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  • Interwar Development of Bombsights

    "... in order to drop a bomb so that it will strike at least in the vicinity desired, the use of a bomb sight is imperative. However, this sight must be simple enough ... to use it even under hostile fire."- American Expeditionary Force Booklet on High Altitude Bombsights, Aug. 20, 1918 During World

  • Quest for Higher Speeds

    Because of the constant striving for higher speeds for its pursuit planes, the Air Service participated in many races, both military and civilian, during the 1920s. One of the first of significance was on Nov. 25, 1920, when Lt. C.C. Moseley won the first Pulitzer Trophy Race in a Verville-Packard

  • Endurance Flights

    Click on the following links to learn more about endurance flights during the interwar years.Round-the-Rim FlightTranscontinental Reliability and Endurance TestFirst Alaskan FlightDoolittle's Atlantic-to-Pacific FlightFirst Air-to-Air RefuelingEndurance Flights PropellersFirst Transcontinental

  • Flight of the Question Mark

    In 1929 the U.S. Army Air Corps attempted to break the world's record for an endurance flight with an Atlantic-Fokker C-2A aircraft. To capture the public's attention, the Army Air Corps stated that the aircraft would remain aloft as long as possible, and to highlight the point, the aircraft was

  • Maughan’s Dawn-to-Dusk Flight

    The first dawn-to-dusk flight across the U.S. was by Lt. Russell L. Maughan on June 23, 1924, from Mitchell Field, Long Island, N.Y., to San Francisco, Calif. Taking off in a PW-8 at first light, Lt. Maughan raced the sun across the U.S. and after five refueling stops, landed at San Francisco 21

  • First Transcontinental Nonstop Flight

    The first nonstop flight across the United States was made by Lts. John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly in a Fokker T-2 airplane. Taking off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, N.Y., on May 2, 1923, the heavily loaded T-2 flew westward through both fair and foul weather (much of it at night) without

  • Endurance Flights Propellers

    (From left to right)Propeller used on the DH-4B flown by Lts. Lowell H. Smith and John P. Richter to received fuel during the U.S. Army Air Service's first aerial refueling on June 27, 1923.Propeller used on the DH-4B "tanker" flown by Lts. Virgil Hine and Frank W. Seifert during the refueling

  • First Air-to-Air Refueling

    On Oct. 5, 1922, Lts. John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly set a world endurance record of 35 hours, 18 minutes, 30 seconds in their Fokker T-2 airplane over San Diego, Calif., for which they received the Mackay Trophy. Had they not run low on gasoline, they could have remained in the air until

  • Doolittle's Atlantic-to-Pacific Flight

    The first transcontinental flight across the United States within a single day (24-hour period) was made by Lt. Jimmy Doolittle on Sept. 4, 1922. Flying a DH-4B, Lt. Doolittle took off from Pablo Beach, Fla., and landed at Rockwell Field near San Diego, Calif., covering a distance of 2,163 miles in

  • First Alaskan Flight

    The first flight from the continental U.S. to Alaska was made by four DH-4Bs under the command of Capt. St. Clair Streett. The flight departed Mitchel Field, Long Island, N.Y., on July 15, 1920, and arrived at Nome, Alaska, on Aug. 24. The same planes and crews returned to Mitchel Field on Oct. 20,