On 28 September 1924, the first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed by a team of aviators from the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. In the early 1920s several countries were vying to be the first to fly around the world. The British had made one unsuccessful around-the-world air flight attempt in 1922. The following year, a French team had tried. In 1924, the Italians, the Portuguese, and the British all announced plans for world-circling flight. The U.S. Army Air Service also became interested, and the service selected a modified Davis-Douglas DT-2 Navy torpedo bomber for their attempt. Douglas built five of the airplanes, which they renamed the DWC - the Douglas World Cruiser. The Army Air Service purchased four of them: the Chicago, the Seattle, the Boston, and the New Orleans. The airplanes and their 2-man crews left Seattle, Washington, on 6 April 1924, for Alaska. The Seattle crashed in dense fog on the Alaska Peninsula; the aircraft was destroyed but Maj. Frederick Martin and SSgt. Alva Harvey were safely rescued. The three remaining aircraft continued, flying from Alaska to Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, French Indochina (Vietnam), Thailand, Burma, India, Iran, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Austria, and France, arriving in Paris on Bastille Day, 14 July. The aircraft then proceeded to London, where they prepared for their TransAtlantic crossing. On 3 August 1924, the Boston was forced to ditch at sea, but Lt. Leigh Wade and SSgt. Henry Ogden were rescued by the cruiser USS Richmond. The Chicago with Lt. Lowell Smith and 1st Lt. Leslie Arnold still in the lead, and the New Orleans, with Lt. Erik Nelson and Lt. Jack Harding, continued and crossed the Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland and reached Canada. The fifth aircraft was purchased by the Army Air Service, renamed the Boston II, and reunited with the Bostons crew, Lt. Leigh Wade (pilot) and SSgt. Henry Ogden, in Pictou, Nova Scotia. The three aircraft flew on to Washington DC, where they received a heros welcome, and then on to the West Coast, via a multi-city tour, finally landing in Seattle on 28 September 1924. The trip had taken 175 days, and covered 27,553 miles (44,342 km). The Douglas Aircraft Company adopted the motto, First Around the World – First the World Around. Today, the Chicago is on display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC; the New Orleans is part of the exhibits at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, CA; and the recovered wreckage of the Seattle is on display at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum in Anchorage.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 13:03:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015