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HISTORY

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Firsts

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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


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References

Australian Aviation Hall of Fame, 2025. Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith. Available at: https://www.aahof.com.au/inductees/sir-charles-edward-kingsford-smith#:~:text=Flying%20across%20the%20Pacific%20via,the%20forefront%20of%20world%20flying [Accessed 1 December 2025]. Simple Flying, 2025. The History of Wolfgang von Gronau and His Flights. Available at: https://simpleflying.com/wolfgang-von-gronau-history/#:~:text=The%20Dornier%20Wal%20would%20cover,the%20circumnavigation%20with%20many%20stops [Accessed 1 December 2025]. National Air and Space Museum, 2025. December 7, 1941 and the First Around-the-World Commercial Flight. Available at: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/december-7-1941-and-first-around-world-commercial-flight [Accessed 1 December 2025]. The New York Times, 2014. Jerrie Mock, First Solo Female Pilot to Circumnavigate the Globe, Dies at 88. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/us/jerrie-mock-first-solo-female-pilot-to-circumnavigate-the-globe-dies-at-88.html#:~:text=When%20she%20took%20off%20on,and%20Honolulu%2C%20among%20other%20places [Accessed 1 December 2025]. Wikipedia, (n.d.). List of circumnavigations. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_circumnavigations#Aerial [Accessed: 21 March 2025].
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