Transpacific flight

Last updated

The Southern Cross at an RAAF base near Canberra in 1943. Southern cross.jpg
The Southern Cross at an RAAF base near Canberra in 1943.

A transpacific flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Pacific Ocean from Australasia, East and Southeast Asia to North America, Latin America, or vice versa. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, balloons and other types of aircraft.

Contents

Though less common than transatlantic flights, transpacific flights have been commercially available since the mid-1930s and have been used for transport of cargo and passengers across the Pacific Ocean. The time and distance of transpacific flights are longer than transatlantic flights, thanks to the much broader width of the Pacific. The first transpacific flight occurred in 1928, nine years after the first transatlantic flight in 1919.

History

In 1927, Ernie Smith and Emory Bronte attempted the first civilian transpacific flight bound for Maui, Hawaii starting from Oakland, California. The duo "flew 25 hours and two minutes at 6,000 feet in a single-engine Travel Air 5000 monoplane, but ran out of gas and safely crash-landed on Molokai". A memorial was constructed to mark "the historic end to the first civilian transpacific flight". [1]

First transpacific flight

Route, shown on first edition cover of descriptive book of the flight Southern cross book 1928.jpg
Route, shown on first edition cover of descriptive book of the flight
Southern Cross 1928 StateLibQld 1 139254 Landing the aircraft, Southern Cross in Brisbane, Queensland, ca. 1928.jpg
Southern Cross 1928
A photograph commemorating the first trans-Pacific flight. StateLibQld 1 101040.jpg
A photograph commemorating the first trans-Pacific flight.

In 1928, Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew were the first to cross the Pacific by air. Smith and his relief pilot, fellow Australian Charles Ulm, arrived in the United States and began to search for an aircraft. Famed Australian polar explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins sold them a Fokker F.VII/3m monoplane, which they named the Southern Cross . [2]

At 8:54 a.m. on 31 May 1928, [2] Kingsford Smith and his crew left Oakland, California, to attempt the first trans-Pacific flight to Australia. The flight was in three stages. The first, from Oakland to Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii, [3] was 3,870 kilometres (2,400 mi), taking an uneventful 27 hours 25 minutes (87.54 mph). They took off from Barking Sands on Mana, Kauai, since the runway at Wheeler was not long enough. They headed for Suva, Fiji, 5,077 kilometres (3,155 mi) away, taking 34 hours 30 minutes (91.45 mph). This was the most demanding portion of the journey, as they flew through a massive lightning storm near the equator. [4] The third leg was the shortest, 2,709 kilometres (1,683 mi) in 20 hours (84.15 mph), and crossed the Australian coastline near Ballina [5] [6] [7] before turning north to fly 170 kilometres (110 mi) to Brisbane, where they landed at 10:50 a.m. on 9 June. The total flight distance was approximately 11,566 kilometres (7,187 mi). Kingsford Smith was met by a huge crowd of 26,000 at Eagle Farm Airport, and was welcomed as a hero. [8] [9] [10] [11] While Australians Kingsford Smith (main) and Ulm (relief) were the pilots, the other two crewmen were Americans, radio operator James Warner, and Captain Harry Lyon, who was navigator and engineer. [12]

The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia has a film biography of Kingsford Smith, called An Airman Remembers, [13] and recordings of Kingsford Smith and Ulm talking about the journey. [14]

Kingsford Smith's second flight

In early November 1934, Smith undertook a second transpacific flight. The 1928 transpacific flight took 27 hours and 28 minutes[ clarification needed ] and his 1934 flight took 14 hours and 59 minutes. By this point seven pilots, one of them a woman, had died attempting transpacific flights. [15]

First non-stop flight

On 5 October 1931, Clyde Pangborn, with co-pilot Hugh Herndon Jr, while piloting a Bellanca called Miss Veedol , crash-landed the plane in the hills of East Wenatchee, Washington, in the central part of the state, becoming the first people to fly non-stop across the northern Pacific Ocean. The 41-hour flight from Sabishiro Beach, Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, won them the 1931 Harmon Trophy, which symbolized the greatest achievement in flight for that year. [16] [17] The plane was "heavily modified to carry 930 US gallons (3,500 L) of fuel" and made without landing gear to save fuel. [18]

