Russell Maughan, 1924
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Russell Maughan is one of the more prestigious military
pilots of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register. He visited
Tucson solo on March 25, 1929 flying a Consolidated PT-1,
26-314. He was born March 8, 1893 and died April 21, 1958.
Five years earlier, Maughan was credited with making the
first ever east-west U.S. transcontinental flight during
"daylight" hours. On Monday June 23, 1924, in a
race with the sun, he flew a Curtiss PW8 Pursuit airplane
the 2,645 miles between Mitchel Field, New York (departing
at 3:00AM EST/4:00AM DST) and Crissy Field, San Francisco
(arriving at 9:48PM PST) in 21 hours 48 minutes. His airplane
was powered by a used, 685-pound Curtiss D-12 engine, which
had run about 140 hours by the end of his record flight (right
sidebar).
His total elapsed time included 3 hours and 28 minutes consumed
at five rest and refueling stops. The actual flying time
was 18 hours 20 minutes, making his average ground speed
in excess of 156 MPH.
On the morning of his flight, the weather was deemed good
all the way across the country. Maughan arose shortly before
departure and ate a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and
toast, preceded by a cantaloupe he found in the refrigerator
at the Officer's Club.
It wasn't his first attempt to fly that route in that time
frame. He had made two earlier attempts the previous year
on July 10 and July 19. Both these attempts were terminated
because of mechanical problems (a plugged fuel line on the
10th and an oil leak on the 19th).
Upon completion of his 1924 flight he handed over a copy
of the New York Times of June 22 that he had carried
with him to San Francisco Mayor James Rolph, Jr. This had
to be the first time an east coast newspaper was delivered
so promptly to the west coast. He received high accolades
for this flight from President Coolidge, Secretary of War
Weeks and Chief of the Air Force Patrick. Other images of
Maughan and his Curtiss airplane are available here on
this site.
BG Sparkplug Advertisment, July 1924
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At left, a contemporary advertisement for BG sparkplugs,
the type used during the Dawn to Dusk flight, and the type
used by government contractors and engine builders.
This interesting
page from the Oxnard
Daily Courier announces,
center, Maughan's departure time from New York and a status
report of his location (Cheyenne, WY). Note also on this
page the bumper crop of fine apricots that early summer,
and, down near the bottom right of the page, the greeting
of the World
Cruisers in India.
Besides his
cross-country flight, Russell Maughan earlier finished first
in the 1922 Pulitzer Air Race, flying a Curtiss R-6. Later,
Billy Mitchell used the same plane to set a speed record
of 222.97 MPH. A Wikipedia biography
is available at the link, with the usual cautions.
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Dossier 2.2.130
UPLOADED: 10/13/07 REVISED: 10/15/07
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