A transcontinental flight is a
non-stop passenger flight from one side of a continent to the other. The term usually refers to flights across the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, between the
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and
West Coasts.
History
The first transcontinental multi-stop flight across the United States was made in 1911 by
Calbraith Perry Rodgers
Calbraith Perry Rodgers (January 12, 1879 – April 3, 1912) was an American aviation pioneer. He made the first transcontinental airplane flight across the U.S. from September 17, 1911, to November 5, 1911, with dozens of stops, both intentio ...
in an attempt to win the
Hearst prize The Hearst prize was a $50,000 (approximately $ today) aviation prize offered by publisher William Randolph Hearst in October 1910 to the first aviator to fly coast to coast across the United States, in either direction, in fewer than 30 days fro ...
offered by publisher
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
. 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
Jonathan Ogden Armour (November 11, 1863 – August 16, 1927) was an American meatpacking magnate and only surviving son of Civil War–era industrialist Philip Danforth Armour. He became owner and president of Armour & Company upon the death of ...
, of
Armour and Company
Armour & Company was an American company and was one of the five leading firms in the meat packing industry. It was founded in Chicago, in 1867, by the Armour brothers led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company had become Chicago's mo ...
, 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 4:30pm, carrying the first transcontinental mail pouch. He crossed the Rocky Mountains on November 5, 1911, and landed at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, at 4:04pm, 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 of early transcontinental flights
*
1911
A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
-
James J. Ward, failed attempt.
*1911 -
Henry Atwood, failed attempt.
*1911 -
Calbraith Perry Rodgers
Calbraith Perry Rodgers (January 12, 1879 – April 3, 1912) was an American aviation pioneer. He made the first transcontinental airplane flight across the U.S. from September 17, 1911, to November 5, 1911, with dozens of stops, both intentio ...
- Start: September 17, 1911, at 4:30 pm; finish: November 5, 1911.
*
1912 -
Robert George Fowler
Robert George Fowler (August 10, 1884 – June 15, 1966) was an early aviation pioneer and was the first person to make a west-to-east transcontinental flight in North America in stages.
Biography
He was born on August 10, 1884 in San Francisco, ...
- Start: September 11, 1911; finish: February 8, 1912.
*
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
- First non-stop flight from
Long Island, New York to
Rockwell Field
Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California.
This airfield ...
,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
by
Lt. John Macready and
Lt. Oakley Kelly in a
Fokker T-2
*
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
- The
Buhl Airsedan
The Buhl AirSedan was a family of American civil cabin sesquiplane aircraft developed and manufactured by the Buhl Aircraft Company in the late 1920s. One example completed the first transcontinental non-stop roundtrip flight, made in 1929 by ...
"Spokane Sun-God" was the first aircraft to make a non-stop US transcontinental round-trip flight on August 15, 1929 (
Nick Mamer
Nicholas Bernard Mamer (1897 – January 10, 1938) was a noted American aviation pioneer and pilot in the Pacific Northwest during the 1920s and 1930s.
Early career
Mamer learned to fly in San Diego and served with the Aviation Section, U.S. ...
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).
*
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...
-
Frank Hawks
Frank Monroe Hawks (March 28, 1897 - August 23, 1938) was a pilot in the United States Army Air Service during World War I and was known during the 1920s and 1930s as a record breaking aviator, using a series of Texaco-sponsored aircraft, setting ...
flew from San Diego to New York in a towed
glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
leaving San Diego March 30, 1930 and arriving in New York eight days later.
*
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
- First scheduled cross-country through passenger flights (no change of plane).
*
1933 - Transcontinental passenger flights in as little as 20 hours on the
Boeing 247
The Boeing Model 247 is an early United States airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal ( anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear. .
*
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
- First three-stop airline flights (TWA DC-2s).
*
1946 - First one-stop airline flights (United DC-4s and
TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...
Constellations
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the earliest constellation ...
).
*
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...
- First sustained nonstop airline flights (TWA may have flown some LA-NY nonstops in 1947).
*
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
- First transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed.
John Glenn flew from
Naval Air Station Los Alamitos
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inc ...
, California to
Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...
, New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.
Transcontinental air speed record
In-flight and on-ground time are counted after the earliest flights
Junior transcontinental air speed record
For the junior record only in-flight time is counted at a certain speed
Women's transcontinental air speed record
For the women's record, only in-flight time is counted
See also
*
World record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
*
Dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States The "Dawn to dusk" transcontinental flight across the United States was a pioneering aviation record established June 23, 1924. It marked the first crossing of the North American continent within the hours of daylight.
The record was set by 1st Lt. ...
*
Flight altitude record
This listing of flight altitude records are the records set for the highest aeronautical flights conducted in the atmosphere, set since the age of ballooning.
Some, but not all of the records were certified by the non-profit international avia ...
*
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
*
Flyover country
Flyover country and flyover states are American phrases describing the parts of the contiguous United States between the East and the West Coasts. The origins of the phrases and the attitudes of their supposed users are a source of debate in ...
References
Bibliography
*Glines, Carroll V. 1995. ''Roscoe Turner; Aviation's Master Showman''. Smithsonian Institution Press
*Kinert, Reed. 1967. ''Racing Planes and Air Races: A Complete History'', Vol.2 1924-1931. Aero Publishers Inc ASIN B000J40KCU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transcontinental Flight
Civil aviation in the United States
Aviation records
Air racing
North American records