World’s First Trans-Pacific Flight, 1931
Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr., failing in an attempt to set a record for flying around the world, took on a new goal: to be the first to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the United States. Their red-orange Bellanca CH-400 was outfitted with a “chin” fuel tank to supplement the fuel carried in the plane’s wings and cabin for long-distance flight. They further modified the plane so they could drop the landing gear once they were airborne, to reduce weight and drag. They decided to begin their flight from Misawa, near the northeastern point of Honshu Island.
The people of Misawa were friendly and helpful to the American pilots. A large crowd gathered at Sabishiro Beach to watch the takeoff on October 3, 1931. Pangborn managed to get the Miss Veedol, at nearly three times its normal weight, into the air and headed for the U.S. Three hours out, the pilots pulled the cables to release the wheels and struts – but the two drag struts did not drop away. At 14,000 feet Pangborn, a former barnstormer and stunt pilot, crawled out in the frigid air onto the wing strut sponsons – one side at a time – and carefully detached the troublesome wing struts. Whew!
The pilots swapped naptimes on the big cabin fuel tank during the 41+ hours over the ocean. Their intended destination, Seattle, was under clouds (in those days pilots navigated without any of today’s instruments), so they headed east to the small airfield at Wenatchee. After dumping the last of the fuel over sagebrush-covered hills to prevent the plane from catching fire, Pangborn landed Miss Veedol on its belly. The propeller was bent, but the pilots were safe! A Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, awarded them $25,000 for the world’s first nonstop flight from Japan to the United States.
Read more details about the historic flight in this PDF - and watch an excellent 56-minute documentary of Pangborn/Herndon and Miss Veedol produced by KSPS Public Television (Spokane).
