was fortunate to meet Apollo 13's Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Sy Liebergot, Bruce McCandless, Anatoli Artebarsky, Salizhan Sharipov and legendary British Test Pilot Captain Eric Brown.

Spacefest I - August 2007 - Mesa, Arizona

Spacefest 2007 Photo Gallery

Spacefest was the first Astronaut Autograph show I went to. We visited Las Vegas and toured Arizona visiting the Grand Canyon, Williams Historic Route 66 loop, Meteor Crater, Tucson & Tombstone before spending the last 5 days in Mesa/Phoenix for Spacefest. It was a phenomenal trip, we actually got married at the Little White Chapel and it was just a fun moment to spend our honeymoon with our fellow collector friends and of course a bunch of astronauts!

Attending were Buzz Aldrin, Dave Scott, Gene Cernan, Alan Bean, Scott Carpenter, Rusty Schweickart, Jack Lousma, Ed Mitchell, Paul Weitz, Joe Kerwin & Charlie Walker. I met and had items signed by them all with the exception of Walker & Schweickart. I had an idea before the event to get together with a bunch of friends; David D'Angelo, Leon Ford (RIP), Bruce Rogalska, Paul Bramley, Dave Sixsmith, Mark Janovec, Rob Sumowski, Charles Davis, Doug Henry & Yvan Voirol and between us we donated $1200 towards the cost of hotel and airfair for retired test pilots Bob Cardenas, Bob Smyth, Ken Chilstrom & Ray McPherson attend, meet the public and sign some autographs. The guys seemed to have an absolute blast and were very well received by visitors to the show.



It was a wonderful thing for my friends to do but it was slightly disappointing to find out there was no mention of our Test Pilot gang in the official program. My dear departed friend Al Hallonquist was the astronaut wrangler at the event and he assisted with inviting the pilots and booking the flights etc. The show itself was wonderful, my wife and I were sat at Bob Cardenas table for the gala banquet along with Mark Janovec, Yvan Voirol and Bruce Rogalska. These events are truly wonderful social occasions and I must admit I do miss seing my friends at such events. If you get the chance to attend one, grab it with both hands!

Autographica - October 2007

For the October 2007 Autographica there were a couple of new departures for me. The October 2007 show was the first Autographica where I had attended the gala banquet with all the guests. The show organisers (Dave Phillips & Garry King) were fantastic and I managed to bag a spot at Apollo 17 Commander Captain Gene Cernan's table for dinner. It was one of those moments you'll never forget; being up close and personal with the last man to walk on the moon! The other departure for me was at this show I branched out and began collecting autographs from movie and sports stars and the biggest interest to me was (being a huge fan of the James Bond 007 movies) quite simply the "Bond Girls". At this show I was fortunate to meet and get autographs from Mollie Peters & Martine Beswick (Thunderball), Madeline Smith (Live & Let Die), Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me) & Maryam D'Abo (The Living Daylights). I also met actresses Brigitte Nielsen & Jenny Agutter and glamour models Katie Downes & Rhian Sugden. There was a BBC documentary crew following Katie & Rhian and it turned out to be for a BBC2 documentary called "Glamour Girls" and ended up being in that episode for a few seconds. The main interest as always however was that of the astronauts and cosmonauts and at this show I met Buzz Aldrin (Gemini XII/Apollo 11), Alan Bean (Apollo 12/Skylab), Gene Cernan (Gemini IX, Apollo 10 and Apollo 17) & Al Worden. Alan Bean thanked me in the inscription of my WSS litho for getting a high resolution image to him of him using the 1/6 gravity trainer (he'd written a wonderfully funny inscription on the photo at Spacefest!).

Autographica April 2008 - Birmingham Hilton Metropole Hotel

A new venue for Autographica; the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham, the show was held between 18th & 20th of April 2008. Guests attending that I met included WWII Spitfire pilots Ken Wilkinson, Rodney Scrasse, Richard Jones & John Milne. As usual with Autographica there were tremendous space guests; Apollo 9 Commander Jim McDivitt (his first ever appearance at an Autograph show), Gemini VIII pilot & Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott, Alexei Leonov (the first man to walk in space) and Bond Girl Luciana Paluzzi who played Fiona Volpe in "Thunderball".

As always with Autographica it was a wonderful social occasion and I was fortunate to be seated at Jim McDivitt's table for the Gala Banquet. What made it even more special is many of my dear friends were also sat with me at McDivitt's table including Paul Prendergast, Aileen Malone, Geoffrey Bowman, Yvan Voirol & John Ffoukes.

Astronaut Scholarship Foundation AAMS show - Kennedy Space Center November 2008

Above gallery of autographs and photos with guests from the 2008 ASF Show

16x20 Shuttle launch photograph signed by all the Space Shuttle Astronauts at the show. Clockwise from bottom left; Tom Jones, Andrew Allen, Paul Weitz, Vance Brand, Hank Hartsfield, Jack Lousma, Mike Mullane, Fred Gregory, John McBride, Bob Springer & Charlie Bolden - A real pride and joy piece!!

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's inaugural Astronaut Autograph & Memorabilia Show was held between 7th & 9th November 2008 at the Debus Centre at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex.

