semiautopistol

The man in the photograph is Alfred P. Lane, Olympic shooter and gold medalist who was hired by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 1914 to train police officers how to shoot. Lane competed in two Olympics, winning three gold medals (50m Free Pistol, 50m Team Free Pistol, and 50m Rapid Fire Pistol) in the 1912 Olympic Games (Stockhom), plus a bronze medal (50m Free Pistol) and two more gold medals (50m Team Free Pistol, 50m Rapid Fire Pistol) in the 1920 Olympic Games (Antwerp). Lane would later be among the first inducted into the United States International Shooters Hall of Fame in 1991. Also of interest in this photograph is the pistol Lane is shooting. It is a Colt Model 1908 Hammerless Pistol (Colt M1908), designed by John Moses Browning, and manufactured by Colt. It is noteworthy because during this period the NYPD became one of the few police departments of the era to have adopted a semi-automatic pistol as an issued firearm (in this case for its detectives.) However, the M1908's career in the NYPD was short lived, and it was withdrawn from NYPD service by 1918 (thought to be because of accidental/negligent discharges by some of the officers it was issued to). The NYPD would not authorize the widespread issue of semi-automatic pistols again until 1993.

I added him to Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P._Lane

LOC -- his name is Alfred P. Lane, not "Alf Plane"

As the handwritten caption on the photo notes, this is a photo of test pilot Ralph B. Virden (b. 1898 - d. 1941). Here he is standing next to a Boeing Model 40. Ralph Virden would ultimately perish while performing high-speed dive tests of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning (Lockheed YP-38 Lightning, USAAF Serial No. 39-689) on November 4, 1941. See: www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/ralph-b-virden/