This Day In Coronado History – September 5, 1922
Dashing aviator, Jimmy Doolittle, set a record for the first transcontinental flight, flying 2,163 miles from Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville), FL to Rockwell Field, the Army airfield that was once part of North Island. He departed Jacksonville on September 4th, refueled his plane once at Kelly Field in Texas, then flew on to Rockwell Field, arriving on September 5 at 5:34pm. Total flight time clocked in at 21 hours and 19 minutes. The U.S. Army awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of many awards he would receive in his career, including the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Doolittle, originally enlisted in the Army Air Corp in October 1917 at North Island’s Rockwell Field. During the demobilization of the military after WWI, Doolittle was recommended for retention in the Army Air Corps where he qualified and earned a Regular Army commission as a 1st Lieutenant, Air Service, on July 1, 1920. It was at Rockwell Field that he did his flight training, and later became a flight leader and instructor there.
Doolittle’s famous career is extensive and can be read about here: Jimmy Doolittle – Wikipedia
This Day in History – Feb 17, 1911
This Day in History – February 17, 1911 – Curtiss lands alongside the USS Pennsylvania and his plane, a Model D-III, is hoisted onto the deck with a crane, and then put back in the water. He was demonstrating to the US Navy the feasibility using aircraft in fleet operations. One month early, Eugene Ely as part of the Curtiss Expedition Team, landed on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania, and later took off from the deck of the ship. Soon after, the Navy purchased its first airplane.