The show was fantastic, full credit to the ASF for putting on such a wonderful event. Visiting KSC (5 days in a row!) was just incredible. The following Astronaut guests attended the show:

• Buzz Aldrin – Gemini 12, Apollo 11
• Andy Allen – STS-46, STS-62, STS-75
• Charlie Bolden – STS-61C, STS-31, STS-45, STS-60
• Vance Brand – ASTP, STS-5, STS-41B, STS-35
• Scott Carpenter – Mercury Aurora 7
• Jerry Carr – Skylab 4
• Gene Cernan – Gemini 9, Apollo 10, Apollo 17
• Walt Cunningham – Apollo 7
• Charlie Duke – Apollo 16
• Robert “Hoot” Gibson – STS-41B, STS-61C, STS-27, STS-47, STS-71
• Dick Gordon – Gemini 11, Apollo 12
• Fred Haise – Apollo 13
• Hank Hartsfield – STS-4, STS-41D, STS-61A
• Tom Jones – STS-59, STS-68, STS-80, STS-98
• Joe Kerwin – Skylab 2
• Jack Lousma – Skylab 3, STS-3
• Jim Lovell – Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, Apollo 13
• Jon McBride – STS-41G
• Edgar Mitchell – Apollo 14
• Mike Mullane – STS-41D, STS-27, STS-36
• Dave Scott – Gemini 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 15
• Bob Springer – STS-29, STS-38
• Paul Weitz – Skylab 2, STS-6
• Al Worden – Apollo 15
• Bill Dana – famed Mercury astronaut comedian
• Guenter Wendt – Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Pad Leader

It was much more than just an autograph show however. On the Saturday before the airshow we took a VIP behind-the-scenes tour of KSC with Astronaut Jack Lousma who acted as our guide. We viewed special space exhibits brought in for just the weekend & witnessed a first-class Air Show on NASA property featuring the Blue Angels.

The Tropical Evening with the Astronauts dinner was held at the Radisson resort in Port Canaveral on the Saturday evening was fantastic; I was seated at Jack Lousma's table. During the evening comedian Bill Dana performed his "Jose Jimenez" sketch with Jim Lovell acting as the straight man. It was absolutely hillarious and Lovell could not keep his face straight and kept breaking into laughter.

Prior to the event you were able to purchase an add-on photograph with astronauts from the Apollo era (which in my case was): Jack Lousma, Joe Kerwin, Dave Scott, Vance Brand, Buzz Aldrin, Walt Cunningham, Charlie Duke, Ed Mitchell, Alan Bean, Jim Lovell, Paul Weitz, Fred Haise, Al Worden and Hank Hartsfield.

We got to see Endeavor on the pad although it is with regret that we did not extend our stay to take in the launch of STS-126 on 11th November. We missed the launch by one day!! We also did the "Then and Now" tour visiting the old launch complex's and the Cape Canaveral Airforce Space & Missile Museum, Saturn V Center, the rocket garden plus of course the Shuttle Launch Experience Simulator were all simply out of this world.

It was wonderful to spend time with my dear friends Al Hallonquist, Paul Bramley, Mark Janovec, Yvan Voirol, Fred Janik, Mark Pattison, Brad Mackinnon & Rob Sumowski (plus all the other great people I've forgotten to name!).

During our stay; my wife Debbie and I attended a BBQ at my dear departed friend Al Hallonquist's home in Stuart along with our friends Paul Bramley, Yvan Voirol, Frederic Janik & Mark Janovec. Al and his lovely bride Lynette were the perfect hosts and introduced us to proper Florida BBQ and Lynette's delicious homemade Key Lime Pie.



Below you will find some photographs from our visit to KSC, the various tours, airshow, visit to the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the BBQ at my Amigo Al Hallonquist's home. Al... not a day goes by where I don't think of you mate, you are greatly missed Amigo!

Kennedy Space Center & Astronaut Hall of Fame Museum

Autographica 17th-19th April 2009 - Hilton Metropole Hotel Birmingham

After the success of the previous Autographica it was no surprise that the April 2009 show would be held once again at  the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham, the show was held between 17th & 19th of April 2009. There was a further twist however as the Autographica show as held in conjunction with the Collectormania show and one the "golden ticket" gained you access to both shows and both sets of guests. This made for a much busier and interesting show and the Gala Banquet was magnificently well attended.

Guests attending that I met included George Lazenby (007 in On Her Majesties Secret Service), Dave Prowse (Darth Vader), actress Lenora Crichlow (Being Human/Sugar Rush); Hollywood legends Joan Collins, Mickey Rooney, George Kennedy & Ernest Borgnine, Ke Huy Quan (Shortround in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom);  Bond Girls Femi Gardner, Karen Seeberg, Joie Vejavija, Mollie Peters, Caroline Munro & Madeline Smith; British Boxing Legend Sir Henry Cooper; Dambuster Johnny Johnson; WWII pilots Ron Green, Ronald Homes, Geoffrey Wellum, Peter Ayerst, John Freeborn & Billy Drake. Astronaut guests I met included Helen Sharman (Britain's first astronaut), Bruce McCandless & Charlie Duke.

It was a wonderful social occasion and I was fortunate to be seated at Charlie Duke's table for the Gala Banquet. Again, many of my dear friends were also sat with me at Charlie Duke's table including Andy Green, Aileen Malone, Ollie & Robert Synge.

There was a 2nd Autographica show at the Metropole in Birmingham in September 2009. I drove down with my wife Debbie after my flight was cancelled. At this show I met Bond Girl Urusula Andress (Honey Ryder in Dr. No), Motor Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss & veteran NASA astronaut Tom Stafford (Gemini 6, Gemini 9, Apollo 10 & Apollo-Soyuz Test Project). Photos from this event are included in the above gallery.