Other attempts

In July 1929, Harold Bromley attempted to fly from Tacoma, Washington to Tokyo, Japan in an orange Lockheed Vega monoplane purchased by lumberman John Buffelen, who raised $25,000 to acquire the plane. The gasoline tanks were overfilled causing gasoline to pour onto the windshield and into Bromley's goggles temporarily blinding him. The plane crashed by the runway, Bromley was unhurt and would later try again to cross the Pacific Ocean. [19]

Commercial flights

In 1935, the beginning of commercial transpacific flights to and from California began operation. On 22 November 1935, "Pan American Airlines' China Clipper launched its first transpacific flight, covering a distance of 8,000 miles (13,000 km)". A large "Martin M-130 seaplane departed from Alameda, in the Bay Area, and island-hopped to Oahu, Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines before arriving in Canton, China, with a cargo of mail". A year later, passenger flights using the same route were inaugurated by Pan American. California became the undisputed national leader of transpacific flights. [20] For the next year, Pan American planned for passenger flights, the China Clipper and its sister ships, the Philippine Clipper and Hawaii Clipper, focused on cargo transport including mail across the Pacific during this time. The route was ready for passenger service by October 1936. [21]

Records

In November 1981, the first successful transpacific balloon crossing was made in the balloon Double Eagle V . It launched from Nagashima, Japan on November 10, 1981, and landed in Mendocino National Forest in California 84 hours and 31 minutes later, covering a record 9,283 kilometres (5,768 mi). [22] The four-man crew consisted of Albuquerque balloonists Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, and Ron Clark, and thrill-seeking restaurateur Rocky Aoki, who helped fund the flight. After crossing the Pacific the helium-filled Double Eagle V, weighed down by ice and buffeted by a storm, crash-landed in northern California, ending the nearly 10,000-kilometre (6,000 mi) flight. No one was hurt. [23] [24]

On February 21, 1995, aviator Steve Fossett was the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon from South Korea to Leader, Saskatchewan. [25]

On 25 January 2015, pilots Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev flying the Two Eagles Balloon , surpassed the Double Eagle II duration record and Double Eagle V distance record after traveling 9,777 kilometres (6,075 mi) across the Pacific. [26] [27]

In 2015 and 2016, Solar Impulse 2 made a transpacific crossing while attempting to circumnavigate the world. The plane landed in Mountain View, California after three days of continuous flying from Hawaii. [28] The pilots only slept 20 minutes at a time, and the plane's cockpit had no heating or air conditioning. [29] The plane was piloted by two Swiss pilots: Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist, and André Borschberg, an engineer and entrepreneur. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Kingsford Smith</span> Australian aviator (1897–1935)

Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith, nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand.

<i>China Clipper</i> Pan American Airways Martin M-130 flying boat

China Clipper (NC14716) was the first of three Martin M-130 four-engine flying boats built for Pan American Airways and was used to inaugurate the first commercial transpacific airmail service from San Francisco to Manila on November 22, 1935. Built at a cost of $417,000 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, it was delivered to Pan Am on October 9, 1935. It was one of the largest airplanes of its time.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1935:

A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Latin America, or vice versa. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, balloons and other aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Musick</span> American pilot

Edwin Charles Musick was chief pilot for Pan American World Airways and pioneered many of Pan Am's transoceanic routes including the famous route across the Pacific Ocean, ultimately reaching the Philippine Islands, on the China Clipper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dole Air Race</span> 1927 fatal air race

The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was an air race across the Pacific Ocean from Oakland, California, to Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii held in August 1927 that resulted in several deaths.

<i>Smithy</i> (1946 film) 1946 Australian adventure film

Smithy is a 1946 Australian adventure film about pioneering Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith directed by Ken G. Hall starring Ron Randell. It was Hall's last feature film as a director.

