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, 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 -

- 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

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, 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

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