Round the World Flights Graf Zeppelin (LZ-127) The Only Airship to Fly Round-the-World The Graf Zeppelin (LZ-127) was built by the Zeppelin Company. The commercial flights of the Graf Zeppelin, along with the Hindenburg, pioneered the first trans-Atlantic air service. The Graf Zeppelin was completed in 1928. The first trial flight was made on September 18, 1928, followed by additional flights on September 20, 26, 28, October 2 and 8th. On October 11, 1928 the Graf Zeppelin departed Friedrichshafen, Germany on its first trans-Atlantic crossing to Lakehurst, New Jersey. In 1929 the Graf Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen to make the first flight round-the-world by an airship. Here's the complete story of this most famous and memorable trip in the history of air transportation: The round-the-world flight attempt really began on May 14, 1929 when the Graf departed from Friedrichshafen for its trip to Lakehurst.

It didn't get too far when an engine breakdown forced a landing at Cuers, France. The engine was repaired and the Graf returned to Friedrichshafen. Mail carried on board the Graf received a one-line cachet reading "Due to mishap the flight was delayed for the first America trip". It became known as the "Interrupted America Flight." The mail was held at Friedrichshafen until August 1, 1929 when the Graf made another attempt to cross the Atlantic for Lakehurst (Leg #0). The delayed mail was backstamped in New York on August 5, 1929. Lakehurst was to become the official point of origin for the round-the-world trip. William Randolph Hearst had paid $100,000 dollars to finance this round-the-world trip conditioned on it beginning when it passed the Statue of Liberty in New York. On August 8, 1929 piloted by Dr Hugo Eckener, the Graf departed Lakehurst for its return flight to Friedrichshafen arriving there on August 10th (Leg #1). It carried a crew of forty with twenty two passengers and thousands of pieces of mail. Amongst the passengers were Charles E.

Rosendahl (US Navy Commander of the Zeppelin, Los Angeles), Lieutenant Jack Richardson, Lady Grace Drummond Hay (Hearst Press Rep) and Sir Hubert Wilkins (Arctic explorer). On August 15th the Graf then left Germany for Kasumigaura Naval Air Station near Tokyo, Japan arriving there on August 18th (Leg #2). On August 23rd the Graf bade farewell to Japan and headed for the United States flying over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge arriving at Los Angeles, California on August 26th (Leg #3). The following day it left LA for Lakehurst, New Jersey arriving there on August 29th (Leg #4). The Graf then returned to Friedrichshafen arriving there on September 4th (Leg #5). As you can see, the Graf Zeppelin round-the-world trip would be viewed from two perspectives. The Germans saw the round-the-world flight from Friedrichshafen to Friedrichshafen (Leg #2 to Leg #5 - 12 days, 11 hours, 28 minutes flying time).

The Americans would view the same round-the-world flight from Lakehurst to Lakehurst (Leg #1 to Leg #4 - 12 days 11 minutes flying time). Schedule of Distances: Leg #0 Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst, NJ 4391 miles Leg #1 Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen, Germany 4391 miles Leg #2 Friedrichshafen to Tokyo, Japan 6988 miles Leg #3 Tokyo to Los Angeles 5998 miles Leg #4 Los Angeles to Lakehurst 2996 miles Leg #5 Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen 4391 miles Special cachets and other postal markings were applied by each country (Germany, Japan and the United States) to the mail carried by the Graf Zeppelin on its round-the-world journey.

Postal rates from the United States: From Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen (#1) $1.05 letter/$0.35 card From Lakehurst to Tokyo, Japan $2.05 letter/$1.03 card From Lakehurst to Los Angles $3.02 letter/$1.51 card From Lakehurst to Lakehurst $3.52 letter/$1.76 card From Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen (#5) $1.20 letter/$0.60 card Postal rates from Japan: From Tokyo to Los Angeles Y2.10 letter/Y1.06 card From Tokyo to Lakehurst Y3.10 letter/Y1.56 card From Tokyo to Friedrichshafen Y5.10 letter/Y2.56 card Postal rates from Germany: From Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst (#0) M 4.0 letter/M 2.0 card From Friedrichshafen to Tokyo M 4.0 letter/M 2.0 card From Friedrichshafen to Los Angeles M 8.0 letter/M 4.0 card From Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst (#4) M10.0 letter/M 5.0 card From Friedrichshafen to Friedrich

shafen M14.0 letter/M 7.0 card It is interesting to note that Lady Grace Drummond-Hay as a passenger on this RTW voyage became the first woman to fly across the Pacific Ocean.

RETURN to Home Page. Famous Firsts in Aviation Famous Firsts in Aviation Virgin Atlantic's Globalflyer 1783 First balloon flight. Jacques and Joseph Montgolfier of Annonay, France, sent up a small smoke-filled balloon about mid-November. First hydrogen-filled balloon flight. Jacques A. C. Charles, Paris physicist, supervised construction by A. J. and M. N. Robert of a 13-foot-diameter balloon that was filled with hydrogen. It got up to about 3,000 ft and traveled about 16 mi in a 45-minute flight (Aug. 27). First human balloon flights. A Frenchman, Jean Pilâtre de Rozier, made the first captive-balloon ascension (Oct. 15). With the Marquis d'Arlandes, Pilâtre de Rozier made the first free flight, reaching a peak altitude of about 500 ft, and traveling about 51/2 mi in 20 min. (Nov. 21). 1784 First powered balloon. Gen.

