"Question Mark (aircraft) Question Mark (""""?"""") was a modified Atlantic-Fokker C-2A transport airplane of the United States Army Air Corps. In 1929, commanded by Major Carl A. Spaatz, it was flown for a flight endurance record as part of an experiment with aerial refueling. ""Question Mark"" established new world records in aviation for sustained flight (heavier-than-air), refueled flight, sustained flight (lighter-than-air), and distance between January 1 and January 7, 1929, in a non-stop flight of more than 150 hours near Los Angeles, California. Following the record-setting demonstration, the C-2A was returned to transport duties. In 1931 more powerful engines replaced"
"300 hp Wright J-6s. Late in the series, some -300s were fitted with 420 hp Pratt & Whitney Wasps, leading to the CH-400 Skyrocket series. Pacemakers were renowned for their long-distance capabilities as well as reliability and weight lifting attributes, which contributed to their successful operation throughout the world. In 1929, George Haldeman completed the first nonstop flight from New York to Cuba in 12 hours, 56 minutes, flying an early CH-300 (c. 1,310 miles, 101.3 mph). In 1931, a Bellanca fitted with a Packard DR-980 diesel, piloted by Walter Lees and Frederick Brossy, set a record for staying aloft"
"attempted, all by civilians, and nine succeeded in surpassing ""Question Mark""'s record. At the end of 1929 the record stood at over 420 hours, established by Dale ""Red"" Jackson and Forest E. ""Obie"" O'Brine in the Curtiss Robin ""Greater St. Louis."" The Air Corps followed up the flight of the ""Question Mark"" with a mission to demonstrate its applicability in combat. On May 21, 1929, during annual maneuvers, a Keystone LB-7 piloted by Moon took off from Fairfield Air Depot in Dayton, Ohio, on a simulated mission to New York City via Washington, D.C. Plans were for the bomber to"
"with replacement powerplants, giving rise to new designation numbers. The aircraft served with private pilot owners both pre and post World War II. In 1930, the first Collegiate M-150 ""NC279V"" ""City of Los Angeles"" set an endurance record of 378 hours in flying the equivalent of 27,677 miles over Rosamond Dry Lake, California. The FAA civil aircraft register recorded two surviving airworthy examples as at August 2009. One was operated by a private owner in California. The other ""NC337"" was owned by Albert I. Stix and is on public display in the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum (HARM) at Dauster Field,"
"9 hrs. 9 min. 4 sec. In 1930, the record for flying around the world was not held by a fixed-wing aircraft, but by the ""Graf Zeppelin"", piloted by Hugo Eckener in 1929 with a time of 21 days. On June 23, 1931, Post and his navigator, Harold Gatty, left Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, in the ""Winnie Mae"" with a flight plan that would take them around the world, stopping at Harbour Grace, Flintshire, Hanover twice, Berlin, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk, Nome, where his propeller had to be repaired, Fairbanks where the propeller was replaced, Edmonton,"
"Oakland-Cleveland Air Derby, and another, ""Spokane Sun God"" was used to make the first nonstop roundtrip flight across the United States. Nick Mamer and Art Walker flew it from Spokane, Washington to New York City and back between 15 and 21 August 1929, taking 120 hours 1 minute 40 seconds for the trip and using inflight refuelling to make the distance. Another Airsedan, dubbed ""Miss Doran"", took part in the Dole Air Race but was lost at sea. Buhl Airsedan The Buhl AirSedan was a civil utility aircraft manufactured in the United States that holds the first transcontinental non-stop roundtrip"
"public relations purposes: generals Barney M. Giles, Curtis LeMay and Emmett O'Donnell, Jr. piloted three specially modified B-29s from Chitose Air Base in Hokkaidō to Chicago Municipal Airport, continuing to Washington, D.C., the farthest nonstop distance to that date flown by U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft and the first-ever nonstop flight from Japan to the U.S.. The distance covered was approximately 5,839 miles, or 9,397 kilometers. Two months later, Colonel Clarence S. Irvine commanded another modified B-29, ""Pacusan Dreamboat"", in a world-record-breaking long-distance flight from Guam to Washington, D.C., traveling 7,916 miles (12,740 km) in 35 hours, with a gross"
"Museum of the United States Air Force. Following the surrender of Japan, called V-J Day, B-29s were used for other purposes. A number supplied POWs with food and other necessities by dropping barrels of rations on Japanese POW camps. In September 1945, a long-distance flight was undertaken for public relations purposes: Generals Barney M. Giles, Curtis LeMay, and Emmett O'Donnell Jr. piloted three specially modified B-29s from Chitose Air Base in Hokkaidō to Chicago Municipal Airport, continuing to Washington, D.C., the farthest nonstop distance (c.6400 miles) to that date flown by U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft and the first-ever nonstop"