<i>Southern Cross</i> (aircraft) Historically significant small fixed-wing aircraft

The Southern Cross is a Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor monoplane that was flown by Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harry Lyon and James Warner in the first-ever trans-Pacific flight to Australia from the mainland United States, a distance of about 11,670 kilometres (7,250 mi), in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin M-130</span> Flying boat

The Martin M-130 was a commercial flying boat designed and built in 1935 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, for Pan American Airways. Three were built: the China Clipper, the Philippine Clipper and the Hawaii Clipper. All three had crashed by 1945. A similar flying boat design called the Martin 156 and named Russian Clipper, was built for the Soviet Union; it had a larger wing and twin vertical stabilizers.

<i>Lady Southern Cross</i>

The Lady Southern Cross was a Lockheed Altair monoplane owned by Australian pioneer aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Taylor (aviator)</span> Australian aviator and author

Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor,, commonly known as Bill Taylor, was an Australian aviator and author. He was born in Mosman, Sydney, and died in Honolulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Ulm</span> Australian aviator

Charles Thomas Philippe Ulm was a pioneer Australian aviator. He partnered with Charles Kingsford Smith in achieving a number of aviation firsts, serving as Kingsford Smith's co-pilot on the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. He and two others disappeared near Hawaii in 1934 while undertaking a test flight for an air service between Australia and the United States.

Keith Allison Virtue MBE was a pioneer Australian aviator. Sir Lawrence Wackett, in the foreword of Keith Virtue's biography, writes that he was an experienced airman himself but he marvelled at the ability and skill of Keith Virtue and counts him as one of the greatest of the Australians who devoted their life's work to the task of pioneering airlines in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Warner (aviator)</span>

James Warner (1891–1970) was the radio operator on the aircraft Southern Cross piloted by Charles Kingsford Smith for the first trans-Pacific flight in 1928, during which radio was first used successfully on a long distance flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 1104</span> 1943 aviation accident in the United States

Pan Am Flight 1104, trip no. 62100, was a Martin M-130 flying boat nicknamed the Philippine Clipper that crashed on the morning of January 21, 1943, in Northern California. The aircraft was operated by Pan American Airways, and was carrying ten US Navy personnel from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to San Francisco, California. The aircraft crashed in poor weather into mountainous terrain about 7 mi (11 km) southwest of Ukiah, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China Clipper flight departure site</span> Historic airstrip in Alameda, California, USA

The China Clipper flight departure site is listed as California Historical Landmark number 968. It is the site from which Pan American World Airways initiated trans-Pacific airmail service on November 22, 1935. A flying boat named China Clipper made the first trip, and the publicity for that flight caused all flying boats on that air route to become popularly known as China Clippers. For a few years, this pioneering mail service captured the public imagination like the earlier Pony Express, and offered fast luxury travel like the later Concorde.

<i>Honolulu Clipper</i> Prototype Boeing 314 flying boat

Honolulu Clipper was the prototype Boeing 314 flying boat designed for Pan American Airways. It entered service in 1939 flying trans-Pacific routes.

VPB-29 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Pacific Air Detachment on 17 January 1923, redesignated Patrol Squadron 14 (VP-14) on 29 May 1924, redesignated Patrol Squadron 1-Naval District 14 (VP-1D14) on 21 September 1927, redesignated Patrol Squadron 1-B (VP-1B) on 1 July 1931, redesignated Patrol Squadron 1-F (VP-1F) on 15 April 1933, redesignated Patrol Squadron 1 (VP-1) on 1 October 1937, redesignated Patrol Squadron 21 (VP-21) on 1 July 1939, redesignated Patrol Squadron 1 (VP-1) on 30 July 1940, redesignated Patrol Squadron 101 (VP-101) on 3 December 1940, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 29 (VPB-29) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 20 June 1945.

Transpacific crossings are voyages of passengers and cargo across the Pacific Ocean between Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Transpacific voyages frequently cross the International Date Line. The first recorded crossing of the Pacific was a Spanish expedition led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan of 1521. Commercial transpacific flights have been available since 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Vincent Anderson</span> Australian aviator (1898-1929)

Keith Vincent Anderson was an Australian pioneer aviator. In 1927 Anderson and his co-pilot, "Bobby" Hitchcock, undertook a round-Australia flight. Anderson and Hitchcock died in 1929, after a forced landing in the desert, during the search for Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew, who had been forced to land in Western Australia on the first leg of a flight in the Southern Cross aircraft to London.