Jean Baptiste Marie Meusnier developed the first propeller-driven and elliptically shaped balloon—the crew cranking three propellers on a common shaft to give the craft a speed of about 3 mph. First balloon flight by a woman. Mme. Thible, a French opera singer (June 4). 1793 First balloon flight in America. Jean Pierre Blanchard, a French pilot, made it from Philadelphia to near Woodbury, N.J., in just over 45 min. (Jan. 9). 1794 First military use of the balloon. Jean Marie Coutelle, using a balloon built for the French Army, made two 4-hour observation ascents. The military purpose of the ascents seems to have been to damage the enemy's morale. 1797 First parachute jump. André-Jacques Garnerin dropped from about 6,500 ft over Monceau Park in Paris in a 23-foot-diameter parachute made of white canvas with a basket attached (Oct. 22). 1843 First air transport company. In London, William S. Henson and John Stringfellow filed articles of incorporation for the Aerial Transit Company (March 24). It failed.

1852 First dirigible. Henri Giffard, a French engineer, flew in a controllable (more or less) steam-engine-powered balloon, 144 ft long and 39 ft in diameter, inflated with 88,000 cu ft of coal gas. It reached 6.7 mph on a flight from Paris to Trappe (Sept. 24). 1860 First aerial photographers. Samuel Archer King and William Black made two photos of Boston, which are still in existence. 1872 First gas-engine-powered dirigible. Paul Haenlein, a German engineer, flew in a semi-rigid-frame dirigible, powered by a 4-cylinder internal-combustion engine running on coal gas drawn from the supporting bag. 1873 First transatlantic attempt. The New York Daily Graphic sponsored the attempt with a 400,000-cubic-foot balloon carrying a lifeboat. A rip in the bag during inflation brought the collapse of the balloon and the project. 1897 First successful metal dirigible.

An all-metal dirigible, designed by David Schwarz, a Hungarian, took off from Berlin's Tempelhof Field and, powered by a 16-horsepower Daimler engine, got several miles before leaking gas caused it to crash (Nov. 13). 1900 First zeppelin flight. Germany's Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin flew the first of his long series of rigid-frame airships. It attained a speed of 18 mph and got 31/2 mi before its steering gear failed (July 2). 1903 First successful heavier-than-air machine flight. Aviation was really born on the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, N.C., when Orville Wright crawled to his prone position between the wings of the biplane he and his brother Wilbur had built, opened the throttle of their homemade 12-horsepower engine, and took to the air. He covered 120 ft in 12 sec. Later that day, in one of four flights, Wilbur stayed up 59 sec. and covered 852 ft (Dec. 17). 1904 First airplane maneuvers. Orville Wright made the first turn with an airplane (Sept.

15); five days later his brother Wilbur made the first complete circle. 1905 First airplane flight over half an hour. Orville Wright kept his craft up 33 min., 17 sec. (Oct. 4). 1906 First European airplane flight. Alberto Santos-Dumont , a Brazilian, flew a heavier-than-air machine at Bagatelle Field, Paris (Sept. 13). 1908 First airplane fatality. Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, U.S. Army Signal Corps, was in a group evaluating the Wright plane at Fort Myer, Va. He was up 75 ft with Orville Wright when the propeller hit a bracing wire and was broken, throwing the plane out of control, killing Selfridge and seriously injuring Wright (Sept. 17). 1909 First cross-Channel flight. Louis Blériot flew in a 25-horsepower Blériot VI monoplane from Les Baraques near Calais, France, to Dover Castle, England, in a 26.61-mi (38-kilometer) 37-min. flight across the English Channel (July 25). First International Aviation Competition Meeting.

American Glenn Curtiss narrowly beat France's Louis Blériot in the main event and won the Gordon Bennett Cup. Meet held at Rheims, France (Aug. 22–28). 1910 First licensed woman pilot. Baroness Raymonde de la Roche of France, who learned to fly in 1909, received ticket No. 36 on March 8. First flight from shipboard. Lt. Eugene Ely, USN, took a Curtiss plane off from the deck of the cruiser Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Va., and flew to Norfolk (Nov. 14). The following January he reversed the process, flying from Camp Selfridge to the deck of the armored cruiser Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay (Jan. 18). First aircraft to take off from water. Henri Fabre in a Gnome-powered floatplane, at Martigues, France (March 28). 1911 First U.S. woman pilot. Harriet Quimby , a magazine writer, got ticket No. 37, making her the first licensed American female pilot. 1912 First woman's cross-Channel flight.

Harriet Quimby flew from Dover, England, across the English Channel and landed at Hardelot, France, in a Blériot monoplane loaned to her by Louis Blériot (April 16). She was later killed in a flying accident over Dorchester Bay during a Harvard-Boston aviation meet on July 1, 1912. First parachute jump from a powered airplane. Albert Berry jumped in a test over Jefferson Barracks military post, St. Louis (March 1). Some sources credit Grant Morton as making first jump in 1911. 1913 First multi-engined aircraft. Built and flown by Igor Ivan Sikorsky while still in his native Russia. 1914 First aerial combat. In Aug., Allied and German pilots and observers started shooting at each other with pistols and rifles—with negligible results. 1915 First air raids on England. German zeppelins dropped bombs on four English communities (Jan. 19). 1917 World's first black combat pilot. Georgia-born Eugene Jacques Bullard , denied entry into the U.S. Army Air Corps because of his race, served throughout World War I in the French Flying Corps.

He received the Legion of Honor, France's highest honor, among many other decorations. 1918 First U.S. air squadron. The U.S. Army Air Corps made its first independent raids over enemy lines, in DH-4 planes (British-designed) powered with 400-hp American-designed Liberty engines (April 8). First regular airmail service. Operated for the Post Office Department by the Army, the first regular service was inaugurated with one round trip a day (except Sunday) between Washington, DC, and New York City (May 15). 1919 First transatlantic flight. The NC-4, one of four Curtiss flying boats commanded by Lt. Comdr. Albert C. Read, reached Lisbon, Portugal (May 27), after hops from Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, to Horta, Azores (May 16–17), to Ponta Delgada (May 20). The Liberty-powered craft was piloted by Walter Hinton. First nonstop transatlantic flight. Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown, British World War I flyers, made the 1,900-mile trip from St.

