Insights Gleaned from the Inaugural Globe-Circling Voyage via Aviation
Insights Gleaned from the Inaugural Globe-Circling Voyage via Aviation
In this modern era of 15-hour continuous flights, it's hard to visualize a time when traveling a few hundred miles was a perilous venture. Yet, aviation in the early 1920s was frequently a lethal experience. This was less than two decades after the Wright brothers demonstrated that powered airplane flight was feasible.
Similar to the current commercial space race, the 1920s were a decade of aviation risk-taking and luck.
Three years prior to Charles Lindbergh's 1927 Atlantic crossing, a team of U.S. Army Air Service pilots achieved the first successful circumnavigation of the globe. Although not in a single flight, this feat involved a competitive race with France, Britain, Portugal, and Argentina. The Americans eventually emerged victorious.
In "Into Unknown Skies: An Unlikely Team, A Daring Race, and The First Flight Around the World," author David K. Randall recounts this largely unnoticed aviation achievement. Even aviation History buffs will find Randall's account fascinating and enlightening.
The flight marked a significant turning point in aerospace and coincided with the rapid expansion of the U.S. newspaper Industry. Reporters closely followed every new development during the lengthy westward journey around the world. Perhaps the most comparable coverage since then would be NASA's Apollo lunar landings.
The U.S. Army Air Service funded the project with the navy's full cooperation. Navy destroyers were strategically placed along the route to supply the aircraft with food, oil, gas, parts, tools, and even entire engines to keep the planes operational.
When funding for the project was approved by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, the Army Air Service selected Donald Douglas' DT2 biplane as their choice. Douglas, MIT's initial aerospace engineering graduate, established his company in Santa Monica, California.
Douglas named his company Douglas Aircraft and built his initial planes under contract with the U.S. Navy. The DT2's most successful model was the Douglas Torpedo 2, a single-engine seaplane.
However, the DT2 needed substantial modifications to make it suitable for a global journey. Douglas increased the DT2 biplane's range from 275 miles to over 2000 miles.
Renamed the Douglas World Cruiser, the plane featured two open-air cockpits - one for the pilot and one for the mechanic behind. The pilot and mechanic were both pilots, but the mechanic's role was crucial since, as noted by Randall, only they could repair anything that broke mid-flight.
With a top speed of 103 mph and a maximum altitude of just 5000 feet, the aircraft had to avoid mountains, as there were no radar systems during that era.
Four planes with eight crew members departed from Santa Monica, California, on April 5, 1924, stopping in Seattle.
The Douglas World Cruisers had a wingspan of 50 feet and a length of nearly 40 feet, fitting with a Liberty engine, a U.S. government invention from the beginning of World War I.
An Open-Air Biplane
Small glass windshields were installed in front of each seat, though they provided minimal protection against the elements. Fliers still needed goggles and leather helmets that provided both protection and insulation from drastically decreasing temperatures with altitude, Randall noted in his book.
From the Douglas plant in Santa Monica, the world cruisers flew up the Pacific coast to Seattle, where they were outfitted with pontoons on Lake Washington for water landings. However, before the journey's end, the planes switched back to regular landing gear for an overland journey from India to France.
Journey's End
When it was all over, the crews had flown a total of 26,345 miles over 175 days, facing mountains, swamps, deserts, sickness, icebergs, engine failure, and the vast Pacific Ocean, which they were the first to traverse by air.
A Necessary Look Back
In the 100th anniversary year of the first circumnavigation, it's astounding that it has taken so long for the world to acknowledge the need for newer, more efficient, and faster aviation transportation methods.
This means developing a new generation of supersonic transports for both the privileged few and the general public. Moreover, we need a revolutionary generation of spaceplanes that would take off from a conventional runway, enter suborbital space, and land again at their destination. This would enable passengers to travel from New York to Paris in just an hour, allowing for a 24-hour period of leaving and returning home.
As we reach the midpoint of this 21st century, there seems to be no notable public or industry support for pushing these technologies into fruition.
The Final Word?
This book offers many intriguing aspects worth studying for both the general public and aviation policy leaders in the U.S. It's both shocking and awe-inspiring to see how often these brave fliers risked their lives in pushing the boundaries of aviation technology during its formative years.
We owe them a debt of gratitude for their sacrifices, and now it's time to focus on creating the future of aviation technology.
The first flight around the world, achieved by a team of U.S. Army Air Service pilots in 1924, was a significant milestone in aviation history, made possible with the DT2 biplane from Douglas Aircraft. This event, largely unnoticed at the time, was funded by the U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and involved numerous challenges, including engine failures and traversing the Pacific Ocean for the first time by air.
During the 1920s, aviation was a decade of risk-taking and luck, much like the current space race. The Douglas World Cruiser, modified for the global journey, had a top speed of 103 mph and a wingspan of 50 feet, requiring the pilots to navigate mountains, deserts, and the Pacific Ocean.