100 years ago: the first successful RTW flight
Scheduled flights around the world (RTW) are nothing special these days, particularly in aviation. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the first successful round-the-world flight, which four of eight members of the US Air Force completed after 371 flying hours in 175 days, in which they travelled almost 42,400 km.
Four identical "Douglas World Cruiser" aircraft, which had been specially developed for the project, completed the first leg from Seattle to Prince Rupert on 6 April 1924, each with a crew of two, and then followed the western route. The southernmost point was Saigon, the northernmost Reykjavik.
While the aircraft named "Seattle" and "Boston" had to give up due to technical problems, two completed their journey on 28 September 1924 by reaching their starting point. Both are on display today, the "Chicago" at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and the "New Orleans" at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica. (ah)