Friendship One was a successful attempt at beating the round-the-world air speed record.
The flight was conducted from January 29 to January 30, 1988, and was operated by a
Boeing 747SP
The Boeing 747SP (for ''Special Performance'') is a shortened version of the Boeing 747 wide-body airliner, designed for a longer range.
Boeing needed a smaller aircraft to compete with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar t ...
owned by United Airlines.
A charitable foundation, the
Friendship Foundation, was established and all money went to children's charities.
A ticket on the flight cost USD
$5,000, and, in total, the flight raised about $500,000.
A total of 141 passengers were on board, including
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
and
Bill Lear
William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding Learjet, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery, and developed the ...
's widow,
Moya.
The previous speed record of 45 hours, 26 minutes, and 55 seconds was set by a
Gulfstream III
The Gulfstream III, a business jet produced by Gulfstream Aerospace, is an improved variant of the Grumman Gulfstream II.
Design and development
The Gulfstream III was built at Savannah, Georgia, in the United States and was designed as an im ...
business jet.
Friendship One, captained by none other than
Clay Lacy
Hershel Clay Lacy (born August 14, 1932) is the founder and former chief executive officer of Clay Lacy Aviation, established in 1968 as the first executive jet charter company in the Western United States.
His professional resume includes airli ...
, followed a 23,125-mile route from
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
to refueling stops in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, and back to Seattle.
It completed the trip in 36 hours, 54 minutes, and 15 seconds.
Later in 1988, a
Gulfstream IV
The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States, ...
made a similar eastbound circumnavigation in 36 hours, 8 minutes, which stands as the world record as of 2013.
References
{{reflist
Aviation records
Circumnavigations