Transcontinental flight

A transcontinental flight commonly refers to a non-stop passenger flight between an airport in the West Coast of the United States and an airport in the East Coast of the United States or generally, any two airports between a continent.

History

The first transcontinental flight across the United States was made in 1911 by Calbraith Perry Rodgers in an attempt to win the Hearst prize offered by publisher William Randolph Hearst. Hearst offered a $US 50,000 prize to the first aviator to fly coast to coast, in either direction, in less than 30 days from start to finish. Previous attempts by James J. Ward and Henry Atwood had been unsuccessful.

Rodgers persuaded J. Ogden Armour, of Armour and Company, to sponsor the flight, and in return he named the plane after Armour's grape soft drink "Vin Fiz". Rodgers left from Sheepshead Bay, New York, on September 17, 1911, at 4:30 pm, carrying the first transcontinental mail pouch. He crossed the Rocky Mountains on November 5, 1911, and landed at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, at 4:04 pm, in front of a crowd of 20,000 people. He had missed the prize deadline by 19 days. He was accompanied on the ground by a support crew that repaired and rebuilt the plane after each crash landing. The trip required 70 stops.

On December 10, 1911, he flew to Long Beach, California, and symbolically taxied his plane into the Pacific Ocean.

Timeline

• 1911 James J. Ward, failed attempt[1]
• 1911 Henry Atwood, failed attempt
• 1911 Calbraith Perry Rodgers start: September 17, 1911, at 4:30 pm; finish: November 5, 1911 [2][3]
• 1912 (circa) Robert George Fowler
• 1923 First non-stop flight from Long Island, New York to Rockwell Field, San Diego by Lt. John Macready and Lt. Oakley Kelly in a Fokker T-2[4]
• 1929 The Buhl Airsedan "Spokane Sun-God" was the first aircraft to make a non-stop US transcontinental round-trip flight on August 15, 1929 (Nick Mamer and Art Walker flew it from Spokane, Washington, to New York City and back between August 15 and 21, 1929, taking 120 hours 1 minute 40 seconds[5]).
• 1930 Frank Hawks flew from San Diego to New York in a towed glider leaving San Diego March 30, 1930 and arriving in New York eight days later.[6]
• 1933 Transcontinental passenger flights in as little as 20 hours on the Boeing 247.[7]
• 1934 First three-stop airline flights (TWA DC-2s)
• 1946 First one-stop airline flights (United DC-4s and TWA Constellations)[8]
• 1953 First sustained nonstop airline flights (TWA may have flown some LA-NY nonstops in 1947)
• 1957 First transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed. John Glenn flew from Naval Air Station Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.[9]

