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

In-flight and on-ground time are counted after the earliest flights
YearDateTimeDirectionPilotAircraftNotes and reference
1911September 17, 19113 days, 10 hours, 14 minutesEast to WestCalbraith Perry RodgersVin Fiz FlyerThe first transcontinental flight. It took fifty days. 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.
1919October 11, 19193 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes East to WestBelvin W. MaynardDH-4On the first leg of the "Transcontinental Air Race of 1919" which saw 33 planes cross the U.S. with 8 completing the round-trip. Nine deaths occurred during what was officially the U.S. Army's "Transcontinental Reliability and Endurance Test"
1922September 4, 192221 hours, 19 minutesEast to WestJimmy DoolittleDH-4Pablo Beach, Florida, to San Diego, California, with only one refueling stop
1923May 2–3, 192326 hours, 50 minutes, 38.4 secondsEast to WestLt John A. Macready and Lt Oakley G. KellyFokker T-2First nonstop transcontinental flight: Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Rockwell Field, North Island, San Diego. Longest straight-line distance covered nonstop until then
1924June 23, 192420 hours, 48 minutesEast to WestRussell MaughanCurtiss P-1 HawkFirst 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
1929February 4, 192918 hours, 22 minutesWest to EastFrank HawksLockheed Air ExpressLos Angeles to New York City with mechanic Oscar Grubb
1929June 27, 192919 hours, 10 minutesEast to WestFrank HawksLockheed Air ExpressNew York City to Los Angeles
1929June 28, 192917 hours, 36 minutesWest to EastFrank HawksLockheed Air ExpressLos Angeles to New York City
1929August 15, 1929120 hours, 1 minutes 40 secondsWest to East and East to WestNick Mamer and Art WalkerBuhl Airsedan "Spokane Sun-God"First non-stop transcontinental round-trip flight from Spokane, Washington to New York City and back
1930April 20, 193014 hours, 45 minutesWest to EastCharles A. LindberghLockheed SiriusLos Angeles to New York City.
1930May 27, 193018 hours, 43 minutesEast to WestRoscoe TurnerLockheed Air ExpressNew York City to Los Angeles with 3 passengers.
1930Aug 13, 193012 hours, 25 minutesWest to EastFrank HawksTravel Air "Mystery S"Los Angeles to New York City.
1931September 4, 193111 hours, 16 minutes, 10 secondsWest to EastJimmy Doolittle1931 Laird Super SolutionCompleted for a bonus prize after winning the inaugural Bendix Trophy race, Los Angeles to Newark, averaged 217 miles per hour
1932August 29, 193210 hours, 19 minutesWest to EastJimmy HaizlipWedell-Williams Model 44Completed after winning the 2nd annual Bendix Trophy race.
1932November 14, 193212 hours, 33 minutesEast to WestRoscoe TurnerWedell-Williams Model 44New York City to Burbank, California
1933July 1, 193311 hours, 30 minutesEast to WestRoscoe TurnerWedell-Williams Model 44New York to Burbank, California
1933September 2, 193410 hours, 2 minutes, 39 secondsWest to EastRoscoe TurnerWedell-Williams Model 44Burbank, California to New York
1936January 13, 19369 hours, 27 minutesWest to EastHoward HughesNorthrop GammaBurbank, 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.
1937January 19, 19377 hours, 28 minutes, 25 secondsWest to EastHoward HughesHughes H-1 Racernonstop Burbank, California to overhead Newark Airport, New Jersey
1939February 11, 19397 hours, ? minutesWest to EastBenjamin S. KelseyXP-387 hr 43 min March Field, California to overhead Mitchel Field, New York including 41 min on ground at Amarillo and Dayton
1945January 9, 19456 hours, 4 minutesWest to EastCurtin L. ReinhardtC-97 StratofreighterSeattle to Washington, D.C., average speed 0 mph
1945May 1, 19455 hours, 40 minutesWest to EastNajeeb Halaby Muroc AFB to Patuxent River NAS, average speed 000 mph
1945December 19455 hours, 17 minutesWest to EastGlen Edwards and Lt. Col. Henry E. WardenXB-42 MixmasterIn 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 and in just 5 hours, 17 minutes, the XB-42 set a speed record of 433.6 mph.
1945December 19455 hours, 27 minutes, 8 secondsWest to EastCol C. S. IrvineBoeing B-29Burbank, California to overhead Floyd Bennett Field, New York; average 450 miles/hour
1946January 26, 19464 hours, 13 minutes, 26 secondsWest to EastCol W. H. CouncillLockheed P-80Long Beach, California to overhead La Guardia Airport, New York; nonstop, unrefuelled
1949February 8, 19493 hours, 46 minutesWest to EastB-47 StratojetLarson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington to Andrews AFB near Washington DC, 607.8 mph average
1954January 2, 19544 hours, 8 minutes, 5 secondsWest to EastCol Willard MillikanNorth American F-86FLos Angeles LAX to overhead New York Floyd Bennett; time includes stop for fuel at Offutt AFB
1954March 30, 19544 hours, 24 minutes, 17 secondsWest to EastJoe DeBonaNorth American P-51CLos Angeles LAX nonstop to New York Idlewild—still the prop record
1955March 9, 19553 hours, 46 minutes, 33.6 secondsWest to EastLt Col Robert ScottRepublic F-84FLos Angeles LAX to overhead New York Floyd Bennett; two aerial refuelings
1957March 23, 19573 hours, 39 minutes, 24 secondsWest to EastDouglas A3D?Burbank CA to overhead Miami MCAS, FL
1957May 19, 19573 hours, 38 minutesWest to EastN American F-100FPalmdale CA to McGuire AFB, NJ
1957July 16, 19573 hours, 23 minutes, 8.4 secondsWest to EastMajor John H. Glenn, Jr., USMCVought 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.
1957November 27, 19573 hours, 7 minutesWest to EastLieutenant Gustav KlattF-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
1961May 24, 19612 hours, 47 minutes, 18 secondsWest to EastLieutenant Richard F. Gordon, Jr., U.S. NavyMcDonnell F4HOntario, California to overhead Floyd Bennett Field, New York; three aerial refuellings
1962March 5, 19622 hours, 1 minute, 39 secondsWest to EastRobert G. SowersConvair B-58overhead Los Angeles to overhead New York; one aerial refuelling
1990March 6, 19901 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 secondsWest to EastLt Col Ed Yeilding and Lt Col Joseph T. VidaSR-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
2003November 5, 20033 hours, 55 minutes, 12 secondsEast to WestMike Bannister and Les BroadieConcorde G-BOAGFlying 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
YearDateTimePilotAircraftReference
1928Richard James Travel AirPrevious "record" of 48 hours, set last year by 18-year-old Richard James, was spread over a month elapsed time.
1930October 4, 1930East to West in 23 hours, 47 minutesRobert Nietzel BuckPitcairn PA-6 MailwingOn 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."
1930August 18, 1930East to West in 29 hours, 55 minutesEddie August SchneiderCessnaLeaving 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.
1930East to West in 32 hours ? minutesFrank GoldsboroughCombined 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
YearPilotTime
1930Ruth Nichols13 hours, 21 minutes
1933Amelia Earhart13 hours, 7 minutes, 30 seconds
1934Laura Ingalls10 hours, 5 minutes