First Dawn To Dusk Flight Across America
Colonel Russell L Maughan of Logan, Utah, made the first daylight flight across the continent on June 23, 1924. Flying solo in a Curtis PW-8 pursuit aircraft, Maughan, then a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Service, left Mitchell Field, New York, at dawn and arrived a Crissy Field, San Francisco, at 9:40 p.m., P.S.T., one minute before official dusk.
Winging his way to destiny, Maughan flew from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean in 21 hours 48 minutes and 30 seconds, averaging approximately 150 miles per hour. His actual in-flight time was 18 hours and 20 minutes.
Having made two previous attempts, which were aborted because of engine failures, Maughan’s successful flight illuminated the imagination of people everywhere. Hailed as a world hero he set both pattern and precedent for generations to follow.
His flight of fancy and faith had become a reality. And in a few short years others have broken the sound barrier, flown to the moon, and orbited the earth in a fantastic sequence of adventures of the human spirit.
But in 1924 the dawn to dusk flight across America was a ‘Maughanumental” achievement.
Marker is on Center St., on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
