atlanticfokker

The wreckage of Lt. Cmdr. Richard Byrd's (USN) Fokker C-2 (F.VII/3m) "America", (NX206; c/n 706). In addition to Byrd, "America" was crewed by Lt. George O. Noville, Bert Acosta, and Bernt Balchen. As per Wikipedia: For eight years after the first non-stop heavier than air Atlantic crossing by a British Vickers Vimy in 1919, there were no further such flights. Then, in 1927, three crossings were made by American flyers, the America's being the third after Lindbergh's first solo crossing in the Spirit of St. Louis flight and Clarence Chamberlin's Columbia flight from New York to Berlin. All three were aspiring to win the Orteig Prize. It was also the first aircraft to carry official airmail across the Atlantic. The America was destroyed after it was ditched near the French village of Ver-sur-Mer after having flown to Paris but unable to land due to fog. Distance covered was about 3,800 miles not counting the time and distance spent at Paris waiting in vain for the fog to clear. After it was towed ashore, it was torn apart by souvenir hunters. Portions of the aircraft reside in several museums in Europe and in the United States. The America is a subject of the America/Goldbeach Museum, located in Ver-sur-Mer. See also: www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/America-NX206.htm aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=65208

Looks like we are skipping forward to 1927 here, the first Trans-Pacific flight from Oakland, CA to Honolulu, HI. : "Lester James Maitland (February 8, 1899 – March 27, 1990) was an aviation pioneer and career officer in the United States Army Air Forces and its predecessors. Maitland began his career as a Reserve pilot in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I and rose to brigadier general in the Michigan Air National Guard following World War II. In 1927 Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger completed the first transpacific flight from California to Hawaii, flying the modified transport Bird of Paradise. Although the recognition accorded them was less in comparison with the adulation given Charles Lindbergh for his transatlantic flight only five weeks earlier, Maitland and Hegenberger's feat was arguably more significant from a navigational stand point." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_J._Maitland "Albert Francis Hegenberger (September 30, 1895 – August 31, 1983) was a Major General in the United States Air Force and a pioneering aviator who set a flight distance record with Lester J. Maitland, completing the first transpacific flight to Hawaii in 1927 as navigator of the Bird of Paradise. Hegenberger was an aeronautical engineer of note, earning both the Mackay Trophy (1927) and Collier Trophy (1934) for achievement." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Francis_Hegenberger "Hegenberger Road and Hegenberger Expressway in Oakland, California are both named in honor of Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger." localwiki.org/oakland/First_Trans-Pacific_Flight

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also, from Flickr user Bennett Hall

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Indiana Jones and Short Round are in the cock pit.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Maitland_(RAF_officer) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_F.VII

US Army Air Corps Atlantic-Fokker C-2 (AC 26-202 / McCook Field Project No. P.463) named "Bird of Paradise." The aircraft that was the first to successfully fly non-stop from Oakland, California to Oahu, Hawaii (Wheeler Field), piloted by Army Air Corps aviators Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger in June 1927. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_of_Paradise_(aircraft) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_J._Maitland en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Francis_Hegenberger See also: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/32402473612/

Thanks, TVL1970 and Richard Norton ! These details are great, and we'll add some to the online record.