The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

Kelly and Macready flew over Indianapolis
after nightfall and entered the
mountains near Tucumcari, New
Mexico, early the next morning. Fortunately,
they had a tailwind most of the
way. In spite of their heavy fuel load,
they flew much of the way at 100 mph.
Shortly after noon on May 3, they landed
at San Diego after flying 2,520 miles in
26 hours and 50 minutes.
The most spectacular flight
demonstration organized by General
Mitchell was the first round-the-world
flight. The Army performed this
amazing flight in 1924 using aircraft
built by Douglas Aircraft.The four
airplanes—the Boston, Chicago,
The Douglas DWC/DOS that flew around the world.
Many WWI aircraft, such as this Nieuport 28, have either been restored or
replicated by aviation enthusiasts. To see one flying today is a spectacular
sight. (EAA)
Seattle, and New Orleans—
were named for the cities that
sponsored each of them.
The flight started in
Seattle, Washington, and
went to Alaska, Japan,
China, Indochina, Burma,
India, Syria, Austria, France,
England, Iceland, Greenland,
Labrador, Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia and across the
entire United States back to
Seattle.
The entire flight took 175
days, and only two of the
aircraft (the Chicago and the New Orleans) completed the entire flight. The Seattle crashed in Alaska
soon after the journey began, and the Boston was forced down in the Atlantic between England and
Iceland.
A replacement aircraft called the Boston II was taken to Nova Scotia, and the crew of the Boston
flew it on to Seattle. The total distance flown around the world was 26,345 miles, and the actual flying
time was 363 hours and 7 minutes.
In August 1923, the Army performed the first refueling of an airplane while in flight. Lieutenants
Lowell Smith and J. P. Richter remained airborne for 37 hours and 15 minutes by refueling their
aircraft through a 50-foot hose from another airplane. The refueling operation was done 16 times with
about 50 gallons of fuel being transferred each time.
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