Transcontinental air speed record

In-flight and on-ground time are counted after the earliest flights

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Year	Date	Time	Direction	Pilot	Aircraft	Notes and reference
1911	September 17, 1911	3 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes	East to West	Calbraith Perry Rodgers	Vin Fiz Flyer	The first transcontinental flight. It took fifty days (3 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes actual flying time). Rodgers made it in some seventy hops, flying a Wright biplane which was damaged and repaired so many times en route that nothing remained of the original machine at the finish but the drip pan and the vertical rudder.
1919	October 11, 1919	3 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes	East to West	Belvin W. Maynard	DH-4	On the first leg of the "Transcontinental Air Race of 1919" which saw 33 planes cross the U.S. with 8 completing the round-trip (out of 67 which began the trip). Nine deaths occurred during what was officially the U.S. Army's "Transcontinental Reliability and Endurance Test"
1922	September 4, 1922	21 hours, 19 minutes	East to West	Jimmy Doolittle	DH-4	Pablo Beach, Florida, to San Diego, California, with only one refueling stop
1923	May 2–3, 1923	26 hours, 50 minutes, 38.4 seconds	East to West	Lt John A. Macready and Lt Oakley G. Kelly	Fokker T-2	First nonstop transcontinental flight: Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Rockwell Field, North Island, San Diego. Longest straight-line distance covered nonstop until then[10]
1924	June 23, 1924	20 hours, 48 minutes	East to West	Russell Maughan	Curtiss P-1 Hawk	First transcontinental flight "during hours of daylight". See also: Dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States, New York City to San Francisco, average speed 128 miles per hour
1929	February 4, 1929	18 hours, 22 minutes	West to East	Frank Hawks	Lockheed Air Express	Los Angeles to New York City with mechanic Oscar Grubb
1929	June 27, 1929	19 hours, 10 minutes	East to West	Frank Hawks	Lockheed Air Express[11]	New York City to Los Angeles[12]
1929	June 28, 1929	17 hours, 36 minutes	West to East	Frank Hawks	Lockheed Air Express	Los Angeles to New York City
1929	August 15, 1929	120 hours, 1 minutes 40 seconds[13]	West to East and East to West	Nick Mamer and Art Walker	Buhl Airsedan "Spokane Sun-God"	First non-stop transcontinental round-trip flight from Spokane, Washington to New York City and back
1930	April 20, 1930	14 hours, 45 minutes	West to East	Charles A. Lindbergh	Lockheed Sirius	Los Angeles to New York City.[14]
1930	May 27, 1930	18 hours, 43 minutes	East to West	Roscoe Turner	Lockheed Air Express	New York City to Los Angeles with 3 passengers.[15]
1930	Aug 13, 1930	12 hours, 25 minutes	West to East	Frank Hawks	Travel Air "Mystery S"	Los Angeles to New York City.[16][17]
1931	September 4, 1931	11 hours, 16 minutes, 10 seconds	West to East	Jimmy Doolittle	1931 Laird Super Solution	Completed for a bonus prize after winning the inaugural Bendix Trophy race, Los Angeles to Newark, averaged 217 miles per hour
1932	August 29, 1932	10 hours, 19 minutes	West to East	Jimmy Haizlip	Wedell-Williams Model 44	Completed after winning the 2nd annual Bendix Trophy race.[18]
1932	November 14, 1932	12 hours, 33 minutes	East to West	Roscoe Turner	Wedell-Williams Model 44	New York City to Burbank, California[19]
1933	July 1, 1933	11 hours, 30 minutes	East to West	Roscoe Turner	Wedell-Williams Model 44	New York to Burbank, California[20]
1933	September 2, 1934	10 hours, 2 minutes, 39 seconds	West to East	Roscoe Turner	Wedell-Williams Model 44	Burbank, California to New York[21]
1936	January 13, 1936	9 hours, 27 minutes	West to East	Howard Hughes	Northrop Gamma [22]	Burbank, California to Newark, New Jersey. Hughes took off from Burbank, California, on January 13, 1936, en route to Newark, New Jersey, and a new cross-country record. He made the flight in 9 hours, 27 minutes, 10 seconds, and bettered Roscoe Turner's previous mark by 36 minutes.
1937	January 19, 1937	7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds	West to East	Howard Hughes	Hughes H-1 Racer	nonstop Burbank, California to overhead Newark Airport, New Jersey
1939	February 11, 1939	7 hours, ? minutes	West to East	Benjamin S. Kelsey	XP-38[23]	7 hr 43 min March Field, California to overhead Mitchel Field, New York including 41 min on ground at Amarillo and Dayton
1945	January 9, 1945	6 hours, 4 minutes	West to East	Curtin L. Reinhardt	C-97 Stratofreighter	Seattle to Washington, D.C., average speed 0 mph
1945	May 1, 1945	5 hours, 40 minutes	West to East	Najeeb Halaby	[[ ]]	Muroc AFB to Patuxent River NAS, average speed 000 mph
1945	December 1945	5 hours, 17 minutes	West to East	Glen Edwards and Lt. Col. Henry E. Warden	XB-42 Mixmaster	In December 1945, Captain Glen Edwards and Lt. Col. Henry E. Warden set a new transcontinental speed record when they flew the XB-42 from Long Beach, California to Bolling Air Force Base in Washington DC (c. 2,300 miles) and in just 5 hours, 17 minutes, the XB-42 set a speed record of 433.6 mph (697.8 km/h).
1945	December 1945	5 hours, 27 minutes, 8 seconds	West to East	Col C. S. Irvine	Boeing B-29	Burbank, California to overhead Floyd Bennett Field, New York; average 450 miles/hour
1946	January 26, 1946	4 hours, 13 minutes, 26 seconds	West to East	Col W. H. Councill	Lockheed P-80	Long Beach, California to overhead La Guardia Airport, New York; nonstop, unrefuelled
1949	February 8, 1949	3 hours, 46 minutes	West to East		B-47 Stratojet	Larson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington to Andrews AFB near Washington DC, 607.8 mph average
1954	January 2, 1954	4 hours, 8 minutes, 5 seconds	West to East	Col Willard Millikan	North American F-86F	Los Angeles LAX to overhead New York Floyd Bennett; time includes stop for fuel at Offutt AFB
1954	March 30, 1954	4 hours, 24 minutes, 17 seconds	West to East	Joe DeBona	North American P-51C	Los Angeles LAX nonstop to New York Idlewild—still the prop record (560 mph)
1955	March 9, 1955	3 hours, 46 minutes, 33.6 seconds	West to East	Lt Col Robert Scott	Republic F-84F	Los Angeles LAX to overhead New York Floyd Bennett; two aerial refuelings
1957	March 23, 1957	3 hours, 39 minutes, 24 seconds	West to East		Douglas A3D?	Burbank CA to overhead Miami MCAS, FL
1957	May 19, 1957	3 hours, 38 minutes	West to East		N American F-100F	Palmdale CA to McGuire AFB, NJ
1957	July 16, 1957	3 hours, 23 minutes, 8.4 seconds	West to East	Major John H. Glenn, Jr., USMC	Vought F8U-1P Crusader	"Project Bullet" non-stop from NAS Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York at an average of Mach 1.1, despite three refuelings from AJ tankers during which speed dropped below 300 mph. Glenn's on-board reconnaissance camera recorded the first continuous panoramic photograph of the United States.
1957	November 27, 1957	3 hours, 7 minutes	West to East	Lieutenant Gustav Klatt[24]	F-101 Voodoo	"Operation Sun Run" with 4 RF-101Cs each refuelled four times by KC-135s; Ontario, California to overhead Floyd Bennett Field, New York, 781.7 mph West to East leg, 721.8 mph roundtrip average
1961	May 24, 1961	2 hours, 47 minutes, 18 seconds	West to East	Lieutenant Richard F. Gordon, Jr., U.S. Navy	McDonnell F4H	Ontario, California to overhead Floyd Bennett Field, New York; three aerial refuellings
1962	March 5, 1962	2 hours, 1 minute, 39 seconds	West to East	Robert G. Sowers	Convair B-58	overhead Los Angeles to overhead New York; one aerial refuelling
1990	March 6, 1990	1 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 seconds	West to East	Lt Col Ed Yeilding and Lt Col Joseph T. Vida	SR-71A Blackbird 61-7972	On delivery flight to the Smithsonian Institution, where the aircraft is now on display at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy center, this SR-71 set the current transcontinental air speed record. Yeilding and Vida crossed the west coast near Ventura, CA and, 2,404.5 miles later, crossed the east coast near Salisbury, MD averaging 2,124.51mph
2003	November 5, 2003	3 hours, 55 minutes, 12 seconds	East to West	Mike Bannister and Les Broadie	Concorde G-BOAG	Flying to museum at retirement of the aircraft, New York to Seattle

