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Event

First flight around the world

Flight by U.S. Army Air Service crews in 1924, in Douglas World Cruisers. Four planes started and two finished.

10 links, 1 backed by primary records

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Dates
6 Apr 1924 – 28 Sep 1924
Place
Seattle

Connections 10

involved

  • Douglas World Cruiser Primary record 12

    The Smithsonian gives 27,553 miles and 175 days. The National Archives gives 26,345 miles in 66 days.

  • Pictou stop on the route Scholarship & press 1
  • Douglas Aircraft Company built the aircraft Scholarship & press 1
  • Santa Monica Airport where the planes left from Scholarship & press 34

    The planes left Clover Field in March for the official start at Seattle, and stopped there again in September, a leg before the finish.

  • Seattle official start and finish Scholarship & press 1
  • Dutch Harbor stop on the route Scholarship & press 1
  • Japan stop on the route Scholarship & press 1
  • India stop on the route Scholarship & press 1
  • Paris stop on the route Scholarship & press 1
  • London stop on the route Scholarship & press 1
Timeline 1 date
  1. 6 Apr 1924 – 28 Sep 1924 First flight around the world
Proof 4 sources
  1. Douglas World Cruiser Chicago, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Scholarship & press
    Only the New Orleans and the Chicago completed the arduous 44,085 km (27,553 mi) flight. It took 175 days, with a flying time of 371 hours 11 minutes.
    but at Pictou, Nova Scotia, the prototype aircraft arrived to join the remaining two and became the Boston II.
    For the flight, the Air Service commissioned specially-built aircraft from the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California.
    After practice with the four flight aircraft in Santa Monica and San Diego, the crews headed north to Seattle, the official point of departure for the round-the-world flight. Shortly after setting off on the first leg of the trip on April 6, 1924
    arriving in Seattle on September 28. The 44,085 km (27,553 mi) flight was completed in 175 days-a flying time of 371 hours 11 minutes
    attempting to catch up with the others waiting at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, departed in questionable weather. The Seattle crashed into a mountainside after getting lost in fog. The airplane was destroyed, but luckily Martin and Harvey escaped with minor injuries.
    The three remaining World Cruisers continued on via the northern Pacific chain of islands en route to Japan.
    The three aircraft then traversed China, Indo-China, Siam (Thailand), Burma, India, Persia, Asia Minor, the Balkans, and France.
    From Strasbourg, they were escorted to Paris by the French Air Force, and there they received a tumultuous welcome from cheering crowds on July 14, Bastille Day. The next day they left Paris and landed in London.
  2. 1924 round-the-world fliers complete their mission, U.S. National Archives, Pieces of History blog, 28 Sep 2010. Primary record
    At 1:28 p.m. on September 28, 1924, two planes landing in Seattle made history. The Chicago and New Orleans had flown 26,345 miles in 66 days to become the first airplanes to circumnavigate the globe.
  3. Santa Monica Airport celebrates 100th anniversary of first flight around the world, Santa Monica Daily Press, 2024. Scholarship & press
    Four aircraft, each named after a US city, Seattle, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans, left Clover Field, Santa Monica, on 17 March 1924, for Sand Point in Seattle, Washington for the official start of the journey.
  4. Santa Monica to Celebrate the First Around the World Douglas World Cruisers, Flying Magazine, 2024. Scholarship & press
    The Douglas World Cruisers stood tall against the trees along the edge of the landing area at Clover Field on September 23, 1924.
Page history 1 change
  1. Tell Santa Monica's story and link entries to their stories (0.4.0)Alibek8f57652

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