John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Ireland, in 16 hr., 12 min. in a Vickers-Vimy bomber with two 350-horsepower Rolls-Royce engines (June 15–16). First lighter-than-air transatlantic flight. The British dirigible R-34, commanded by Maj. George H. Scott, left Firth of Forth, Scotland (July 2), and touched down at Mineola, L.I., 108 hr. later. The eastbound trip was made in 75 hr. (completed July 13). First scheduled London–Paris passenger service (using airplanes). Aircraft Travel and Transport inaugurated London–Paris service (Aug. 25). Later the company started the first trans-Channel mail service on the same route (Nov. 10). First free-fall parachute jump. Leslie Irvin jumped over McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, to prove that one wouldn't lose consciousness during a delayed free-fall using a manually operated parachute (April 28). 1921 First U.S. black female pilot. Bessie Coleman received license June 15.

She was killed April 30, 1926, in a flying accident. First naval vessel sunk by aircraft. Two battleships being scrapped by treaty were sunk by bombs dropped from Army planes in demonstration put on by Brig. Gen. William S. Mitchell (July 21). First helium balloon. The C-7, nonrigid Navy dirigible was first to use noninflammable helium as lifting gas, making a flight from Hampton Roads, Va., to Washington, D.C. (Dec. 1). 1922 First member of Caterpillar Club. Lt. (later Maj. Gen.) Harold Harris bailed out of a crippled plane he was testing at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio (Oct. 20), and became the first man to join the Caterpillar Club—those whose lives have been saved by parachutes. 1923 First nonstop transcontinental flight. Lts. John A. Macready and Oakley Kelly flew a single-engine Fokker T-2 nonstop from New York to San Diego, a distance of just over 2,500 mi in 26 hr., 50 min. (May 2–3). First autogyro flight.

Juan de la Cierva, a brilliant Spanish mathematician, made the first successful flight in a rotary wing aircraft in Madrid (June 9). 1924 First round-the-world flight. Four Douglas Cruiser biplanes of the U.S. Army Air Corps took off from Seattle under command of Maj. Frederick Martin (April 6). 175 days later, two of the planes (Lt. Lowell Smith's and Lt. Erik Nelson's) landed in Seattle after a circuitous route—one source saying 26,345 mi, another saying 27,553 mi. 1926 First polar flight. Then–Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd , acting as navigator, and Floyd Bennett as pilot, flew a Trimotor Fokker from Kings Bay, Spitsbergen, over the North Pole and back in 151/2 hr. (May 8–9). 1927 First solo nonstop transatlantic flight. Charles Augustus Lindbergh lifted his Wright-powered Ryan monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to stay aloft 33 hr. 39 min.

and travel 3,600 mi to Le Bourget Field outside Paris (May 20–21). Although 91 persons in 13 separate flights crossed the Atlantic before him, he flew directly between two great world cities and did it alone. First transatlantic passenger. Charles A. Levine was piloted by Clarence D. Chamberlin from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Eisleben, Germany, in a Wright-powered Bellanca (June 4–5). 1928 First east–west transatlantic crossing. Baron Guenther von Huenefeld, piloted by German Capt. Hermann Koehl and Irish Capt. James Fitzmaurice, left Dublin for New York City (April 12) in a single-engine all-metal Junkersmonoplane. Some 37 hr. later, they crashed on Greely Island, Labrador and were rescued. First transarctic flight. Sir Hubert Wilkins, an Australian explorer, and Carl Ben Eielson, who served as pilot, flew from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Spitsbergen (mid-April). First U.S.–Australia flight. Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith and Capt. Charles T.

P. Ulm, Australians, and two American navigators, Harry W. Lyon and James Warner, crossed the Pacific from Oakland to Brisbane. They went via Hawaii and the Fiji Islands in a trimotor Fokker (May 31–June 8). 1929 First of the endurance records. With Air Corps Maj. Carl Spaatz in command and Capt. Ira Eaker as chief pilot, an Army Fokker, aided by refueling in the air, remained aloft 150 hr. 40 min. at Los Angeles (Jan. 1–7). First round-the-world airship flight. The LZ-127, known as the Graf Zeppelin, flew 21,300 mi in 20 days and 4 hr. Also set distance record (Aug.). First blind flight. James H. Doolittle proved the feasibility of instrument-guided flying when he took off and landed entirely on instruments (Sept. 24). First rocket-engine flight. Fritz von Opel, a German auto maker, stayed aloft in his small rocket-powered craft for 75 sec., covering nearly 2 mi (Sept. 30). First South Pole flight. Comdr.

Richard E. Byrd, with Bernt Balchen as pilot, Harold I. June, radio operator, and Capt. A. C. McKinley, photographer, flew a trimotor Fokker from the Bay of Whales, Little America, over the South Pole and back (Nov. 28–29). 1930 First Paris–New York nonstop flight. Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte, French pilots, flew a Hispano-powered Breguet biplane from Le Bourget Field to Valley Stream, L.I., in 37 hr., 18 min. (Sept. 2–3). 1931 First flight into the stratosphere. Auguste Piccard , a Swiss physicist, and Charles Knipfer ascended in a balloon from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a height of 51,793 ft in a 17-hr. flight that terminated on a glacier near Innsbruck, Austria (May 27). First nonstop transpacific flight.

Hugh Herndon and Clyde Pangborn took off from Sabishiro Beach, Japan, dropped their landing gear, and flew 4,860 mi to near Wenatchee, Wash., in 41 hr. 13 min. (Oct. 4–5). 1932 First woman's transatlantic solo. Amelia Earhart , flying a Pratt & Whitney Wasp-powered Lockheed Vega, flew alone from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Ireland in approximately 15 hr. (May 20–21). First westbound transatlantic solo. James A. Mollison, a British pilot, took a de Havilland Puss Moth from Portmarnock, Ireland, to Pennfield, New Brunswick (Aug. 18). First woman airline pilot. Ruth Rowland Nichols, first woman to hold three international records at the same time—speed, distance, and altitude—was employed by N.Y.–New England Airways. 1933 First round-the-world solo. Wiley Post took a Lockheed Vega, Winnie Mae, 15,596 mi around the world in 7 days, 18 hr., 491/2 min.