Junior transcontinental air speed record

For the junior record only in-flight time is counted at a certain speed

Year	Date	Time	Pilot	Aircraft	Reference
1928			Richard James (aviator)	Travel Air	Previous "record" of 48 hours, set last year by 18-year-old Richard James, was spread over a month elapsed time.
1930	October 4, 1930	East to West in 23 hours, 47 minutes	Robert Nietzel Buck	Pitcairn PA-6 Mailwing	On October 4, 1930 Robert beat the junior transcontinental air speed record of Eddie August Schneider in his PA-6 Pitcairn Mailwing he named "Yankee Clipper". His time was 23 hours, 47 minutes of elapsed flying time. Robert said on February 6, 2005: "I was the youngest to fly coast to coast and that record still stands. I had my license at 16 and after that, they raised the minimum age to 17. With that change, no one could break my record."
1930	August 18, 1930	East to West in 29 hours, 55 minutes	Eddie August Schneider	Cessna	Leaving from Westfield, New Jersey on August 14, 1930 to Los Angeles, California in 4 days with a combined flying time of 29 hours and 55 minutes. He lowered the East to West record by 4 hours and 22 minutes. He then made the return trip from Los Angeles to Roosevelt Field, New York in 27 hours, 19 minutes, lowering the West to East record by 1 hour and 36 minutes. His total elapsed time for the round trip was 57 hours, 14 minutes.
1930		East to West in 32 hours ? minutes	Frank Goldsborough		Combined East to West and West to East in 62 hours and 58 minutes.