"Louis, and from September 21 to 25, Spokane’s Air Derby and National Air Races, one of the first and most successful of such events in the United States. In August 1929, Felts Field hosted the spectacular cross-country endurance flight by Nicholas Bernard Mamer in his ""Spokane Sun-God"". Mamer and his mechanic and copilot, Art Walker, were in the air continuously for 120 hours and covered 7,200 miles, with the plane refueled in flight. Their feat of endurance established several United States records. Commercial aviation activities of the 1920s, many extending into the 1930s, included the Inland-Eaglerock Sales Company, the Bigelow"
"of junior military aviator, and had the distinction of making more flights than any two aviators in the United States army. Lieutenant Taliaferro's most notable achievement in the world of aviation was made September 17, 1914 when he broke the American sustained flight record for pilot alone by remaining aloft 9 hours and 11 minutes. He would have remained aloft fully two hours more on this record-breaking flight had not a break occurred in his gasoline supply, necessitating volplaning to the ground. The machine in which Lieutenant Taliaferro was killed was a Curtiss military tractor, equipped with a 95 horsepower"
"Commercial C-1 Sunbeam The Commercial C-1 Sunbeam was a long-range biplane used in record-setting flights of the 1920s. The conventional landing gear-equipped biplane featured a two-seat open cockpit and a four-passenger enclosed cabin. The fuselage is constructed with welded steel tubing with fabric covering. The wheels were covered with large streamlined wheel pants. On 27 November 1929 Elinor Smith and Bobbie Trout set a 42-hour endurance record over Los Angeles flying a C-1 Sunbeam refueled three times from a Curtiss Carrier Pigeon mailpane. Although the Sunbeam was performing well, the Carrier Pigeon support plane had mechanical difficulties after the third"
"Operation Power Flite Operation Power Flite was a United States Air Force mission in which three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using in-flight refueling to stay aloft. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world. Led by Major General Archie J. Old, Jr. as flight commander, five B-52B aircraft of the 93rd Bombardment Wing of the 15th Air Force took off from Castle Air"
"circumnavigate the globe nonstop, when it made the journey in 94 hours and one minute in 1949, assisted by refueling the plane in flight. Operation Power Flite Operation Power Flite was a United States Air Force mission in which three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using in-flight refueling to stay aloft. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world. Led by Major General Archie"
"16 hours. De Havilland Puss Moth The de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth is a British three-seater high-wing monoplane aeroplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1929 and 1933. It flew at a speed approaching 124 mph (200 km/h), making it one of the highest-performance private aircraft of its era. The unnamed DH.80 prototype which first flew in September 1929 was designed for the flourishing private flying movement in the United Kingdom. It was a streamlined all-wooden aircraft fitted with the new de Havilland Gipsy III inverted inline engine that gave unimpeded vision across the nose without"
"Group on Tinian said ""most of us in the 40th knew little about the trip in September 1945 as we were busy preparing to fly our 45 B-29s home in October"". Two months later on November 19–20, Colonel Clarence S. Irvine and Lieutenant Colonel G. R. Stanley flew a long-distance testbed B-29 named ""Pacusan Dreamboat"" to a world's distance record of 7,916 miles (12,740 km) flying nonstop and unrefueled from Guam to Washington, D.C., taking 35 hours and 5 minutes. Their aircraft's gross weight was greater, at . 1945 Japan–Washington flight The 1945 Japan–Washington flight was a record-breaking air voyage"
"long-distance endurance flight that began on August 15, 1929. The flight utilized a Buhl Airsedan biplane named the ""Spokane Sun-God""; Mamer was at the controls, and was accompanied by Art Walker acting as mechanic and refueling hoseman. Beginning in Spokane, Mamer and Walker flew to San Francisco, on to New York City and back to Spokane five days later, without intermediate stops. Aerial refueling was accomplished at a number of points along the flight path (one was over Missoula on the return trip). Mamer and Walker did not sleep during those five days aloft. They set a number of records,"