(July 15–22). 1936 First west-east transatlantic solo flight.. Beryl Markham flew a single-engine Vega Gull from London to Nova Scotia in 21 hrs, 25 min. (Sept. 4–5). 1937 First successful helicopter flight. Hanna Reitsch, a German pilot, flew Dr. Heinrich Focke's FW-61 in free, fully controlled flight at Bremen (July 4). Ms. Reitsch was also the first woman civil and military aviation test pilot. First woman known to fly combat. Sabiha Gokcen, Turkish female army pilot, bombed and strafed Kurdish tribesmen during a rebellion. 1939 First turbojet flight. Just before their invasion of Poland, the Germans flew a Heinkel He-178 plane powered by a Heinkel S3B turbojet (Aug. 27). 1940 First wartime use of military gliders. German commandos made a successful glider assault on Belgium's Fort Eben-Emael during WWII (May 10). 1941 The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) creates the Canadian Women's Auxillary Air Force.

The RCAF is the first branch of the Canadian military to accept women. 1941–1945 Most combat missions flown by a pilot in any war. Captain Hans-Ulrich Rudel of Germany flew 2,530 combat missions during WWII while flying a JU-87 Stuka dive bomber. He survived the war. 1942–1945 Top-scoring fighter pilot of any war. German Luftwaffe ace Maj. Erich Hartmann scored 352 victories all while flying a Messerschmitt BF 109 during WWII. He was involved in 800 dogfights, and flew 1,425 missions. Maj. Hartmann survived the war. 1942 First enemy bombing of U.S. mainland. During WWII, a floatplane launched from a Japanese submarine off Cape Blanco, Ore., dropped incendiary bombs on the Oregon forest in two attempts to start forest fires and terrorize American civilians, but the bombs did little damage (Sept. 9 and 29). First woman fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

Soviet Lieutenant Lilya Litvyak, flying a Yak-1 fighter of the women's 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, shot down two German planes over Stalingrad (Sept. 13). First American jet plane flight. Robert Stanley, chief pilot for Bell Aircraft Corp., flew the Bell XP-59 Airacomet at Muroc Army Base, Calif. (Oct. 1). 1944 First production stage rocket-engine fighter plane. The German Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet (test flown 1941) became operational in June 1944. Some 350 of these delta-wing fighters were built before WWII in Europe ended. 1947 First piloted supersonic flight in an airplane. Capt. Charles E. Yeager , U.S. Air Force, flew the X-1 rocket-powered research plane built by Bell Aircraft Corp., faster than the speed of sound at Muroc Air Force Base, Calif. (Oct. 14). 1949 First round-the-world nonstop flight. Capt. James Gallagher and USAF crew of 13 flew a Boeing B-50A Superfortress around the world nonstop from Ft.

Worth, returning to same point: 23,452 mi in 94 hr., 1 min., with four aerial refuelings en route (Feb. 27–March 2). 1950 First nonstop transatlantic jet flight. Col. David C. Schilling (USAF) flew 3,300 mi from England to Limestone, Maine, in 10 hr., 1 min. (Sept. 22). 1951 First solo across North Pole. Charles F. Blair, Jr., flew a converted P-51 (May 29). 1952 First jetliner service. The De Havilland Comet flight was inaugurated by BOAC between London and Johannesburg, South Africa. Flight, including stops, took 23 hr., 38 min. (May 2). First transatlantic helicopter flight. Capt. Vincent H. McGovern and 1st Lt. Harold W. Moore piloted two Sikorsky H-19s from Westover, Mass., to Prestwick, Scotland (3,410 mi).

Trip was made in five stops, with a flying time of 42 hr., 25 min. (July 15–31). First transatlantic round trip in same day. A British Canberra twin-jet bomber flew from Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, to Gander, Newfoundland, and back in 7 hr., 59 min. flying time (Aug. 26). 1955 First transcontinental round trip in same day. Lt. John M. Conroy piloted an F-86 Sabrejet across U.S. (Los Angeles–New York) and back—5,085 mi—in 11 hr., 33 min., 27 sec. (May 21). 1957 First round-the-world nonstop jet plane flight. Maj. Gen. Archie J. Old, Jr., USAF, led a flight of three Boeing B-52 bombers, powered with eight 10,000-pound-thrust Pratt & Whitney Aircraft J57 engines around the world in 45 hr., 19 min; distance 24,325 mi; average speed 525 mph (completed Jan.

18). 1958 First transatlantic jet passenger service. BOAC, New York to London (Oct. 4). Pan American started daily service, New York to Paris (Oct. 26). First domestic jet passenger service. National Airlines inaugurated service between New York and Miami (Dec. 10). 1963 First female pilot to fly faster than sound. British pilot, Diana Barnato Walker, flew at a speed of 1,262 mph, flying a two-seat R.A.F. Lightning fighter. 1968 Prototype of world's first supersonic airliner. The Soviet-designed Tupolev Tu-144 made its first flight, Dec. 31. It first achieved supersonic speed on June 5, 1969. 1973 First female pilot of a major U.S. scheduled airline. Emily H. Warner became employed by Frontier Airlines on Jan. 29 as second officer on a Boeing 737. 1976 First regularly scheduled commercial supersonic transport (SST) flights begin. Air France and British Airways inaugurated service (Jan. 21).

