Daily Archives: April 24, 2025

24 April 1959

April 24, 2025AviationBoeing Model 450-158-36, Boeing RB-47E Stratojet, Captain John Stanley Lappo USAF, General Electric J47-GE-25, Mackinac Bridge, Strategic Reconnaissance AircraftBryan Swopes

Boeing RB-47E Stratojet. (U.S. Air Force 050421-F-1234P-009)

24 April 1959: Captain John Stanley Lappo, United State Air Force, flies a Strategic Air Command Boeing RB-47E Stratojet UNDER the Mackinac Bridge. The suspension bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac, connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. The Straits of Mackinac connect the Great Lakes of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The vertical clearance under the Mackinac Bridge at the center of the main span is 155 feet (47 meters). (Wikipedia)

The vertical gap between the highest point on the underside of the bridge’s main span is 155 feet (47.2 meters) above the surface of the water. The RB-47E has an overall height of 28 feet (8.5 meters). And Captain Lappo was flying at just 75 feet (23 meters).

Captain Lappo and his crew were returning to Lockbourne Air Force Base, southeast of Columbus, Ohio, following an overnight simulated bombing mission.

When asked why he did it, he answered: “Why do men climb mountains? Or what motivates them to go into space? It’s just a sense of adventure that some men have and some don’t. . . I’ve always wanted to fly under a big bridge. I thought it would be the Golden Gate. When I was flying missions to the Far East, I was a co-pilot, and I wanted to fly under the Golden Gate at night. But I couldn’t induce the pilot to do it.” ¹

The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet (8,038 meters). The length of the main span is 3,800 feet (1,158 meters). The height of the main towers is 552 feet (168 meters). The bridge opened to traffic 1 November 1957. (Mackinac Bridge Authority)

Reported by his navigator, Captain Lappo was charged with violating a regulation prohibiting flying an aircraft below 500 feet (152 meters) (AF Reg 60–16). At his court-martial, he pleaded guilty. The court fined him $50.00 per month for six months and he received a reprimand. Based on this, Lieutenant General Walter Campbell Sweeney, Jr., Commanding General, Eighth Air Force, ordered him permanently removed from flight status.

John Lappo had been a highly respected pilot. Several senior officers testified at the court martial as to his skill, dedication and reliability.

John Stanley Lappo had enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces 19 February 1943 and was trained as a pilot. On completion of training he was given the warrant officer rank of flight officer. Lappo was commissioned as a second lieutenant in January 1945.

Lieutenant Lappo flew C-46, C-47 and C-54 transports with the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, Fifth Air Force. He was released from active duty in 1948, but remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and maintained his flight status.

Flight Officer John Stanley Lappo, United States Army Air Forces, circa 1944. (Suzette Mizelle)

In 1951, Lieutenant Lappo was recalled to active duty for service in the Korean War. He flew 28 bombing missions in the Boeing B-29 Superfortess, including B-29-85-BN 44-87657, Command Decision, one of the best known bombers of the war.

John Stanley Lappo married Miss Olive Kay Robinson, 7 July 1951, at Muskegon, Michigan. He then attended Squadron Officers School at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

As a B-47 Stratojet pilot, he was assigned to the 10th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 26th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, at Lockbourne AFB, and later, the 352nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 301st Bombardment Wing (Medium), which was also based at Lockbourne.

Captain Lappo was often given the most difficult assignments. As a reconnaissance pilot, he flew clandestine missions over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). For one of these missions he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Even though he was permanently removed from flying duties, Lappo remained in the Air Force. He served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and was later vice commander of Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Lieutenant Colonel Lappo retired from the Air Force 31 July 1972.

John Stanley Lappo was born 8 January 1920 at Muskegon, Michigan. He was the fifth of seven children of Jan Stanislaw Lappo, a carpenter, and Zofia A. Stankiewicz Lappo.

In 1940 he was employed as a pattern maker at an iron foundry.

