Who was first to fly the Pacific?

Today we celebrate the 83rd anniversary of the first trans-Pacific flight. The significance of many historic achievements is often lost when competing with current events. In this case, the crossing from San Francisco to Honolulu was overshadowed by the solo trans-Atlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh a month earlier.

The Fokker F.9 aircraft, designated C-2 by the US Army Air Corps, had been significantly modified at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Powered by three Wright J-5 Whirlwind engines, each developing 220 hp, the airplane cruised at 105 mph. The crew met with the press before their departure, this video clip is from a silent newsreel. Lt. Albert Hegenberger (navigator/pilot) is on the left, Lt. Lester Maitland (pilot) on the right. A second video shows the C-2 departing Oakland’s still under construction airport.

Maitland would land the large transport at 6:29 am on June 29, 1927 after flying 2,416 miles, all of it over water. Total flying time was 25 hours, 49 minutes. In addition to each being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the crew earned the Mackay Trophy for 1927. F. Trubee Davison, Assistant Secretary of War, said, “The flight is unquestionably one of the greatest aerial accomplishments ever made.”

The flight was described as a test flight of radio navigation equipment the Army had been developing for years. Hegenberger, an MIT graduate in aeronautical engineering, would spend his career advancing aviation technology.  Major General Hegenberger retired from the Air Force in 1949.

Maitland had a long and storied career in the military, retiring from the Michigan Air National Guard as a Brigadier General. He was director of aeronautics for both Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1956 he was ordained an Episcopal minister; he retired as rector emeritus.

Video footage courtesy the Prelinger Archives.

Fred Ascani, Wisconsin native, pilot

The challenge of being a student of Wisconsin’s aviation history is realizing just how deep that history is. Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame (WAHF) speakers are approached following every presentation. More times than not, the question people ask is, “Do you know about _________?” (Fill in the blank with any aviator’s name.) Such is the case with a recent obituary from the New York Times. An attached sticky note read, “Do you know of this guy?” My answer, no, led to some research time and, with apologies to Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story.

 Alfredo John Ascani was born in Beloit, Wisconsin on May 29, 1917. The family moved to nearby Rockford, Illinois where Fred graduated from high school in 1935. He returned to Beloit, attending Beloit College for two years until he was accepted at West Point. Ascani graduated 24th of 424 members of his 1941 academy class. He immediately entered pilot training.

Ascani was test pilot on the Northrup X-4

Following flight school and assignment as a flight instructor, target-tow pilot, and commander of a flight training squadron, then Major Fred Ascani served as squadron commander of the 816^th Bomb Squadron flying B-17s out of Italy. Fred flew 53 combat missions before returning stateside.

Ascani served as Colonel Albert G. Boyd’s executive officer while at the Flight Test Division in Dayton, OH. Boyd would become known as the “father of modern flight test.” In 1950, Ascani moved to Edwards Air Force Base where he served as Director of Experimental Flight Test and Engineering. He was later promoted to the first Vice Commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC).

In July, 1951 then Colonel Ascani earned the Thompson and Mackay trophies by setting a new speed record. Fred was flying a North American F-86E, Sabre at an average speed of 635.68 mph.  Other assignments and promotions followed including System Program Director for the XB-70 Valkyrie. Ascani retired from the Air Force August 1, 1973 as a Major General.

Ascani biography Mentor Inbound

General  Ascani died March 28, 2010. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in June. Mentor Inbound by Sheryl Hutchinson is the General’s biography.

Happy Birthday Billy

William L. “Billy” Mitchell was born 130 years ago today in Nice, France.  Mitchell was inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame (WAHF) in 1986.

Mitchell began his military career as a private in the First Wisconsin Infantry. He soon became an officer and later transferred to the US Army’s Signal Corps. Billy learned to fly in 1916 at the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station in New Port News, VA. WAHF inductee Walter Lees provided Mitchell, now a major, some of his flight instruction and later soloed Mitchell. That first flight did not end well for the new pilot; the aircraft came to rest inverted at the end of the landing roll.

Colonel Billy Mitchell, DH4B

Assigned as an aviation observer, Mitchell arrived in Europe during April 1917. He became the first American officer to fly over the French battlefields. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in June 1917 and served in the AEF.

Promoted to colonel in May 1918, he assumed command of the Air Service, First Army Corps. This position gave him opportunity to fly, command, and learn air combat firsthand. Major General Mason Patrick, Air Service Commander, described Mitchell as “aggressive, courageous, and fearless.”

Colonel Billy Mitchell would lead the 1500-aircraft bombing raid against the Saint-Mihiel salient in September 1918. Promoted to brigadier general, Mitchell took command of all allied air forces in time for the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October.

While serving in Europe, Mitchell discussed the future of airpower with Hugh Trenchard of England and Italy’s Giulio Douhet. These discussions would serve as the foundation of Mitchell’s plan for a separate US air force. This air force would, in Mitchell’s vision, win the next war, single-handedly.

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Mitchell’s downfall was not his message but in his method. Today, Billy Mitchell is considered the father of modern airpower.

We suggest the following for further research:

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/mitchell/front.pdf

A Question of Loyalty by Douglas Waller