Air France flew the Paris–Rio de Janeiro route; B.A., the London–Bahrain. Both airlines began SST service to Washington, D.C. (May 24). 1977 First successful human-powered aircraft. Paul MacCready, an aeronautical engineer from Pasadena, Calif., was awarded the Kremer Prize for creating the world's first successful human-powered aircraft. The Gossamer Condor was flown by Bryan Allen over the required 3-mile course on Aug. 23. 1978 First successful transatlantic balloon flight. Three Albuquerque, N.M., men, Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, and Maxie Anderson, completed the crossing (Aug. 16.; landed, Aug. 17) in their helium-filled balloon, Double Eagle II. 1979 First man-powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel. The Kremer Prize for the Channel crossing was won by Bryan Allen, who flew the Gossamer Albatross from Folkestone, England, to Cap Gris-Nez, France, in 2 hr., 55 min. (June 12). 1980 First successful balloon flight over the North Pole.

Sidney Conn and his wife, Eleanor, in hot-air balloon Joy of Sound (April 11). First nonstop transcontinental balloon flight, and also record for longest overland voyage in a balloon. Maxie Anderson and his son completed four-day flight from Fort Baker, Calif., to Matane, Quebec, in their helium-filled balloon, Kitty Hawk (May 12). First long-distance solar-powered flight. Janice Brown, a 98-lb former teacher, flew a tiny experimental solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, 6 mi in 22 min. near Marana, Ariz. (Dec. 3). The craft was powered by a 2.75-horsepower engine. 1981 First solar-powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel. Stephen R. Ptacek flew the 210-pound Solar Challenger at an average speed of 30 mph from Cormeilles-en-Vexin near Paris to the Royal Manston Air Force Base in southeast England in 5 hr., 30 min. (July 7). 1984 First solo transatlantic balloon flight. Joe W. Kittinger landed Sept.

18 near Savona, Italy, in his helium-filled balloon, Rosie O'Grady's Balloon of Peace, after a flight of 3,535 mi from Caribou, Maine. 1986 First nonstop flight around the world without refueling. From Edwards AFB, Calif., Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager flew in Voyager around the world (24,986.727 mi), returning to Edwards in 216 hr., 3 min., 44 sec. (Dec. 14–23). 1987 First transatlantic hot-air balloon flight. Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand flew 2,789.6 mi from Sugarloaf Mt., Maine, to Ireland in the hot-air balloon Virgin Atlantic Flyer (July 2–4). 1991 First transpacific hot-air balloon flight. Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand flew about 6,700 mi from Miyakonyo, Japan, to 150 mi west of Yellowknife, Canada (Jan. 15–17). 1993 First woman to copilot a commercial supersonic plane.

Barbara Harmer, British Airways, flew as first officer on the Concorde from London to New York City (March 25). 1995 First solo transpacific balloon flight. Steve Fossett made a flight of more than 5,430 mi from Seoul, South Korea, to Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, in a helium-filled balloon. Also set record for distance (Feb. 18–21, 1995). 1998 First U.S. female combat pilot to bomb an enemy target. On Dec. 16, Lt. Kendra Williams, USN, bombed enemy targets over Iraq during Operation Desert Fox. 1999 First nonstop round-the-world balloon flight. Bertrand Piccard (Switzerland) and Brian Jones (UK) flew 28,431 mi (45,755 km) from Chateaux d'Oex, Switzerland, to Dakhla, Egypt, in 19 days, 21 hr., and 55 min. (March 1–21). 2001 First solar-powered flight to shatter altitude records.

NASA's solar-powered propeller-driven plane Helios reached an altitude of 96,500 ft during a flight over Hawaii, breaking not only the 80,200-foot record for propeller-driven aircraft, but the 85,068-foot mark for all nonrocket aircraft as well (Aug. 13–14). 2002 First solo nonstop round-the-world balloon flight. Steve Fossett (U.S.) flew from Northam, West Australia, to Lake Yamma Yamma, Queensland, Australia, landing after 14 days, 19 hrs. He broke three balloon records along the way: fastest time around the world, measured by crossing 117° East longitude (13 days, 3 min.), longest distance flown solo (20,483.25 mi; 32,963.35 km), and longest time flown solo (355 hrs, 50 min.) (June 19–July 3). 2004 First non-stop 10,000-mile-plus passenger airline flight.

Singapore Airlines launched a non-stop 181/2 hour, 10,335-mile flight on the long-range Airbus 340-500 between Singapore to Newark, New Jersey (June 28–29). (To date, the world's longest nonstop commercial flight took place on Nov. 10, 2005. A Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner flew from London to Hong Kong [13,422 miles] in 22 hrs, 43 min.) 2005 First nonstop solo flight around the world without refueling. From Salina, Kansas, Steve Fossett flew the Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer 22,878 mi around the world, arriving back in Kansas 67 hrs later (Feb. 28–March 3). 2007 Youngest and first black pilot to fly solo around the world. From Miami Gardens, Florida, Barrington Irving flew a Columbia 400 plane named Inspiration around the world in 96 days, 150 hours (March 23-June 27). Graf Zeppelin... around the World.....

- RareNewspapers.com Graf Zeppelin... around the World..... ALBANY EVENING NEWS, Albany, New York, August 29, 1929 * LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin * 1st to fly around the World (historic) * Hugo Eckener This 34 page newspaper has a seven column headline on the front page: "Air Epic Completed as Zeppelin Lands Safely" with subheads that include: "DARING DASH ROUND WORLD ESTABLISHED NEW RECORDS" and more. (see) Other news of the day including front page reporting on early struggles in Jerusalem and Palestine. (see headlines in photos) Light browning with some spine wear, otherwise in good condition. wikipedia notes: The growing popularity of the "giant of the air" made it easy for Zeppelin company chief Dr. Hugo Eckener to find sponsors for a "Round-the-World" flight.

