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, between the

East East 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 fact that ea ...

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 Jr. (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 inte ...

in an attempt to win the Hearst prize offered by publisher

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

. Hearst offered a $US50,000 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, 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 4:30 pm, carrying the first transcontinental mail pouch. He crossed the Rocky Mountains on November 5, 1911, and landed at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, at 4:04 pm, 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, Rodgers flew to Long Beach, California, and symbolically taxied his plane into the Pacific Ocean.

Timeline of early transcontinental flights

*1911 – 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 - Start: September 11, 1911; finish: February 8, 1912. *1923 – First non-stop flight from

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

to Rockwell Field,

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

by Lt. John Macready and Lt. Oakley Kelly in a Fokker T-2 *1929 – The Buhl Airsedan "Spokane Sun-God" was the first aircraft to make a non-stop US transcontinental round-trip flight on August 15, 1929 ( Nick Mamer 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 – Frank Hawks flew from San Diego to New York in a towed glider leaving San Diego March 30, 1930, and arriving in New York eight days later. *1932 – 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. *1934 – 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 first constellations were likely defin ...

). *1953 – First sustained nonstop airline flights (TWA may have flown some LA-NY nonstops in 1947). *1957 – First transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed.

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1 ...

flew from Naval Air Station Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.

Transcontinental air speed records

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