Lappo registered for the draft (conscription) 1 July 1941. The registrar’s report shows that he had brown hair, blue eyes, was 5 feet, 4½ inches (1.638 meters) tall and weighed 165 pounds (74.8 kilograms).

From 1972 to 1982, John Lappo worked for the state of Alaska as a regional administrator for the health department, then from 1982 to 1990, he operated a trucking company, Arctic Fox Trucking.

John Stanley Lappo died 15 November 2003 at Eagle River, Alaska. His remains are interred at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery, Anchorage, Alaska.

A Boeing RB-47E-1-BW Stratojet, 51-5259—the reconnaissance variant. (U.S. Air Force)

The Boeing RB-47E Stratojet was a reconnaissance variant of the B-47E strategic bomber. All RB-47Es were built by Boeing-Wichita. The type made its first flight 3 July 1953. 240 RB-47Es and 15 RB-47Ks were built, with the last one delivered in August 1955.

Designed by Boeing, the B-47 Stratojet was a high-subsonic speed strategic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, in service from 1951 until 1977. The B-47 could fly higher and faster than jet fighters of the time, and it was also highly maneuverable. B-47 was flown by a two pilots in a tandem cockpit. A navigator was at a station in the nose. The RB-47E variant (Boeing Model 450-158-36) differed in that bombing equipment was deleted and photographic and electronic reconnaissance equipment installed. Additional fuel tanks were placed in the former bomb bay.

Illustration of RB-47E fuselage spaces. (U.S. Air Force)

The RB-47E Stratojet is slightly longer than the B-47E. The RB-47E is 109.8 feet (333.467 meters) long with a wingspan of 116.0 feet (35.357 meters), and an overall height of 28.0 feet (8.534 meters). The wings are shoulder-mounted and have a total area of 1,428 square feet (132.67 square meters). The wings’ leading edges are swept aft to 36° 37′. The angle of incidence is 2° 45′ and there is 0° dihedral (the wings were very flexible). The RB-47E had an empty weight of 81,100 pounds (36,786 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 200,000 pounds (90,718 kilograms).

The RB-47E was powered by six General Electric J47-GE-25 turbojet engines in four nacelles mounted on pylons below the wings. This engine has a 12-stage axial-flow compressor, eight combustion chambers, and single-stage turbine. The -25 has a continuous power rating of 5,320 pounds of thrust (23.665 kilonewtons) at 7,630 r.p.m., at Sea Level; Military Power, 5,670 pounds (25.221 kilonewtons) at 7,800 r.p.m. (30 minute limit); and Maximum Power, 7,200 pounds (32.027 kilonewtons) at 7,950 r.p.m. with water/alcohol injection (5 minute limit). The J47-GE-25 has a maximum diameter of 3 feet, 1 inch (0.940 meters) and length of 12 feet, 0 inches (3.658 meters) and weighs 2,653 pounds (1,203 kilograms).

Boeing RB-47E-25-BW Stratojet 52-722, 26th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, 1954. (Bob Garrard Collection/AirHistory.net/Flickr)

The RB-47E had a cruise speed of 433 knots (498 miles per hour/802 kilometers per hour), and maximum speed of 497 knots (572 miles per hour/920 kilometers per hour) at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters). The service ceiling was 47,800 feet feet (14,569 meters). Its unrefueled range was 3,935 nautical miles (4,528 statute miles/7,288 kilometers). The RB-47E was capable of inflight refueling and had a maximum fuel capacity of 18,280 gallons in six fuselage and two jettisonable wing tanks.

For defense the RB-47E was armed with two M24A1 20 mm autocannons with 350 rounds of ammunition per gun. The remotely-operated tail turret was controlled by the co-pilot through an A-5 fire control system.

A total of 2,032 B-47s were built by a consortium of aircraft manufacturers: Boeing Airplane Company, Wichita, Kansas; Douglas Aircraft Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lockheed Aircraft Company, Marietta, Georgia.