One of these was the American press tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who requested the tour to officially start at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, NJ.[13] As with the October 1928 flight to New York, Hearst had placed a reporter, Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay, on board,[13] who thereby became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by air. Starting there on 8 August 1929, Graf Zeppelin flew back across the Atlantic to Friedrichshafen to refuel before continuing on August 15 across the vastness of Siberia to Tokyo (Kasumigaura Naval Air Station), a nonstop leg of 6,988 miles (11,246 km), arriving 3 days later on 18 August.[7] Dr. Eckener believed that some of the lands they crossed in Siberia had never before been seen by modern explorers. After staying in Tokyo for five days, on 23 August, the Graf Zeppelin continued across the Pacific to California flying first over San Francisco before heading south to stop at Mines Field in Los Angeles for the first ever nonstop flight of any kind across the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific leg was 5,998 miles (9,653 km) and took three days.[7] The airship's final leg across the United States took it over Chicago before landing back at Lakehurst NAS on 29 August, taking two days and covering 2,996 miles (4,822 km).[7][14] The flying time for the Lakehurst to Lakehurst legs was 12 days and 11 minutes.[7] The entire voyage took 21 days, 5 hours and 31 minutes including the initial and final trips between Friedrichshafen and NAS Lakehurst during which time the airship travelled 49,618 km (30,831 miles) whereas the distance covered on the designated "Round the World" portion from Lakehurst to Lakehurst was 31,400 km (19,500 miles). One of Hearst's guests on board was the newlywed couple; the Arctic explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins and his bride Suzanne Bennett. The trip was given to them as a wedding gift. A U.S.

franked letter carried on the whole trip from Lakehurst to Lakehurst required $3.55 USD in postage, the equivalent in 2007 of roughly $43 if based on the CPI. First to fly around the world Home » vehicles » First to fly around the world First to fly around the world In 1924, four Douglas World Cruisers and eight American crewmen set out from Seattle, Washington, to attempt the first around-the-world airplane flight. One hundred seventy-five days later three of the aircraft and crews became the first to circumnavigate earth. The Douglas World Cruiser biplane was a variant of the Navy’s DT-2 torpedo bomber that could be operated either with wheels or floats. The prototype was delivered 45 days after the contract was let in summer 1923. Tests were successful, and four more aircraft were ordered. Each of the aircraft was named after a US city representing a compass point: Seattle, crewed by Maj. Frederick Martin (pilot and flight commander) and SSgt. Alva Harvey (flight mechanic); Chicago, crewed by Lt. Lowell H. Smith (pilot) and 1st Lt.

Leslie Arnold; Boston, with 1st Lt. Leigh P. Wade (pilot) and SSgt. Henry H. Ogden aboard; and New Orleans, with Lt. Erik Nelson (pilot) and Lt. Jack Harding in the cockpits. The success was largely a result of extensive planning; 30 spare engines were dispatched all over the world prior to the flight; with co-operation of the Royal Air Force and the US Navy, 28 nations supplied thousands of gallons of fuel and oil along the flight path. The airplanes left Seattle, Washington, on 6 April 1924 and headed west, equipped with the latest navigational aids. Even so, fog, blizzards, thunderstorms and sand storms took a toll. On April 30, Seattle crashed in dense fog on a mountainside near Port Moller on the Alaska Peninsula. Major Martin and Sergeant Harvey hiked out of the wilderness. The remaining crews continued, flying on to Japan, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe, England, and Ireland. On 3 August Boston was forced down in the North Atlantic, sinking in rough seas while being towed.

A prototype was dispatched to Nova Scotia, where Lieutenant Wade and Sergeant Ogden renamed the aircraft Boston II and rejoined the flight. The crews stopped in several US cities and returned triumphantly to Seattle on 28 September. The trip had totaled 175 days, covering 44 360 km (27,553 miles), with stops in 61 cities, the total flying time being 371 hours, 11 minutes. Douglas World Cruisers – first to circumnavigate the globe, in 1924 The Douglas World Cruiser Chicago is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C., while New Orleans is on display at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, California. The Seattle wreckage was retrieved in 1967 through the efforts of Bob Reeve to go on display in the Centennial Aviation Museum, which caught fire in 1973. It survived the fire and is now displayed at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. First solo circumnavigation by air Nine years later, in 1933, it took another American, Wiley Post, only 7 days to be the first to fly solo around the world.

Between July 15 and 22, Post covered 25 110 km (15,596 miles) in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes in one of the most remarkable displays of flying endurance of the century. Post’s single engine Lockheed Vega, the Winnie Mae was equipped with a Sperry automatic pilot, a radio direction finder, and other new devices. Wiley Post (1898 – 1935) First to fly solo around the world, 1933. Post was considered one of the most colorful figures of early aviation. He set many records before being tragically killed near Point Barrow, Alaska in 1935 in a crash which also took the life of his flying companion, humorist Will Rogers. Earlier, in 1931, ex-barnstormer Post and navigator Harold Gatty had thrilled the nation by dashing around the world in the Winnie Mae. The flight was not only a great technical achievement, but one which demanded extraordinary fortitude. For over 106 hours, neither Post nor Gatty had an opportunity to sleep.

The flight’s elapsed time of 8 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes far surpassed the previous record of 21 days set in 1929 by the airship Graf Zeppelin. The Graf Zeppelin crossed the Atlantic many times as a passenger carrier. It also circumnavigated the globe in 21 days in 1929. First non-stop circumnavigation by air The first non-stop flight around the world was made by, again, a team of the US Air Force flyers in 1949. Taking off from Carswell Air Force base in Fort Worth, Texas on 26 February, Captain James Gallagher and a crew of 14 headed east in a B-50 Superfortress, called Lucky Lady II. They were refueled four times in air by KB-29 tanker planes of the 43rd Air Refueling Squadron, over the Azores, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Hawaii. The circumnavigation was completed on 2 March, having traveled 94 hours and 1 minute, covering 37 743 km (23,452 miles) at an average 398 km/h (249 mph).

