The Story of the First Flight Around the World

In 1923, the U.S. Army Air Service announced it was going to attempt a flight around the globe.  

Circumnavigating the globe meant flying over the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans and encountering climatic extremes from arctic to tropical. If the flight was successful, it would showcase America’s aeronautical industry, grow support for the Army Air Service, and ultimately lay the groundwork for air routes as part of international relations and commerce.  

But before any of that happened, someone had to actually make the flight. 

Planning to Make History 

Over the next year, the Army Air Service, as well as the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fisheries meticulously prepared for this around the world flight. The plan: Four airplanes would set off, with 74 landing areas pre-arranged, and much more support prepared around the globe.

Army Air Service Lt. Erik Nelson, worked with Donald Douglas to modify the DT-2 torpedo bomber into plain fit for the flight, appropriately called a World Cruiser. The new plane had an increased fuel and cooling capacity, tubular steel fuselage, strengthened bracing, larger rudder, and closer dual cockpit locations. A cutout in the upper wing increased visibility.  

Adjustments were also made because the flight would take place over land and water. For instance, the aircraft also featured interchangeable floats and wheels. It also used two different kinds of wood propellers. For sea landings and takeoffs, hard oak worked best. For travel over land, the crews switched to lightweight walnut. 

Before you picture anything too complex, the Douglas World Cruisers were still two-seat biplanes. Each airplane could carry only 300 pounds of supplies—severely limited what the crew could bring. For instance, heavy parachutes or life preservers didn’t make the packing list, even though much of the flying was over water.  

To support the airplanes, supply ships were sent around the world to help with repair, refueling, and (if needed) rescue. Thousands of gallons of fuel and oil, 35 replacement engines, and many spare parts were sent around the world, including to places where planes had never flown before.

In addition to all this planning, the crews of the four planes were expected to be very self-reliant. They may not have travelled with life preservers, but they did carry tools and spare parts to make repairs themselves.  

This Is Your Pilot Speaking: Meet the Douglas World Cruisers’ Crews

For the pilots and mechanics, the U.S. Army Air Service turned to the best and the brightest in their ranks.  

• Maj. Frederick Martin had trained as a pilot after returning from service in Europe during World War I. He was both pilot of the Seattle and flight commander for the mission.  
• The Seattle’s mechanic was SSgt. Alva Harvey who like his fellow mechanic Henry Ogden had joined the Army Air Service in 1919.  
• Aboard the Chicago, pilot Lt. Lowell Smith held records for speed, endurance, and distance. He had served briefly for Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa’s three-plane airforce before joining the U.S. Army Air Service in 1917.
• Lt. Leslie P. Arnold had travelled the countryside as a military barnstormer, putting on shows after the war to excite the public about aviation. He took Sgt. Arthur Turner’s place as mechanic on the Chicago when Turner became sick just four days before the take off.
• Like his fellow pilots, Lt. Leigh Wade, pilot of the Boston set records including piloting a Martin bomber to a record-breaking 27,000 foot altitude.  
• The youngest member of the crew, Boston’s mechanic SSgt. Henry H. Ogden had gained his mechanical prowess working on his father’s farm equipment before joining the Army Air Service.
• Lt. Erik Nelson who helped design the World Cruisers was selected as pilot of the New Orleans.
• Also on the New Orleans, Lt. Jack Harding was a skilled mechanic, who had used his mechanical prowess to put himself through college before joining the Army Air Service in World War I. 

Buckle Your Seatbelts, It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride: The First Leg  

After a year of planning, on April 6, 1924, the eight crew members left Seattle, Washington, attempting to be the first people to fly around the world. They flew in four Douglas World Cruiser planes, each named after an American city: Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and New Orleans.  

The voyage was divided into six legs, with several individual stops in each. The first leg was flying from Washington (state) to Alaska, and was far from easy. The flyers faced freezing temperatures, thick and unpredictable fog, and sudden violent storms.  

On April 30, the Seattle crashed on a mountainside near Point Moeller, Alaska. Both pilot Frederick Martin and mechanic Alva Harvey survived, travelling on foot for ten days to reach the nearest settlement.  

The three remaining planes flew on. When they crossed from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to the Soviet Union’s Komandorski Islands on May 15, it was the first flight across the Pacific Ocean. But there was more history to be made.  

The Flight Continues: Legs Two through Five

The next leg of the journey covered Japan to China, where typhoons, extreme heat and humidity, and geopolitics challenged the travelers. Japan was suspicious of the American military presence and dictated a serpentine route for the flight to protect its military secrets.

Leg three spanned from French Indochina to India, where the jungles of present-day Vietnam tested the flyers as they raced to make repairs to the Chicago and stay on schedule. Eventually, French Indochina’s tropical environment gave way to the oven-like heat of the Middle East. The British RAF personnel took pity on the flyers and gave them short pants and pith helmets. In Calcutta, an Associated Press reporter who had been following their journey convinced them to allow him to ride along, thwarting Army regulations.  

The next section of the voyage spanned from Persia (present-day Iran) to Turkey. Then came the fifth leg into Europe. There, ever-larger enthusiastic crowds greeted the flyers—even as Italy was attempting its own round the world flight. 

The Home Stretch: Finishing The First Round-the-World Flight

The World Cruiser crews faced their longest over-water flights on the final leg of the journey, flying across the Atlantic and the United States. Flying from Iceland to Greenland, the flyers encountered heavy fog, forcing them to fly close to the waves. Flying at high speeds with little visibility, they barely avoided hitting towering icebergs.  

On August 3, the Boston was forced down while flying to Iceland. Pilot Leigh Wade and mechanic Henry Ogden survived. The USS Richmond tried to lift the Boston to safety, but the plane had to be sunk. Two planes remained.  

For the Atlantic crossing in August, the Navy stationed a series of ships along the route to rescue the flyers if they had to land in the open ocean. Dense fog and sudden storms proved to be a continual problem, but the Chicago and New Orleans made it to Nova Scotia in Canada where they were rejoined by the Boston’s crew flying the Douglas World Cruiser prototype, which had been renamed the Boston II.

Once in the United States, the World Flight faced adoring crowds eager to see America’s latest aviation heroes. The crews flew down the east coast to Washington, D.C., west to Dayton and Chicago, south to Dallas, crossing the desert to San Diego, before making their triumphant return to Seattle—ending their circumnavigation of the globe on September 28, 1924. Around the world in 175 days! Total flight time was 371 hours and 11 minutes, covering 27,550 miles.  

American cities hailed the returning aviators with gifts and fanfare. A monumental logistical accomplishment, it was an important step toward world-wide air transport. When Smith was asked if he would ever repeat the flight, he replied, “Not in a million years, unless ordered to do so.” 

While Smith would never be ordered to, he laid the groundwork for future flights. In 1933, Wiley Post became the first person to fly around the globe solo. In 1942, Pan American World Airway’s B-314 Flying Boat arguably was the first commercial airliner to fly around the world. In 1964, Jerrie Mock was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by air—completing the feat Amelia Earhart had disappeared attempting almost 30 years earlier.