"airborne 210 hours and 41 minutes. Some trouble was experienced, but the 31 civilian technicians from the San Antonio depot successfully repaired the XC-99 at Dover AFB. Jet engines had become extremely important to the Air Force by 1955. The Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber was the first full weapons system bomber. Designed in 1945, the B-47 was powered by six General Electric J47 turbojet engines and featured swept-back wings and tail surfaces. Its mission was to deliver conventional or nuclear ordnance to enemy targets. On 30 November 1959, a B-47 bomber set a world endurance record, remaining airborne for three"
"would prove popular in agriculture, police work and other duties. In 1964, Hughes introduced the slightly larger three-seat Model 269B which it marketed as the Hughes 300. That same year, the Hughes 269 set an endurance record of 101 hours. To set the record, two pilots took turns piloting the aircraft and hovered in ground-effect for fueling. To ensure no cheating, eggs were attached to the bottom of the skid gear to register any record-ending landing. The Hughes 300 was followed in 1969 by the improved Hughes 300C (sometimes 269C), which first flew on 6 March 1969 and received FAA"
"28 May 1931 by a Bellanca CH-300 fitted with a DR-980 diesel engine, piloted by Walter Edwin Lees and Frederic Brossy, set a record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled. The first attempt at this flight was marred by the failure of a propeller pitch-change motor, and they had to make an emergency landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. On a test flight on September 29, 1986, the airplane had to make an emergency landing due to a propeller blade departing the aircraft. As a result, the decision was made to switch to aluminium"
"He commented that the Constellation's wingspan was longer than the distance of his first flight. On September 29, 1957, a TWA L-1649A flew from Los Angeles to London in 18 hours and 32 minutes (about at ). The L-1649A holds the record for the longest-duration, non-stop passenger flight aboard a piston-powered airliner. On TWA's first London-to-San Francisco flight on October 1–2, 1957, the aircraft stayed aloft for 23 hours and 19 minutes (about at ). The advent of jet airliners such as the de Havilland Comet, Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8, Convair 880, and Sud Aviation Caravelle rendered the piston-engine Constellation"
"a flight duration record that stood for three years. Six, possibly fourteen, of these aircraft were operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, and another two by the United States Navy. All of the Army aircraft, S.C. 56-59 and 94-95, were assigned to the first U.S. aviation unit based overseas, the 1st Company, 2d Aero Squadron at Fort Mills, Corregidor, in March and April 1916, where they used a radio transmitter with a range of 29 miles to adjust battery fire for the Coast Artillery. Martin S The Martin S was a two-seat observation seaplane produced in the United"
"it marketed as the Hughes 300. That same year, the Hughes 269 set an endurance record of 101 hours. To set the record, two pilots took turns piloting the aircraft and hovered in ground-effect for fueling. To ensure no cheating, eggs were attached to the bottom of the skid gear to register any record-ending landing. The Hughes 300 was followed in 1969 by the improved Hughes 300C (sometimes 269C), which first flew on 6 March 1969 and received FAA certification in May 1970. This new model introduced a more powerful 190 hp (140 kW) Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine and an increased-diameter"
"ended, with a few even being employed as flying television transmitters for the Stratovision company. The B-29 served in various roles throughout the 1950s. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 as the ""Washington"" until phasing out the type in 1954. The Soviet Union produced an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy as the Tupolev Tu-4. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft and trainers including the B-50 Superfortress (the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop) which was essentially a re-engined B-29. The type was retired in the early 1960s. The B-29 production"
"mi (18,290 km) with a flight time of 125 hr 5 min. The first Iris III flew on 21 November 1929, with the three Iris IIIs equipping No. 209 Squadron which reformed at RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth in January 1930. 209 Squadron continued the pattern of long-range flights carried out by the Iris II, with one Iris visiting Reykjavík in June 1930 to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the Icelandic Althing (parliament), and another making the first crossing of the Bay of Biscay by flying boat when visiting Lisbon in August 1930. The first Iris III was destroyed in a"
"1945 Japan–Washington flight The 1945 Japan–Washington flight was a record-breaking air voyage made by three specially modified Boeing B-29 Superfortresses on September 18–19, 1945, from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō to Chicago in the Midwestern United States, continuing to Washington, D.C. The flight was made by three United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) generals and other airmen returning to the United States from their overseas duty after World War II. At that date, it involved the heaviest load carried by an American aircraft (144,000 lb, 65,300 kg), the longest nonstop flight made by the USAAF (5,840 mi, 9,400 km),"
