Posted on July 14, 2019
There are so many world records and so many "firsts" accomplished around the world, probably every single day, that I could probably write a story called "First and Fastest" every day.
Today's story is about human flight:
On this date in 1911, an exhibition pilot landed a plane on the White House lawn. This was less than eight years after the first brief flight performed by the Wright Brothers - and already one of their exhibition pilots, Henry Atwood, was dazzling top D.C. officials!
Later, President Taft awarded Atwood with a Gold Medal.
Flash forward more than half a century...
On this date in 1938, pilot and businessman Howard Hughes set a new world record - by flying around the world in just 91 hours! This beat the old record by - get this! - almost four days!!
Even though Hughes had already become rich and successful in business, including in "show biz" (he was a movie producer)...
Even though Hughes was known among many Hollywood fans because he had dated actors like Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers...
It was this world record that made Hughes really famous, and New York City even threw him a ticker-tape parade.
In case you're wondering, Hughes flew around the world with a Lockheed 14 Super Electra twin-engine plane and a crew of four: in addition to his own role as pilot, Hughes included on this record-breaking flight a co-pilot, a navigator, an engineer, and a mechanic. There was also a man on the ground who worked as a flight operations manager. Hughes' plane was the latest in 1938 aeronautics technology, including a top-notch radio and navigation equipment
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| Hughes' voyage included legs from New York City to Paris (France); Moscow, Omsk, and Yakutsk (Russia); Fairbanks (Alaska), Minneapolis (Minnesota), and then back to NYC. |
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