References

  1. ↑ Carroll, Marcie; Carroll, Rick (2009). The Unofficial Guide to Maui (4 ed.). New York: Wiley. pp. 173–174. ISBN   978-0-470-37998-1 . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  2. 1 2 "7.30 report story about Charles Ulm". ABCnet.au. 31 May 1928. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  3. ↑ "Charles Kingsford-Smith – Hawaii Aviation". Hawaii.gov. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Great Pacific Flight". Flight . 20 (1016): 437. 14 June 1928. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Kingsford-Smith, Charles; C. T. P. Ulm (1928). Story of "Southern Cross" Trans-Pacific Flight, 1928. Sydney: Penlington and Somerville.
  6. ↑ "Ballina Aero Club". Ballina Aero Club. 9 June 1928. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Far North Coaster". Far North Coaster. 23 May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  8. ↑ Aviators - Charles Kingsford-Smith Archived 15 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine - (includes photo of the plaque commemorating the flight across the Pacific and the landing at Brisbane on 9 June 1928)
  9. ↑ "Brisbane - Eagle Farm - History of Eagle Farm - ourbrisbane.com". 24 January 2004. Archived from the original on 24 January 2004. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Photo of Southern Cross, and welcoming crowd, at Eagle Farm on 9 June 1928 (National Archives of Australia)
  11. ↑ "Magnificent Machines – Home-grown Legends (Sydney Morning Herald)". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 December 2003. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Lyon, Harry W. Captain; Kingsford-Smith, Charles Sir, 1897-1935; Warner, James. (Interviewee); 2GB (Radio station : Sydney, N.S.W.) (1958), Reminiscences of flights in the "Southern Cross" , retrieved 2 February 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ National Film and Sound Archive of Australia: 'An Airman Remembers' Archived 5 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine on australianscreen online Archived 2 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ National Film and Sound Archive of Australia: 'Our Heroes of the Air' Archived 31 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Butler, Susan (1999). East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN   978-0-7867-4579-1 . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr.: First to Fly Nonstop Across the Pacific (p 5)". Weider History Group. 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  17. ↑ Stratton, Benjamin J. (25 August 2017). "First transpacific flight creates Washington, Misawa bond". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  18. ↑ Paur, Jason (5 October 2010). "Oct. 5, 1931: First Nonstop Trans-Pacific Flight Ends in Cloud of Dust". Wired . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  19. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (11 January 1998). "Harold Bromley, Aviator Lacking Lindbergh's Luck, Dies at 99". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  20. ↑ Osborne, Thomas J. (2013). Pacific Eldorado: A History of Greater California. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley. pp. 251–252. ISBN   978-1-4051-9454-9 . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  21. ↑ Romanowski, David (14 July 2014). "The First Transpacific Passenger Flight". National Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  22. ↑ Nelson, Ray (1985). Flight of the Pacific Eagle. Albuquerque: Transpac.
  23. ↑ "Ron Clark Died: September 26, 2010 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico". Evans.tributes.com. Evans Tributes. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  24. ↑ Marsh, Carole (1994). The Hawaii Hot Air Balloon Mystery. Gallopade International. p. 40. ISBN   978-0-7933-2418-7 . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  25. ↑ "Aviation Adventurer Steve Fossett Missing". CBS News. September 4, 2007. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  26. 1 2 Specia, Megan (30 January 2015). "Balloon pilots burst records with transpacific flight". Mashable. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  27. ↑ "Balloonists set records crossing Pacific" . Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  28. ↑ Shekhtman, Lonnie (24 April 2016). "Solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, completes trans-Pacific flight". Christian Science Monitor . Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  29. ↑ "Solar-plane pilots say trans-Pacific trip was also test of human endurance". Los Angeles Times . Associated Press. 24 April 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.