"the A160T demonstrated its ability to hover out of ground effect (HOGE) at 15,000 feet to meet its DARPA milestone. It then surpassed the milestone during the same flight by repeating the HOGE at 20,000 feet altitude. A week later, starting the night of May 14, the A160T demonstrated its un-refueled endurance capabilities with an 18.7-hour flight, landing with over 90 minutes of fuel still on board. This was recognized as the longest un-refueled flight of any rotorcraft, and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) awarded Boeing the official endurance record in the 500 kg to 2,500 kg autonomously controlled UAV"
"and the first nonstop flight from Japan to the United States made with a complete aircraft. However the flight did not break the then-world distance record established by the Royal Air Force in 1938. Originally intending to fly nonstop to Washington, D.C., the airmen encountered unexpected headwinds over Alaska Territory and Canada, and they predicted that two of the aircraft would not have enough fuel to take them the full distance. All three B-29s landed in Chicago instead, refueled, and continued to Washington, where each crewman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, including the three pilots: Generals Barney M. Giles,"
"its own had it begun earlier. LeMay piloted one of three specially modified B-29s flying from Japan to the U.S. in September 1945, in the process breaking several aviation records at that date, including the greatest USAAF takeoff weight, the longest USAAF non-stop flight, and the first ever non-stop Japan–Chicago flight. One of the pilots was of higher rank: Lieutenant General Barney M. Giles. The other two aircraft used up more fuel than LeMay's in fighting headwinds, and they could not fly to Washington, D.C., the original goal. Their pilots decided to land in Chicago to refuel. LeMay's aircraft had"
"to B-52s at Travis. With the conversion to B-52s, the wing gained the 916th Air Refueling Squadron and its KC-135A air refueling aircraft. However, as SAC continued to disperse its B-52 force, the 31st Squadron moved to Beale Air Force Base and was assigned to the 4126th Strategic Wing. On 14 December 1960, a wing B-52G set a record breaking flight of 10,078.84 miles without refueling. The flight lasted 19 hours and 44 minutes. Starting in 1960, one third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet"
"record. The distance of , over a total of forty nine hours and twenty minutes helped to establish a distance record, was the first known non-stop flight whose distance surpassed either English (5,000 mi) or metric (8,000 km) mark. The plane itself was shipped back on the SS Exochorda. The aircraft was later sold to people from Cleveland, Ohio. With the addition of a new motor, and renamed ""The Clevelander"", the plane eventually crashed into the side of a mountain in Mexico, in 1948. Before its record-setting flight, photos of the ""Cape Cod"" were taken by Boston Herald photographer Leslie"
"and all associated machinery. While this gave ""24r"" more than enough lift, it limited its top speed to 35 mph (56 km/h). It was intended that the rear power car would be eventually replaced with one of lighter design, but this was never carried out, and ""24r"" operated throughout the war with only three engines. On one occasion, this led to a situation over Bass Rock where the airship was held immobilised by a headwind, prevented from making any headway at all. It was eventually retired in December 1919 with a total flight time of 164 hours and 40 minutes"
"1920. In the mid-1920s he test flew aircraft for the Stout Engineering Company. He and Frederick Brossy made a world's non-refueling duration record at Jacksonville Beach, Florida, in 1931 with a flight time of 84 hours and 32 minutes in a Bellanca J2 Diesel. His military service included five years as a pilot in the Air Force Reserve Command, and 20 years as pilot in the United States Navy Reserve, and 6 years active duty with the Navy from 1940 to 1946. He retired from the Navy in 1948 with the rank of Commander. He was active in aviation for"
"Blériot 155 The Blériot 155 (or Bl-155) was a French airliner of the 1920s. It was a four-engined biplane developed from the Blériot 115 and 135, but larger than these aircraft. Two were built for use by Air Union on their Paris-London route. Both were lost in accidents in 1926. In 1926, Robert Bajac piloted one of the 155s to break the world absolute aerial duration records for powered aircraft. On 26 March, he stayed aloft 3 hours 46 minutes 35 seconds with a 1,500 kg payload aboard, thereby not only breaking the record for this weight payload, but also"