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After being denied permission, three years in succession, by Federal aviation officials in the United States of America, for a transatlantic flight, thirty-one year old Douglas Groce Corrigan flew his 1929 Curtiss Robin J-1 Sunshine, which is shown in these photos, to Baldonnel Airport, in Dublin, Ireland, from Floyd Bennett Field, in New York City, during July 17-18, 1938. He started the flight in foggy weather and completed it, with a leaking gas tank, in about 28 hours. He later claimed that he had intended to fly westward, to California, but had incorrectly read his compass, causing him to fly eastward, instead, which earned him the nickname "Wrong-Way" Corrigan. |
His airplane, which was fitted with extra fuel tanks, was given an experimental aircraft registration number, NX9243, as a Federal aviation inspector did not consider it fully airworthy. For flying without permission, his license was suspended for about two weeks, until August 4th, when he and his airplane returned to the United States on the ship S.S. Manhattan. He made his first solo in an airplane on March 25, 1926 and worked at the Ryan Aeronautical Company, in San Diego, California, when it built the Ryan B-1 Brougham NYP Spirit of St. Louis, for Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight. He died on December 9, 1995, at the age of 88. |
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DOUGLAS
"WRONG WAY" CORRIGAN
THE ADVENTURES
OF WRONGWAY CORRIGAN
THE
LEGEND OF WRONG WAY CORRIGAN-
WRONGWAY
CORRIGAN
French aviators Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte completed the first non-stop east to west flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1930, in 14 hours and 50 minutes, using the red Breguet Bre.19 Super Bidon biplane bomber Point d'Interrogation (Question Mark) that is shown in these photos. For this transatlantic flight, it used a Hispano-Suiza engine. |
They began the flight on September 1st, at 10:54 a.m., in Paris, France, and completed it on September 2nd, at 00:11 a.m., when they landed at Curtiss Field, in New York, where they were greeted by the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who had made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight, in May 1927, and were given a ticker-tape parade in New York City, on September 4th. They had, originally, attempted this flight on July 13, 1929, but aborted it, due to bad weather, and had, previously, used this aircraft to set a distance record of 4,912 miles (7,930.85 km), when they completed a flight from Le Bourget, France, to Manchuria, on September 29, 1929. |
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Wright company mechanics working on the Question Mark, after its arrival in the United States. |
Another photo of Wright mechanics working on the Question Mark. |
POINT
D'INTERROGATION
BREGUET
BRE19
BREGUET
BRE.19GR
DIEUDONNE
COSTES ET MAURICE BELLONTE
The 1929 Curtiss CO Condor airliner that was flown by Royal Air Force aviator and ace Captain Frank T. Courtney, in the United States of America, in August 1930. He won the 1920 London Aerial Derby, on July 24th, while flying a Martin Semiquaver biplane, and the 1923 King's Cup air race, while flying a Siskin II. He was a test pilot for several aircraft, including the Kennedy Giant and the Cierva Autogiro, in the United Kingdom, and he designed the Curtiss Courtney Amphibian biplane flying boat. |
Another view of Curtiss CO Condor that was flown by Courtney. |