Women's transcontinental air speed record

For the women's record, only in-flight time is counted

Year	Pilot	Time
1930	Ruth Nichols	13 hours, 21 minutes
1933	Amelia Earhart	13 hours, 7 minutes, 30 seconds
1934	Laura Ingalls	10 hours, 5 minutes

See also

• World record
• Dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States
• Flight altitude record
• Transcontinental railroad

References

1. "Flier, Seeking to Reach San Francisco, Lands at Calicoon Late in the Afternoon". New York Times. September 15, 1911. Retrieved November 25, 2010. James J. Ward, who left New York for San Francisco Wednesday, flying for the W.R. Hearst $50,000 prize for a transcontinental flight, reached Callicoon, N.Y., a few miles from here, at 4:35 o'clock this afternoon. He covered 59 1–10 miles in 57 minutes, having left Middletown, N.Y., at 3:38 o'clock.
2. "C. P. Rodgers' Aero Plunges into Surf at Long Beach. Hundreds See Tragedy. Hero of First Transcontinental Flight Victim of His Own Daring. When Lifted From Wrecked Machine His Neck Is Found to Be Broken. Birdman's Home in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Cousin of Lieut. Rodgers in Navy's Aerial Corps. Victim Author of Theory of 'Etherial Asphyxia.'". Washington Post. April 4, 1912. Long Beach, California, April 3, 1912. Calbraith P. Rodgers, the first man to cross the American continent in an aeroplane, was killed here almost instantly late today, when his biplane, in which he had been soaring over the ocean, fell from a height of 200 feet and buried him in the wreck. His neck was broken and his body mangled by the engine of his machine.
3. Pattillo, Donald M. (February 28, 2001). Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780472086719. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
4. "Fokker T-2". Collections. National Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
5. Meister, Richard L., Jr. (2000). "The Flight of the Spokane Sun-God". Aerofiles. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
6. "Glider is Towed by Plane Across the Nation". Popular Mechanics. 1930. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
7. Merritt, Larry (2003). "From mail-sack seats to sleeping berths and above-cloud routes". Boeing Frontiers. Boeing. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
8. Proctor, Jon; Machat, Mike; Kodera, Craig (2010). "The Jet Age Begins, Or Does It? (1949–1952)". From Props to Jets: Commercial Aviation's Transition to the Jet Age 1952–1962. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1580071994. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
9. "Biography of John H. Glenn". History. NASA. November 12, 2008. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
10. http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19240003000 NASM site
11. "Frank Hawks: The Story of the Legendary Speed Flying King » HistoryNet". Aviation History. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
12. Kinert 1967, p. 57
13. The Flight of the Buhl Airsedan Spokane Sun-God first airplane to make a non-stop transcontinental round-trip flight
14. Lockheed Sirius "Tingmissartoq", Charles A. Lindbergh National Air and Space Museum
15. Kinert 1967, p. 70
16. "Travel Air (Model R) "Mystery S" - USA". The Aviation History On-Line Museum. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
17. "Behind the name of Captain Frank M. Hawks, in aviation's record book today is set down the time of 12 hours, 25 minutes, 3 seconds for an eastward transcontinental flight, the fastest ever flown by man over the distance of 2,500 miles." Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, August 15, 1930; Valley Stream, New York; August 14, 1930 (Associated Press)
18. Glines 1995, p. 154
19. Glines 1995, p. 155
20. Glines 1995, p. 159
21. Glines 1995, p. 166
22. Wildenberg, Thomas (2007). "A visionary ahead of his time: Howard Hughes and the U.S. Air Force - Part I: The Air Corps Design Competition". Air Power History. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
23. "Sleek, Fast and Luckless". Time Inc. February 20, 1939. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
24. "Fact Sheets : Operation Sun Run : Operation Sun Run". Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2009.

Bibliography

• Glines, Carroll V. 1995. Roscoe Turner; Aviation's Master Showman. Smithsonian Institution Press ISBN 1-56098-798-7
• Kinert, Reed. 1967. Racing Planes and Air Races: A Complete History, Vol.2 1924-1931. Aero Publishers Inc ASIN B000J40KCU