1931 airplane endurance flight record...
Item # 725747
May 31, 1931
THE DETROIT FREED PRESS, May 29, 1931
* Aviation endurance flight record achieved
* Pilots Walter E. Lees and Frederic Brossy
* Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane (84 hours)
The front page has a nice banner headline: "DETROIT FLIERS LAND WITH 84-HOUR RECORD" with subheads. (see images) Nice for display. Great to have from the city where these pilots were based out of. Very rare as such.
Complete with 24 pages, light toning and minor wear at the margins, small library stamp within the masthead, generally nice.
background: On May 28, 1931, pilots Walter E. Lees and Frederic Brossy completed a monumental feat of aviation endurance by remaining airborne over Jacksonville Beach, Florida, for 84 hours and 33 minutes without refueling. Flying a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker powered by a Packard DR-980 diesel engine, the duo shattered the previous world record by capitalizing on the extreme fuel efficiency of diesel technology, carrying 458 gallons of furnace oil that cost a mere fraction of standard aviation gasoline. The conditions inside the cramped cockpit were grueling; the pilots endured nearly four days of deafening noise and pervasive diesel fumes, taking turns sleeping in a makeshift hammock while maintaining a slow, fuel-conserving pace of approximately 50 to 70 mph. This achievement was so remarkably efficient that it remained the unrefueled endurance record for 55 years, standing unchallenged until the Rutan Voyager circumnavigated the globe in 1986, and the engine itself is now a prized artifact at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
* Aviation endurance flight record achieved
* Pilots Walter E. Lees and Frederic Brossy
* Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane (84 hours)
The front page has a nice banner headline: "DETROIT FLIERS LAND WITH 84-HOUR RECORD" with subheads. (see images) Nice for display. Great to have from the city where these pilots were based out of. Very rare as such.
Complete with 24 pages, light toning and minor wear at the margins, small library stamp within the masthead, generally nice.
background: On May 28, 1931, pilots Walter E. Lees and Frederic Brossy completed a monumental feat of aviation endurance by remaining airborne over Jacksonville Beach, Florida, for 84 hours and 33 minutes without refueling. Flying a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker powered by a Packard DR-980 diesel engine, the duo shattered the previous world record by capitalizing on the extreme fuel efficiency of diesel technology, carrying 458 gallons of furnace oil that cost a mere fraction of standard aviation gasoline. The conditions inside the cramped cockpit were grueling; the pilots endured nearly four days of deafening noise and pervasive diesel fumes, taking turns sleeping in a makeshift hammock while maintaining a slow, fuel-conserving pace of approximately 50 to 70 mph. This achievement was so remarkably efficient that it remained the unrefueled endurance record for 55 years, standing unchallenged until the Rutan Voyager circumnavigated the globe in 1986, and the engine itself is now a prized artifact at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Category: The 20th Century
