 TRANSOCEANIC FLIGHTS (1919-1938)
May 8-31, 1919. U.S. Navy flying boat NC-4 makes first transatlantic flight, 4,526 miles, from Rockaway, N.Y., to Plymouth, England, via Newfoundland, Azores, Lisbon, Portugal, and other intermediate stops, in 53 hours, 58 minutes.
June 14-15, 1919. Capt. John Alcock and Lieut. A.W. Brown of Britain in Vickers-Vimy bomber make first nonstop transatlantic flight, 1,960 miles, from Newfoundland to Ireland, in 16 hours, 12 minutes.
Nov. 12-Dec. 10, 1919. Captains Ross and Keith Smith and two crewmen in Vickers-Vimy fly from Hounslow, England, to Darwin, Australia, 11,130 miles, in 27 days, 20 hours; flying time, 124 hours.
July 15-Oct. 20, 1920. U.S. Army Air Service pilots in four De Havilland DH-4-B biplanes make New York-Alaska flight and back, 9,329 miles, in 112 flying hours.
May 2-3, 1923. Lieutenants John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly fly Fokker T-2 monoplane in first nonstop transcontinental flight, 2,516 miles, from New York City to San Diego, Calif., in 26 hours, 50 minutes, 3 seconds.
April 6-Sept. 28, 1924. Two U.S. Army Douglas World Cruisers Chicago and New Orleans make first around-the-world flight, 26,345 miles, from Seattle, Wash., in 175 days, flying time, 363 hours, 7 minutes.
May 8-9, 1926. Lieut. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett fly Fokker trimotor nonstop from Spitsbergen to North Pole and back, 1,545 miles, in 15 1/2 hours.
Dec. 21-May 2, 1927, 1926. U.S. Army Air Service pilots starting with five Loening OA-1 amphibians fly Pan American goodwill flight, over 22,000 miles, from U.S. to Central and South America and back.
May 20-21, 1927. Charles A. Lindbergh flies Ryan monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, in first nonstop solo transatlantic flight, 3,600 miles, from New York City to Paris, in 33 1/2 hours.
June 4-5, 1927. Clarence D. Chamberlain and Charles Levine in Bellanca monoplane make first nonstop New York-Germany flight, 3,911 miles, in 43 hours, 49 minutes, 33 seconds.
June 28-29, 1927. U.S. Army Air Corps pilots fly Fokker C-2 trimotor across Pacific, 2,407 miles, from Oakland, Calif., to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.
July 14-15, 1927. Emory Bronte and Ernest L. Smith are first civilians to make U.S.-Hawaii flight, 2,340 miles, in 25 1/2 hours.
April 12-13, 1928. Gunther von Huenfeld and Capt. Hermann Koehl of Germany and Comdr. James Fitzmaurice of Ireland fly Junkers monoplane Bremen in first nonstop westbound flight over North Atlantic, 2,070 miles, from Ireland to Labrador, in 36 1/2 hours.
May 31-June 10, 1928. Captains Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles T.P. Ulm of Australia and Harry W. Lyon, Jr., and James W. Warner of U.S. in Fokker trimotor Southern Cross make U.S.-Australia flight, more than 8,000 miles, in 83 hours, 19 minutes.
June 17-18, 1928. Amelia Earhart in Fokker trimotor Friendship is first woman to fly Atlantic as a passenger.
Jan. 1-7, 1929. Maj. Carl Spaatz and crew in Fokker C-2 trimotor set refueling endurance record of 150 hours, 40 minutes, 51 seconds, over Los Angeles, Calif.
Sept. 24, 1929. Lieut. James H. Doolittle makes first demonstration of "blind" flight, at Mitchel Field, N.Y.
Nov. 28-29, 1929. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen, Harold June, and Capt. Ashley McKinley in Ford trimotor monoplane Floyd Bennett make first flight over South Pole, 1,600 miles, from Little America over pole and back, in 18 hours, 59 minutes.
June 23-July 1, 1931. Wiley Post as pilot and Harold Gatty as navigator fly Lockheed monoplane Winnie Mae in around-the-world flight, 15,477 miles, from Long Island, N.Y., in 14 stops, in 8 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes; flying time, 107 hours, 2 minutes.
Oct. 4-5, 1931. Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr., fly Bellanca monoplane Miss Veedol in first nonstop transpacific flight, 4,860 miles, from Tokyo, Japan, to Wenatchee, Wash., in 41 hours, 13 minutes.
May 20-21, 1932. Amelia Earhart in Lockheed Vega monoplane makes first transatlantic solo flight by a woman, 2,026 miles, from Harbour Grace, Nfld., to Londonderry, Ireland, in 15 hours, 18 minutes.
July 1-15, 1933. Gen. Italo Balbo of Italy leads 24 Savoia-Marchetti seaplanes in mass transatlantic flight, 6,100 miles, from Orbetello, Italy, to Chicago, Ill., in 47 hours, 52 minutes.
July 15-22, 1933. Wiley Post flies Lockheed Vega monoplane Winnie Mae in first around-the-world solo flight, 15,596 miles in 11 stops, in 7 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes; flying time, 115 hours, 36 minutes.
Jan. 11-12, 1935. Amelia Earhart makes first solo flight by a woman, from Hawaii to California.
Nov. 22-29, 1935. Capt. Edwin C. Musick in Martin China Clipper flies first regular transpacific airmail, between San Francisco and Hawaii and Manila.
Jan. 19, 1937. Howard Hughes sets transcontinental speed record, 2,453 miles, from Burbank, Calif., to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
July 10-14, 1938. Howard Hughes and crew fly Lockheed "14" around the world, 14,971 miles, from Long Island, in 3 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes.
(1903-1918) |
(1919-1938) |
(1939-1977) |
(1979-1986)
Information critically reviewed by Robert van der Linden, former Assistant Curator, Department of Aeronautics, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. |
