On the evening of May 1, 1923, they received a weather report that showed favorable conditions developing. They were up at 4 a.m. and made the final preparations for takeoff from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, N.Y.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Aviation History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

Roosevelt Field sits on a mile-square plateau, with Hazelhurst Field, the same size but 20 feet lower, adjacent to it. Macready described the takeoff from his perspective back in the cabin: "The big monoplane bounced and bounced but did not rise. It was still on the ground when we came to the 20-foot drop-off from Roosevelt to Hazelhurst Field….Over we went and settled down, but not quite to the earth.

"The heavily loaded plane could hardly maintain itself in level flight. For 20 minutes over Long Island our climb was hardly appreciable. In fact, for the first few miles we barely cleared the poles and wires."

Over Pennsylvania, Kelly noticed the voltage regulator was indicating "discharge," which meant the plane was flying on the battery. They could only last for a few hours like this. Turning the controls over to Macready, Kelly spent the next half hour removing the voltage regulator, repairing it and putting it back in place. With the regulator now reading "charge," Kelly took over the controls and flew on.

As dusk approached, the T-2 reached Dayton, Ohio, and Macready moved to the cockpit to begin his stint in front. As they flew west, clouds began to gather. Macready said, "Flying into this murky night was about the same as plunging into ice-cold water with a long swim ahead."

When they reached St. Louis, its lights, barely discernible through the mist, told Macready he was still on course. He followed the Missouri River until he reached Jefferson City, Mo. Then the clouds thickened. As they flew over the Ozarks, they could no longer see ground lights. Once again, they would have to struggle through total darkness.

With the airplane pointed toward New Mexico, Macready followed a compass course across five states. He said, "Kelly and I take great pride in having remained directly on our course throughout the blackness of the night."

Shortly before midnight, Macready found the clouds thinning. He could see the ground once again. At this point, they were 1,200 miles into their flight. Kelly took over the controls near Spearman, Texas, and used his compass to stay on course for the next six hours.

Macready took over at 6 a.m. They were then over Santa Rosa, N.M., and two-thirds of the way through the flight. Once he reached the Rio Grande, Macready knew he was seven hours away from San Diego, with nine hours of fuel left on board. If he could just get over the upcoming mountains, the flight surely would be a success.

The T-2 was struggling for altitude, gaining a few feet with each gallon of fuel burned. Once more, Kelly and Macready were confronted with the Continental Divide. And once more, they were unable to push the Fokker high enough to clear the mountains. As before, they had to look for a new route, a gap in the divide.

Macready flew slightly to the south of the proposed route and found the opening he needed. With all of 100 feet to spare, they cleared the highest point of the flight.

Kelly took over near Wickenburg, Ariz., and followed the Santa Fe Railroad until they reached the Colorado River. The Imperial Valley lay below. All that stood between them and the Pacific Ocean was one last mountain range. They were on time and on course. Success was near.

Since Macready was a native of San Diego, he took the controls once the Pacific Ocean was in sight. The goal was to reach San Diego in less than 27 hours total flight time. Macready brought the big airplane down from 8,000 feet, leveling off to pass over the housetops at 100 feet. The T-2 touched down at Rockwell Field 26 hours and 50 minutes after leaving New York. The exhausted pilots had flown into history.

Macready later recalled his thoughts about the end of the flight: "Everyone was excited but Kelly and myself. We had been working in grease and dirt, without rest, for such a long time previous to the flight that we had not had an opportunity to think about it from the standpoint of an accomplished act.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to