Lucky Lady II in flight 1949 The next quest was to fly around the world, nonstop, non-refueling. Nonstop, non-refueling circumnavigation by flight By 1986 designer Burt Rutan and pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager had devoted over five years to building and flight-testing the Voyager. The canard wing design, or forward elevator, similar to that successfully used by the Wright brothers in 1903, provided additional lift and improved the plane’s efficiency and range. A preliminary sketch of the 1903 Wright Flyer was drawn on a brown paper bag in the Wrights’ living quarters in 1902. Coincidentally, the first sketch of the Voyager was made on a paper lunch napkin in 1980. Constructed of graphite composites, Voyager’s total weight was 4 050 kg (9 000 pounds), including an unprecedented 3150 kg (7 000 pounds) of fuel.

On 14 December 1986 Richard Rutan and Jeana Yeager took off from Edwards, California, piloting the Voyager from a cramped 2,3 m (7.5 ft) long, 1,1 m (3.3 ft) wide and 1m (3 ft) tall cockpit. Voyager’s takeoff weight was more than 10 times the structural weight, but its drag was lower than almost any other powered aircraft. Voyager’s wingtips sustained minor damage during its takeoff roll because of the massive amount of fuel. Approximately 75 cm (2.5 ft) of graphite skin was missing from the left wing’s foam core. Traveling at an average speed of 185 km/h (115.8 mph), it took the Voyager 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds to become the first aircraft to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, non- refueling. They triumphantly landed again at the Edwards Air Force Base at 8:06 a.m. PST 23 December 1986. Rutan Voyager – the first aircraft to circumnavigate earth non-stop, non-refueling.

First woman solo circumnavigation In 1964 Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world. Her single-engine Cessna 180 was called the Spirit of Columbus. For more info, spread your wings toward the Smithsonian Museum’s Women in Aviation and Space . Jerrie Mock and Spirit of Columbia, nicknamed Charlie. The first woman to earn a pilot’s license was French lady Raymonde de Laroche , who got hers on 8 March 1910. (By that time many women in Europe were flying, albeit without an official license.) Later the same year, Blanche Scott became the first woman pilot in the USA when the plane that she was allowed to taxi suddenly became airborne. In 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first licensed American female pilot. In 1912, Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. First in-flight refueling The first in-flight refueling was tackled by the US Army Air Service on 25 June 1923. In August, lieutenants Lowell H. Smith and John P.

Richter set a world’s record by staying aloft for 37 hours and 15 minutes in a DH-4 over San Diego with the help of refueling from another DH-4 (above). First in-flight refueling, 1923. Img Wikipedia . Thanks to Dave Lam for contributing to this page Graf Zeppelin History | Airships.net Search for: Graf Zeppelin History Christening of LZ-127 on July 8, 1928 by Countess Helene von Brandenstein-Zeppelin. (click all photos to enlarge) Certainly the most successful zeppelin ever built, LZ-127 was christened “Graf Zeppelin” by the daughter of Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin on July 8, 1928, which would have been the late count’s 90th birthday. By the time of Graf Zeppelin’s last flight, nine years later, the ship had flown over a million miles, on 590 flights, carrying thousands of passengers and hundreds of thousands of pounds of freight and mail, with safety and speed.

Graf Zeppelin circled the globe and was famous throughout the world, and inspired an international zeppelin fever in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Graf Zeppelin Test Flights Graf Zeppelin made its first flight on September 18, 1928, under the command of Hugo Eckener . The ship lifted off at 3:32 PM and flew a little over three hours before returning to its base in Friedrichshafen. A series of successful test flights followed, including a 34-1/2 hour endurance flight during which the new German ship was shown off to the residents of Ulm, Nuremberg, Wurzburg, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Bremen, Hugo Eckener’s hometown of Flensburg, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden. Graf Zeppelin being led from its hangar for its first flight on September 18, 1928.

(click all photos to enlarge) Graf Zeppelin’s First Flight Across the Atlantic Graf Zeppelin made the very first commercial passenger flight across the Atlantic, departing Friedrichshafen at 7:54 AM on October 11, 1928, and landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey on October 15, 1928, after a flight of 111 hours and 44 minutes. The ship carried 40 crew members under the command of Hugo Eckener, and 20 passengers including American naval officer Charles E. Rosendahl and Hearst newspaper reporter Lady Grace Drummond-Hay . The ship’s first transatlantic crossing almost ended in disaster when it encountered a strong squall line on the morning of October 13th. Captain Eckener had uncharacteristically entered the storm at full power — he was known to reduce speed in bad weather — and the ship pitched up violently in the hands of an inexperienced elevatorman; the airships R-38 and USS Shenandoah had broken up under similar circumstances. In-flight repair of Graf Zeppelin’s fin, showing the extensive damage suffered in the squall and the dangerous conditions faced by the repair party.

Eckener and his officers re-established control, but soon learned that the lower covering of the port fin had been torn away, threatening further damage which would have rendered the ship uncontrollable. Eckener sent a repair team of four men — including his son, Knut Eckener; senior elevatorman and future zeppelin commander Albert Sammt; and Ludwig Knorr, who would become chief rigger on LZ-129 Hindenburg — to repair the covering in flight. Eckener also made the difficult decision to send out a distress call, knowing that he was risking the reputation of his brand new ship, and perhaps the entire zeppelin enterprise. The distress signal was soon picked up by the press, and newspapers around the world ran sensational stories about the looming destruction of the overdue Graf Zeppelin on its maiden voyage. The damaged port fin after arrival at Lakehurst (view from floor of hangar) The emergency repairs were successful, but the ship encountered a second squall front near Bermuda. Graf Zeppelin made it through the second storm, even with the temporary repairs to the damaged fin, and reached the American coast on the morning of October 15th.

