5–6 October 1922: Lieutenants John Arthur Macready and Oakley George Kelly set an unofficial world endurance record for an unrefueled airplane when they flew a Fokker T-2, Air Service serial number A.S. 64233, for 35 hours, 18 minutes 30 seconds at San Diego, California. The U.S Army Air Service had purchased two Fokker F.IV airplanes for evaluation, designating them T-2. This was a single-engine high-wing monoplane built by Anthony Fokker in The Netherlands. It was designed to be flown by one pilot in an open cockpit, and carry 8 to 10 passengers in an enclosed cabin. It had a wingspan of 80 feet, 5 inches (24.511 meters) and length of 49 feet, 10 inches (15.189 meters). It was powered by a Ford Motor Company-built 1,649.3-cubic-inch-displacement (27.03 liter) liquid-cooled Liberty L-12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine which produced 408 horsepower. The airplane had a maximum speed of 93 miles per hour (149.7 kilometers per hour), a range of 2,550 miles (4,103.8 kilometers) and a service ceiling of 10,500 feet (3,200 meters). Macready and Oakley planned to fly the T-2 across the North American continent, non-stop, from San Diego, California to New York. The airplane was modified to increase its fuel load, as well as to allow the two test pilots to change places during flight. The standard airplane had a 130 gallon (492 liter) fuel tank in the wing. The Army added a 410 gallon (1,552 liter) tank to the wing center section, and a 185 gallon (700 liter) tank in the passenger cabin. The starting point at Rockwell Field was chosen to take advantage of favorable westerly winds, and to use the higher-octane gasoline which was available in California. When they encountered fog in the mountains east of San Diego, the two fliers were forced to turn back. They remained airborne over San Diego to measure the airplane’s performance and fuel consumption for another attempt. Because the airplane was not equipped with a barograph to record air pressure on a paper chart, the record endurance flight could not be officially recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). They were awarded the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year. This was Macready’s second Mackay. He and Kelly would win it again the following year. Mackay and Oakley made a second unsuccessful attempt to cross the continent from west-to-east, and were finally successful on an east-to-west flight in 1923. r/max
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 21:00:01 +0000
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