The Stratojet is one of the most influential aircraft designs of all time and its legacy can be seen in almost every jet airliner built since the 1950s: the swept wing with engines suspended below and ahead on pylons. The B-47 served the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1977. From the first flight of the Boeing XB-47 Stratojet prototype, 17 December 1947, to the final flight of B-47E 52-166, was 38 years, 6 months, 1 day.

¹ “John Lappo Story,” by Wayland Mayo, at the web site “B-29s Over Korea,” https://www.b-29s-over-korea.com/john-lappo-story/

24 April 1943

April 24, 2025AviationAndrea Misener, Ann Waldner, Avenger Field, Blanche Osborne, Class 43-1, Doris Burmeister Nathan, Dorothy Dodd Eppstein, Eileen M. Collins, Elizabeth V. Chadwick Dressler, Frances Green, Hellen Skjersaa Hansen, Margaret Kirchner, Pilot, WASP, Women Airforce Service PilotsBryan Swopes

Graduating class of WASP Pilots pass in review. — Graduating class of WASP Pilots pass in review at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. (U.S. Air Force)

24 April 1943: The first class of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, Class 43-1, graduated from the four-month flight training program and earned their wings as U.S. Army pilots. The class entered with 38 trainees and 24 graduated. Each woman had a civil pilot’s license and at least 200 hours of flight time. Over 25,000 women applied and approximately 1,900 were accepted. By the end of the war, 1,074 had graduated.

Jacqueline (“Jackie”) Cochran, founder of the WASPs, seated in the cockpit of a Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk. (U.S. Air Force)

The Women Airforce Service Pilots were civilian employees of the United States Department of War. Although the WASPs ¹ received the same primary, basic and advanced flight training as their U.S. Army Air Force male counterparts, they were not military personnel. Following graduation from their flight training, some pilots went on to specialized training in heavy bombers or fighters.

WASP pilots FrancesGreen, Margaret Kirchner, Ann Waldner and Blanche Osborne at the four-engine school at Lockbourne Army Airfield, Ohio, with a Boeing B-17. (U.S. Air Force) — WASP pilots Frances Green, Margaret Kirchner, Ann Waldner and Blanche Osborne at the four-engine school at Lockbourne Army Airfield, Ohio, with a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber. (U.S. Air Force)

Test pilots were not always men. These four women, members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), were assigned as engineering test pilots, testing new aircraft and modifications. The airplane behind them is a North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell twin-engine medium bomber. From left to right, Dorothy Dodd Eppstein, Hellen Skjersaa Hansen, Doris Burmeister Nathan and Elizabeth V. Chadwick Dressler. (U.S. Air Force)

The WASPs were not combat pilots. They tested newly-manufactured aircraft for acceptance by the military, delivered these airplanes from factories to Air Corps bases around the country, ferried aircraft across oceans, and flew transport missions.

All of these women provided a great service to their country during a time of war, but even more so to the generations of women who would follow their path.

Major Eileen M. Collins with F-4E-31-MC Phantom II, 66-0289, at the Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California, 1990. A pilot instructor on the T-38 Talon and C-141 Starlifter, Eileen Collins graduated from Class 89B at Edwards. Accepted as an astronaut for NASA, she piloted the space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-63, Atlantis, STS 84, and commanded Columbia STS-93 and Discovery, STS-114.(U.S. Air Force)

U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle fighter Interceptor pilots of the 3rd Fighter Wing, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, left to right, Major Andrea Misener, 19th FS; Captain Jammie Jamiesen, 12th FS; Major Carey Jones, 19th FS; Captain Samantha Weeks, 12th FS. (U.S. Air Force)

Captain Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, Lead Test Pilot for the Boeing 777 and Chief Pilot, Boeing Training and Flight Services. (Boeing)

Brigadier General Jeannie Leavitt at Nellis AFB. (United States Air Force 160715-F-YM181-001)

¹ The WASPs were a separate organization from the WAFS, the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron.

24 April 1939

April 24, 2025Aviation38-10, Allison Engineering Company, Allison V-1710-19, Allison V-1710-C13, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Curtiss-Wright Model 75P, Curtiss-Wright XP-40, Full-Scale Wind Tunnel, Langley Field, NACA, NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, National Advisory Committee for AeronauticsBryan Swopes

The Curtiss XP-40 prototype at Langley Field in the original configuration. (NASA) — The Curtiss-Wright XP-40 prototype, 36-10, at Langley Field in the original configuration. Compare this to the first production P-40 Warhawk in the photograph below. (NASA)

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk 39-156. (U.S. Air Force) — Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk 39-156. (U.S. Air Force)

24 April 1939: Curtiss-Wright’s prototype fighter, the XP-40 (Model 75P), was evaluated by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Field, Virginia, in March and April 1939. NACA engineers placed the XP-40 inside the Full-Scale Wind Tunnel, which was capable of accepting airplanes with wing spans of up to 40 feet (12.2 meters).

Compare this production Curtiss-Wright P-36A Hawk to the first production P-40 Warhawk in the photograph below.

Curtiss Model 81, P-40 Warhawk, 39-156. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)

The airplane was a production Curtiss P-36A Hawk, serial number 38-10, which had been modified by replacing its original air-cooled Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C1-G (R-1830-17) 14-cylinder radial engine with a Harold Caminez-designed, liquid-cooled, supercharged, 1,710.597-cubic-inch-displacement (28.032 liter) Allison Engineering Co. V-1710-C13 (V-1710-19).

This was a single overhead cam (SOHC) 60° V-12 engine with four valves per cylinder and a compression ration of 6.65:1. It had a Normal Power rating of 910 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. at Sea Level, and 1,060 horsepower at 2,950 r.p.m. for Takeoff. At 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), the V-1710-19 had Maximum Continuous Power rating of 1,000 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m., and Military Power rating of 1,150 horsepower at 2,950 r.p.m. The engine required 100/130-octane aviation gasoline. It drove a three-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed propeller through a 2:1 gear reduction.

The V-1710-19 was 8 feet, 1.75 inches (2.483 meters) long, 3 feet, 4.75″ (1.035 meters) high and 2 feet, 4.94 inches (0.735 meters) wide. It weighed 1,320 pounds (599 kilograms).

Curtiss XP-40 prototype in the NACA wind tunnel at Langley Field, Virginia, 24 April 1939. The technician at the lower left of the photograph provides scale. (NASA) — Curtiss-Wright XP-40 prototype in the NACA wind tunnel at Langley Field, Virginia, 24 April 1939. The technician at the lower left of the photograph provides scale. (NASA)

The primary benefit of the engine change was the streamlined fuselage that resulted. The new airplane was capable of a speed of 366 miles per hour (589 kilometers per hour), a 53 miles per hour (85 kilometers per hour) increase over the P-36.

Over a two-month period, NACA engineers made a number of improvements. The radiator was moved forward under the engine and the oil coolers utilized the same air scoop. The exhaust manifolds were improved as were the landing gear doors.

When they had finished, Lieutenant Benjamin Scovill Kelsey flew the modified XP-40 back to Curtiss at Buffalo, New York. Its speed had been increased to 354 miles per hour (570 kilometers per hour), a 12% improvement. Other improvements were recommended which may have increased the XP-40’s speed by an additional 18 miles per hour (29 kilometers per hour). By December 1939, the airplane had been further improved and was capable of 366 miles per hour (589 kilometers per hour).

These photographs show the full-size prototype in the NACA wind tunnel at Langley, 24 April 1939. Two days later, the U.S. Army Air Corps ordered 524 airplanes as the P-40 Warhawk. By the time production ended in 1945, 13,738 Warhawks had been built.

Curtiss XP-40 in the NACA full scale wind tunnel, Langley Field, Virginia, April 1939. (NASA)

24 April 1929

April 24, 2025AviationAviatrix, Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of America, Bellanca CH Monoplane, Elinor Regina Patricia Ward, Elinor Smith, Elinor Smith Sullivan, FAI, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, G.M. Bellanca, Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, Roosevelt Field, World Record for Duration, Wright J-5 WhirlwindBryan Swopes

“Miss Elinor Smith, 17 years old, waving to the crowd of thousands, just after she landed here after establishing a new women’s flight endurance record, 26 hours, 21 minutes, 32 seconds, over four hours better than that of Mrs. McPhetridge of Los Angeles. The plucky girl flew a Ballanca cabin monoplane.” (George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)

Elinor Smith with the Bellanca (CTIE/Monash University)

24 April 1929: At Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, New York, 17-year-old Elinor Smith set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Duration by staying aloft over Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, in a Bellanca CH Monoplane for 26 hours, 27 minutes. ¹ Miss Smith had very nearly doubled her own record, set just four months earlier. ²

During the flight the airplane’s elevator trim adjustment malfunctioned, forcing Smith to use both arms to hold the stick back to maintain level flight. She dropped a note in a weighted sack to advise those on the ground of the problem.

Elinor Smith with the Bellanca CH Monoplane. (Associated Press/The Los Angeles Times)

The Associated Press reported the event:

FLAPPER ‘ACE’ TOPS WOMEN’S AIR RECORDS

Elinor Smith Is Up Above 26 Hours; Victor Over Four.

By Associated Press,

ROOSEVELT FIELD, N.Y., April 24.—Elinor Smith, 17-year-old flying flapper of Long Island, won a victory Wednesday in the four-sided battle being waged among two women from the eastern seaboard and two from the west for the women’s solo endurance record.

She brought her plane down at 2:2:16 p.m. after 26 hours 21 minutes and 32 seconds in the air, beating the record of 22 hours 3 minutes and 12 seconds established by Louise McPhetridge of California by hours 18 minutes and 20 seconds.

Before Mrs. McPhetridge, Miss Bobbie Trout of California was the record holder. Miss Trout beat an earlier record of Miss Smith, who in turn on that earlier flight beat a record held by Viola Gentry, Long Island’s flying cashier.

Miss Smith’s record Wednesday was within 9 hours, 11 minutes and 49 seconds of the man’s solo endurance flight record of 35 hours, 33 minutes and 21 seconds, established at Roosevelt Field last month by Martin Jensen.

Beats Early Mark

Less than three minutes before, Miss Smith exceeded the first world endurance record ever established at this field. In 1921, Eddie Stinson of Detroit and Lloyd Bertaud, who was lost with the transatlantic plane Old Glory, established a record there of 26 hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds, which was 2 minutes and 57 seconds less than the record set single-handed Wednesday by Miss Smith.

About 8:30 a.m. a note was dropped from the plane in which the young flier was having trouble with the stabilizer and had both arms “wrapped around the stick.”

Sure of Victory

It was apparent, however, that she did not regard the trouble as serious for the note added: “Tough night but it won’t be long now.”

Miss Smith brought her plane, a cabin monoplane borrowed from G.M. Bellanca, airplane designer, down to a perfect landing.

“I think it’s wonderful that I broke the record. Now I want to get some sleep,” she said as she dodged the crowds and vanished homeward.

Miss Smith’s mother Wednesday night said plans had been made for Elinor to make a transatlantic flight this summer, probably to Rome. She said backers already had been obtained.

—The Milwaukee Sentinel, April 25, 1929, Page 1, Column 4.

A Bellanca CH-200 (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives) — A Bellanca CH-200 (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

The Bellanca CH Monoplane (also referred to as the CH-200) was a single-engine high-wing monoplane, designed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca and built by the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of America, Newcastle, Delaware. It was operated by one pilot and could carry up to 5 passengers in an enclosed cabin.

The airplane was 27 feet, 9 inches (8.458 meters) long with a wingspan of 46 feet, 4 inches (14.122 meters) and height of 8 feet, 4 inches (2.540 meters). It had an empty weight of 2,275 pounds (1,032 kilograms) and gross weight of 4,072 pounds (1,847 kilograms).

The Bellanca CH Monoplane was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.901 liter) Wright Whirlwind J-5 nine-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 5.1:1. It was rated at 200 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 225 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. This was a direct-drive engine which turned a two-bladed propeller. The Wright J-5C was 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) long and 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter. It weighed 508 pounds (230.4 kilograms).

The airplane’s maximum speed was 126 miles per hour (203 kilometers per hour) and its range was 800 miles (1,287 kilometers).

Elinor Regina Patricia Ward was born in New York City, 17 August 1911. She was the second of three children of Thomas Francis Ward, a vaudeville dancer and comedian, and Agnes A. Ward, a singer. In order to avoid being mistaken for another performer, Mr. Ward changed his name to Smith. Miss Ward also adopted the name and is better known as “Elinor Smith.”

Miss Smith took her first flight in an airplane at the age of six years. When she was ten she began flight training in her father’s Weaver Aircraft Co. Waco 9 biplane. Just before her seventeenth birthday she qualified for a pilot’s certificate. It was issued 14 August 1928 by the National Aeronautic Association of the U.S.A., on behalf of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Certificate No. 6906 was signed by Orville Wright, Chairman of the N.A.A.

The National Aeronautic Association issued Aviator Pilot Certificate No. 6906 to Elinor Smith on 14 August 1928, just before her 17th birthday. The document was signed by Orville Wright.

Elinor Smith flying under the Manhattan Bridge, 21 October 1928.

Elinor Smith first came to the attention of the general public when, on 21 October 1928, she flew under four bridges on New York City’s East River.

In November 1928 Miss Smith was employed by the Irvin Air Chute Company as a pilot. She toured the United States, flying a Bellanca Pacemaker.

On 10 March 1930, Smith set an FAI world altitude for women of 8,357 meters (27,418 feet). ³ She flew a Bellanca Skyrocket, NC752W.

In May 1930, the Aeronautics Branch, U.S. Department of Commerce issued a Transport License to Miss Smith. She was the youngest pilot to receive that license up to that time.

A 1930 poll of licensed pilots in the United States selected Smith as the Best Woman Pilot in America. Her male counterpart was the legendary Jimmy Doolittle.

Elinor Smith set several U.S. national records for speed, altitude and duration. From 1930 to 1935, she was an expert commentator on aviation for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network.

On 22 July 1933, Patrick H. Sullivan II, an attorney and member of the New York State Assembly for the 11th District of New York County, married Elinor Smith in New York City. They would have four children. Following the birth of their first child, Patrick H. Sullivan III, Mrs. Sullivan gave up flying.

Elinor Smith was featured on the box of Wheaties breakfast cereal in 1934. (General Mills)

In 1934, Mrs. Sullivan became the first woman to be featured on the box of General Mills’ Wheaties breakfast cereal, “The Breakfast of Champions.” This has always been a high honor for sporting men and women.

After her husband died in 1956, Elinor Smith Sullivan resumed flying, and continued until she was 89 years old.

Mrs. Elinor Smith Sullivan died 19 March 2010 at Lytton Gardens Health Care Center, Palo Alto, California. She was aged 98 years, 7 months and 3 days.

¹ FAI Record File Number 12217. Duration: 26 hours, 27 minutes. 24 April 1929.

² FAI Record File Number 12216. Duration: 13 hours, 17 minutes, 45 seconds. 31 January 1929.

³ FAI Record File Number 12226. Altitude, Female: 8,357 meters (27,418 feet), 10 March 1930.

This Day in Aviation

Important Dates in Aviation History

Daily Archives: April 24, 2025

24 April 1959

24 April 1943

24 April 1939

24 April 1929