After a detour over Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, to show Graf Zeppelin off to the wildly enthusiastic American public, Eckener brought his damaged ship to a safe landing at the United States naval base at Lakehurst, New Jersey on the evening of October 15, 1928. Graf Zeppelin was overdue, damaged, and had run out of food and water, but Eckener, his crew, and his passengers were greeted like heroes with a ticker-tape parade along New York City’s Broadway. After two weeks of repairs to the damaged fin, Graf Zeppelin departed Lakehurst on October 29, 1928 for its return to Germany. The return flight took 71 hours and 49 minutes, or just under three days; the ocean liners of the day took twice as long to carry passengers across the Atlantic.

Graf Zeppelin’s route across the Atlantic Graf Zeppelin Round-the-World Flight (“Weltfahrt”) Map of Round-the-World flight (click to enlarge) In 1929, Graf Zeppelin made perhaps its most famous flight; a round-the-world voyage covering 21,2500 miles in five legs from Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen to Tokyo, Tokyo to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Lakehurst, and then Lakehurt to Friedrichshafen again. It was the first passenger-carrying flight around the world and received massive coverage in the world’s press. The flight was partly sponsored by American newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, who paid for about half the cost of the flight in return for exclusive media rights in the United States and Britain. Cover carried on the first leg of Graf Zeppelin’s 1929 flight around the world Hearst had insisted that the flight begin and end in America, while the Germans naturally thought the Round-the-World flight of a German ship should begin and end in Germany.

As a compromise, there were two official flights; the “American” flight began and ended at Lakehurst, while the “German” flight began and ended at Friedrichshafen. Lady Grace Drummond Hay’s ticket The Round-the-World flight carried 60 men and one woman, Hearst newspaper reporter Lady Grace Hay-Drummond-Hay , whose presence and reporting greatly increased the public’s interest in the journey. Other passengers included journalists from several countries, American naval officers Charles Rosendahl and Jack C. Richardson, polar explorer and pilot Sir Hubert Wilkins, young American millionaire Bill Leeds, and representatives of Japan and the Soviet Union. Graf Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen on July 27, 1929 and crossed the Atlantic to Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the “American” flight began on August 7, 1929 with an eastbound crossing back to Germany.

Lakehurst – Friedrichshafen August 7, 1929 – August 10, 1929 7,068 km / 55 hrs 22 mins Friedrichshafen – Tokyo August 15, 1929 – August 19, 1929 11,247 km / 101 hrs 49 mins Tokyo – Los Angeles August 23, 1929 – August 26, 1929 9,653 km / 79 hrs 3 mins Los Angeles – Lakehurst August 27, 1929 – August 29, 1929 4,822 km / 51 hrs 57 mins Lakehurst – Friedrichshafen September 1, 1929 – September 4, 1929 8,478 km / 57 hrs 31 mins [see a complete list of passengers and crew aboard the flight] The longest leg of the journey was the 11,247 km, 101 hour 49 minute flight from Friedrichshafen to Tokyo,

 which crossed thousands of miles of emptiness over Siberia.

A planned flight over Moscow had to be canceled due to adverse winds, prompting an official complaint from the government of Soviet dicatator Joseph Stalin, which felt slighted by the change in plan. The passage over Russia’s Stanovoy mountain range in eastern Siberia brought Graf Zeppelin to an altitude of 6,000 feet. The ship landed to a tumultuous welcome and massive press coverage in Japan, where a crowd estimated at 250,000 people greeted the ship’s arrival and Emperor Hirohito entertained Eckener and guests at tea. The next leg of the flight crossed the Pacific ocean enroute to Los Angeles; Eckener deliberately timed his flight down the American coast to make a dramatic entrance through San Francisco’s Golden Gate with the sun setting behind the ship. According to F.W.

“Willy” von Meister (later New York representative of the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei ), Eckener explained: “When for the first time in world history an airship flies across the Pacific, should it not arrive at sunset over the Golden Gate?” LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin landing at Los Angeles, 1929 After slowly cruising down the California coast to land in daylight the next morning, Graf Zeppelin made a difficult landing at Los Angeles on August 26th, through a temperature inversion which made it difficult to bring the ship down, requiring the valving of large quantities of hydrogen. The lost hydrogen could not be replaced at Los Angeles, and the takeoff, with the ship unusually heavy, was even more challenging; Graf Zeppelin only narrowly missed hitting power lines at the edge of the field. After a difficult summertime passage over the deserts of Arizona and Texas, Graf Zeppelin flew east across America. The ship was greeted with wild enthusiasm by the people of Chicago, and ended its record breaking flight with a landing at Lakehurst the morning of August 29, 1929.

The Lakehurst to Lakehurst voyage had taken just 12 days and 11 minutes of flying time, and brought worldwide attention and fame to Graf Zeppelin and its commander, Hugo Eckener. The flight is the subject of the largely fictional Dutch film Farewell . Graf Zeppelin Polar Flight Graf Zeppelin landing on water during polar flight In July, 1931, Graf Zeppelin carried a team of scientists from Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Sweden on an exploration of the Arctic, making meteorological observations, measuring variations in the earth’s magnetic field in the latitudes near the North Pole, and making a photographic survey of unmapped regions using a panoramic camera that automatically took several pictures per minute. The size, payload, and stability of the zeppelin allowed heavy scientific instruments to be carried and used with an accuracy that would not have been possible with the airplanes of the day.

Soviet airmail stamp showing Graf Zeppelin and icebreaker Malygin The polar journey, like other zeppelin flights, was largely financed by stamp collectors; Graf Zeppelin carried approximately 50,000 letters sent by philatelists, and made a water-landing to exchange mail with the Soviet icebreaker Malygin, which itself carried a large quantity of mail sent by stamp collectors. After the three-day Arctic flight, which included a landing in Leningrad, Graf Zeppelin returned to Berlin to a hero’s welcome at Tempelhof airfield, where the ship was met by celebrities including famed polar explorer Admiral Richard Byrd.

Question: What made the first voyage around the world by air in 1929?
Answer: Graf Zeppelin