First Non-Stop Flight Around World
On this day in history, 1949, Lucky Lady II became the first airplane to fly around the world non-stop. The United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress was in the air for a total of 94 hours and 1 minute, and was aided by in-flight refueling.
Yesterday: 1st Tunnel Under Hudson River Opens
The aircraft began its trip from Carswell Air Force Base, near Fort Worth, Texas with a crew of 14 under the command of Capt. James Gallagher. While in flight, the Lucky Lady II was refueled a total of four times by KB-29M Superfortresses using a grappled-line looped-hose procedure. Refueling took place near Lajes Air Force Base in the Azores, Dhahran Airfield in Saudi Arabia, Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, and Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
After flying 23,452 miles, the airplane finally arrived back at Carswell Air Force Base on March 2. The Lucky Lady II completed the trip at an average ground speed of 249 mph, and flew at varying altitudes between 10,000 to 20,000 ft.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense