Transcontinental air speed record

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These are records for flight between coasts in North America.

In-flight and on-ground time are counted after the earliest flights
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Year Date Time Direction Pilot Aircraft Notes and reference
1911 September 17, 1911 3 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes in air time East to West Calbraith Perry Rodgers Wright biplane The first transcontinental flight. It took fifty days (3 days 10 hours 14 minutes actual flying time). Rodgers made it in some seventy hops, flying a Wright biplane which was damaged and repaired so many times en route that nothing remained of the original machine at the finish but the drip pan and the vertical rudder.
1919 October 11, 1919 3 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes[1] East to West Belvin W. Maynard DH-4 On the first leg of the "Transcontinental Air Race of 1919" which saw 33 planes cross the U.S. with 8 completing the round-trip (out of 67 which began the trip). Nine deaths occurred during what was officially the U.S. Army's "Transcontinental Reliability and Endurance Test"
1922 September 4, 1922 21 hours 19 minutes East to West Jimmy Doolittle DH-4 Flew from Pablo Beach, Florida, to San Diego, California, with only one refueling stop[2]
1923 June 23, 1923 20 hours, 48 minutes East to West Russell Maughan P-1 Hawk First transcontinental flight during hours of daylight. See also "Dawn-to-dusk" transcontinental flight across the United States, New York City to San Francisco, average speed 128 miles per hour
1929 Frank Hawks
1929 18 hours and 43 minutes East to West Roscoe Turner New York City to Los Angeles
1929 12 hours and 25 minutes West to East Frank Hawks Los Angeles to New York City
1929 14 hours and ? minutes East to West Frank Hawks New York City to Los Angeles
1930 14 hours and 45 minutes West to East Charles A. Lindbergh Los Angeles to New York City. "Behind the name of Captain Frank M. Hawks, in aviation's record book today is set down the time of 12 hours, 25 minutes, 3 seconds for an eastward transcontinental flight, the fastest ever flown by man over the distance of 2,500 miles. It is farther by more than two hours the time made Easter Sunday by Colonel and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh. Their record was 14 hours and 45 minutes." Source: Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, August 15, 1930; Valley Stream, New York; August 14, 1930 (Associated Press)
1930 12 hours and 25 minutes West to East Frank Hawks Los Angeles to New York City. "Behind the name of Captain Frank M. Hawks, in aviation's record book today is set down the time of 12 hours, 25 minutes, 3 seconds for an eastward transcontinental flight, the fastest ever flown by man over the distance of 2,500 miles. It is farther by more than two hours the time made Easter Sunday by Colonel and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh. Their record was 14 hours and 45 minutes." Source: Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, August 15, 1930; Valley Stream, New York; August 14, 1930 (Associated Press)
1930 November 14, 1930 12 hours and 33 minutes East to West Roscoe Turner New York City to Burbank, California. He set the East-West transcontinental airspeed record at 12 hours and 33 minutes. Turner bettered by two hours and 17 minutes the former mark set by Frank Hawks.
1931 11 hours, 16 minutes, 10 seconds West to East Jimmy Doolittle 1931 Laird “Super Solution” Completed for a bonus prize after winning the inaugural Bendix Trophy race, Los Angeles to Newark, averaged 217 miles per hour[3]
1932 August 29, 1932 10 hours, 19 minutes West to East Jim Haizlip WW 44 Completed after winning the 2nd annual Bendix Trophy race.[4]
1936 January 13, 1936 9 hours and 27 minutes West to East Howard Hughes Burbank, California to Newark, New Jersey. Hughes took off from Burbank, California, on January 13, 1936, en route to Newark, New Jersey, and a new cross-country record. He made the flight in 9 hours, 27 minutes, 10 seconds, and bettered Roscoe Turner's previous mark by 36 minutes. [5]
1937 January 19, 1937 7 hours and 28 minutes West to East Howard Hughes Burbank, California to Newark, New Jersey
1939 7 hours and ? minutes West to East Ben Kelsey Marsh Field, California to Mitchel Field, New York
1945 January 9, 1945 6 hours 4 minutes West to East Curtin L. Reinhardt C-97 Stratofreighter Seattle to Washington, D.C., average speed 383 mph[6]
1949 February 8, 1949 3 hours 46 minutes West to East B-47 Stratojet Washington State to Maryland, 607.8 mph average[7]
1957 November 27, 1957 3 hours, 7 minutes West to East F-101 Voodoo "Operation Sun Run" with 4 F-101s using in-air refueling, Southern California to New York, 781.7 mph West to East leg, 721.8 mph roundtrip average[8][9]
1990 March 6, 1990 64 minutes West to East Ed Yeilding and Joseph T. Vida SR-71 Blackbird Flying to museum at retirement of the aircraft, Los Angeles to Virginia's coast, average speed 2,124 mph (3,418 km/h)[10]

For the junior record only in-flight time is counted
Year Date Time Pilot Aircraft Reference
1930 October 4, 1930 East to West in 23 hours and 47 minutes Robert Nietzel Buck PA-6 Pitcairn Mailwing On October 4, 1930 Robert beat the junior transcontinental air speed record of Eddie August Schneider in his PA-6 Pitcairn Mailwing he named "Yankee Clipper". His time was 23 hours, and 47 minutes of elapsed flying time. Robert said on February 6, 2005: "I was the youngest to fly coast to coast and that record still stands. I had my license at 16 and after that, they raised the minimum age to 17. With that change, no one could break my record."
1930 August 18, 1930 East to West in 29 hours and 55 minutes Eddie August Schneider Cessna Leaving from Westfield, New Jersey on August 14, 1930 to Los Angeles, California in 4 days with a combined flying time of 29 hours and 55 minutes. He lowered the East to West record by 4 hours and 22 minutes. He then made the return trip from Los Angeles to Roosevelt Field, New York in 27 hours and 19 minutes, lowering the West to East record by 1 hour and 36 minutes. His total elapsed time for the round trip was 57 hours and 14 minutes.
1930 East to West in 32 hours and ? minutes Frank Goldsborough Combined East to West and West to East in 62 hours and 58 minutes. [11]
1928 Richard James (aviator) Previous "record" of 48 hours, set last year by 18-year-old Richard James, was spread over a month elapsed time. Average speed, 607.8 mph[12]

For the women's record, only in-flight time is counted

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcontinental_air_speed_record"
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