HISTORY

Firsts
First Circumnavigation of the Globe by Aircraft
This list features the first people to circumnavigate the globe by aircraft.
RANK | PILOT | DATE | DURATION | DISTANCE | AIRCRAFT/TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
1 | Lowell H. Smith, Leslie P. Arnold, Erik H. Nelson, John Harding Jr. | 1924 | 175 days | 26,345 miles (42,398 km) | Douglas World Cruiser floatplanes | First aerial circumnavigation |
2 | Hugo Eckener | 1929 | 21 days | N/A | LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin | First circumnavigation by an airship |
3 | Charles Kingsford Smith | 1928-1930 | Various | N/A | Various | First circumnavigation by monoplane |
4 | Wiley Post, Harold Gatty | 1931 | 8 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes | 15,474 miles (24,903 km) | Single-engine aircraft | First circumnavigation in a single-engined aircraft |
5 | Wolfgang von Gronau | 1932 | Nearly 4 months | N/A | Dornier seaplane | First aerial circumnavigation by flying boat |
6 | Wiley Post | 1933 | 7 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes | 25,110 km (15,600 mi) | Aeroplane | First solo aerial circumnavigation |
7 | Robert Ford | 1941 | N/A | N/A | Boeing 314 | First commercial aircraft to circumnavigate the world |
8 | Richarda Morrow-Tait | 18 Aug 1948 - 19 Aug 1949 | 1 year, 1 day | N/A | N/A | First woman pilot to fly around the world |
9 | U.S. Airforce | 1949 | 94 hours, 1 minute | 37,743 km (23,452 mi) | B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II | First non-stop aerial circumnavigation |
10 | U.S. Airforce | 1957 | 45 hours, 19 minutes | 39,147 km (24,325 mi) | Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses | First non-stop jet-aircraft circumnavigation |
References




