Around World in 175 Days

In April1924, after two years of planning, four Douglas World Cruisers, each carrying a US Army pilot and a mechanic, took off from Seattle, flying west to circle the globe; one additional plane was held in reserve. Four of the men and two of the planes completed the flight in September 1924 and, miraculously, all eight men survived, even though one plane had crashed in the Alaskan mountains and another had ditched in the Atlantic. The airmen triumphed over the weather extremes of Arctic Alaska and the desert Middle East, numerous primitive landing sites in rough terrain, and maintenance and supply problems that persisted despite the co-ordinated efforts of land- and sea-based support personnel. This book aims to capture the drama of this journey, from the careful behind-the-scenes planning, through the airmen's harrowing in-flight experiences, to the mission's culmination in triumph. The success charted the future of the Army Air Service's worldwide aircraft deployment and paved the way for long-distance travel.