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Published in The Seattle Times online on April 4, 2024
and in Pacific NW Magazine of the printed Times on April 7, 2024

For first world flight, from Seattle to Seattle, hope took to the air

By Clay Eals

Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, the Wright Brothers. We all recognize those aviation icons and their deeds.

But what about Army pilots Frederick Martin, Lowell Smith, Leigh Wade and Erik Nelson? Their names have eluded cultural literacy, though they were the initial pilots leading the inaugural round-the-world voyage by air, a six-month U.S. military feat that began and ended in northeast Seattle 100 years ago.

This weekend marks its centennial. On April 6, 1924, some 300 onlookers witnessed four two-seat, open-cockpit Douglas biplanes named Seattle, Chicago, New Orleans and Boston taking off from Sand Point Airfield. Using interchangeable wheels and floats for periodic landings, the armada headed northwest — clockwise if you could eye the route from above the North Pole.

In this nascent era, among relentless complications, two planes perished. The Seattle crashed into an Alaskan mountain. Its two-man crew hiked five days through snow, holed up in a trapper’s cabin three days and walked one more day before their rescue and return home.

The Boston sank near Iceland, replaced by a backup, the Boston II. The original Boston crew later joined the crews of the Chicago and New Orleans, and the three planes came full circle, landing Sept. 28 at Sand Point, greeted by an adoring crowd of 40,000.

The 175-day sojourn touched 22 countries, some of which had never seen a plane. The purposes, outlined by Major Gen. Mason Patrick, were lofty:

• Demonstrate aerial communication with “all countries of the world.”
• Prove flight as practical “through regions where surface transportation does not exist or at least is slow, dangerous and uncertain.”
• Show that aircraft could operate “under all climatical conditions.”
• Prompt aircraft to adapt to “the needs of commerce.”
• Showcase the “excellence” of American aircraft and byproducts.
• Honor America as “the first nation to finally circumnavigate the globe.”

Indeed, hope filled the air for the April 6 launch. “Seattle has an interest in the gallant effort of the Army airmen not felt by other cities,” The Seattle Times editorialized that day. “It is here that they make their adieus and receive the expressions of goodwill from an admiring city.”

The same hope imbues this year’s six-month First World Flight Centennial celebration. The Friends of Magnuson Park group plans big events at Sand Point and the Museum of Flight around the Sept. 28 return date. But fittingly the party already has begun in the intangible air of the internet, with a “Follow the Journey” campaign on Instagram and Facebook.

“It’s a daily experience,” says Elisa Law, executive director, “to drum up global recognition and collective memory.” Through it, the Friends seek to unearth photos and other artifacts from the flight’s 74 worldwide stops.

As for Martin, Smith, Wade and Nelson? We could call them “The Boys in the Sky.” Hollywood, anyone?

WEB EXTRAS

Thanks to Jade D’Addario of the Seattle Room of Seattle Public Library, Wendy Malloy of the Museum of History & Industry, Phil Dougherty of HistoryLink and to Elisa Law and Cynthia Mejia-Giudici of Friends of Magnuson Park for their invaluable help with this installment!

To see Clay Eals’ 360-degree video of the “Now” prospect and compare it with the “Then” photos, and to hear this column read aloud by Clay, check out our Seattle Now & Then 360 version of the column.

You also will find 2 more videos, 64 additional photos and, in chronological order, 8 historical clips from The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer online archive (available via Seattle Public Library), Newspapers.com and Washington Digital Newspapers, that were helpful in the preparation of this column.

And don’t miss these in-depth HistoryLink stories on the First World Flight by Phil Dougherty:

• Seattle to Seattle: The First Aerial Circumnavigation of the Globe (Part 1) – HistoryLink.org
• Seattle to Seattle: The First Aerial Circumnavigation of the Globe (Part 2) – HistoryLink.org
• U.S. Army Air Service airplanes land at Sand Point Aerodrome to complete the first flight around the world on September 28, 1924. – HistoryLink.org

And this link for a long-running dream:

• The Seattle World Cruiser Project

The following panels are from a free exhibit commemorating the six-month 1924 feat, open weekdays at Mercy Magnuson Place, 7101 62nd Ave. NE, at Sand Point.

The following panels are the initial Instagram posts for the First World Flight centennial celebration.

The following images are of the 2021 aviation murals created by students at Building 41 at Sand Point. The Friends of Magnuson Park hope to make it a visitor center.

The following photos depict an aviation display at Magnuson  Community Center, 7110 62nd Ave NE.

The following photo and video are from Magnuson  Community Center’s dedication July 7, 2023.

The following photos depict the First World Flight commemorative monument at the entrance to Magnuson Park.

The following photos are from the collection of Ron Edge.

The following panels are from the May 2023 newsletter of Friends of Magnuson Park.

The following photos are from a photo album given by the Navy to Tiburcio V. Mejia at Sand Point in 1956. Here is a remembrance from his daughter, Cynthia Mejia-Giudici, board member of Friends of Magnuson Park:

“My father, Tiburcio V. Mejia, was a chief petty officer in the Navy, then a steward as that was the highest level Filipinos could attain at that time. We transferred here December 1956, and he retired during the 1965 school year. I was 12 or 13 in the group photo below. My brother, Ted, was about 10, and my sister, Leslie Ann, was 5 or 6. My mother, Connie, was a proud wife.

“My brother said that the photo album was most likely presented to my dad when he retired, possibly as a commemorative gift. Dad enlisted at Glenview, Ill., in 1942. He served admirals on aircraft carriers. We have slippers from his travels to Algeria and photos of him wearing a Scottish kilt. He was in the European theater and didn’t see ground combat. One of his assignments was on the USS Missouri. My father kept a file of programs of dinners that he who most likely coordinated, also recipes. Precious stuff!”