Fokker F . IV The Fokker F . IV was an airliner designed in the Netherlands in the early 1920s , with only two ever made , both for the United States Army Air Service . Design and development . The Fokker F . IV was constructed in a typical Fokker style ( although the largest design they had yet built ) high - wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailskid undercarriage . The pilot sat in an open cockpit alongside the engine in the manner of the Fokker F . III , while a cabin inside the fuselage could seat 12 passengers . Before the aircraft had even been built , the United States Army Air Service had bought two examples during a promotional visit to the country by Anthony Fokker . Built at Fokker ' s factory at Veere and flight - tested by Anthony Fokker himself , the two aircraft were crated up and shipped to the United States where they were erected at McCook Field and given the designation T - 2 . Despite Fokker ' s hopes that increasing airline passenger numbers would create interest in aircraft of larger seating capacity , the F . IV was too large for the needs of contemporary airlines , and no further aircraft were sold . Operational history . One of the T - 2s was used for a number of long distance flights over the next few years , culminating in the first non - stop transcontinental flight across the United States , an idea that originated with Lt Oakley G . Kelly , one of the T - 2 ' s test pilots . The Army agreed to let Kelly have the aircraft specially modified to carry more fuel , and to install a connecting doorway between the cabin and cockpit so that he and fellow test - pilot Lieutenant John A . Macready could take turns flying and resting . An extra set of controls was also installed to facilitate the handover from one pilot to the other . As modified , the T - 2 would take off with 2 , 350 L ( 620 US gal ) of fuel on board , making it 1 , 110 kg ( 2 , 450 lb ) over its prescribed maximum takeoff weight . In late 1922 , Kelly and Macready made two attempts at the transcontinental flight . The first was made on 5 October 1922 , departing San Diego , California for New York . After 35 hours 18 minutes in the air , they were forced to abandon the attempt and land due to fog . This would have been a world duration record , but without a barograph on board , it could not be officially recognized by the FAI . Kelly and Macready tried again on 3 November , but this time engine trouble forced an emergency landing near Indianapolis after 25 hours 30 minutes . The following year , they made a long - duration flight over a closed circuit over Dayton , Ohio , remaining aloft for 36 hours , 14 minutes 8 seconds between 16 and 17 April . This established a new world duration record , but also a new distance record , weight record , and eight various airspeed records . On 2 May , they set out from New York to attempt the transcontinental flight again , this time traveling in the opposite direction . 26 hours 50 minutes later , they landed in San Diego , having covered 4 , 034 km ( 2 , 521 mi ) . Their aircraft is preserved in the National Air and Space Museum . The other T - 2 was converted into an air ambulance and given the designation A - 2 .