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After sparing his enemy, Franz Stigler flies
over a German village as the “Ye Olde
Pub” steers for home. Prints start at
$34/month with our payment plan!“THE GUARDIAN RETURNS”
by NICOLAS TRUDGIAN
(^1943) * 2018
75
YEARS
“THE GUARDIAN”
by NICOLAS TRUDGIAN
Franz Stigler escorts the B-17 “Ye Olde
Pub” out of Germany on Dec. 20, 1943, a
moment from the pages of A Higher Call.
Prints start at just $95!
H
oward Hughes
gained global fame
80 years ago on July
14, 1938, when he
and his crew touched down
in a Lockheed Super Electra
14 dubbed New York World’s
Fair 1939 at Brook lyn’s Floyd
Bennett Field, just over 91
hours after setting out to cir-
cumnavigate the globe. The
airplane boasted extra fuel
tanks and a sophisticated
array of radio and naviga-
tional equipment. Millions
had followed the flight’s
progress via radio.
Then 33, Hughes had
previously set a transcon-
tinental speed record in
the Hughes H-1 racer, and
was also celebrated for his
1930 war film Hell’s Angels.
Accompanying him on the
global flight were copilot
MILESTONES
Around
the World
in 91 Hours
Harry Connor, navigator
Thomas Thurlow, flight engi-
neer Edward Lund and radio
operator Richard Stoddart.
The Super Electra touched
down in Paris, Moscow,
Omsk, Yakutsk, Fairbanks
and Minneapolis before
returning to New York.
A crowd of some 25,
spectators frustrated
Hughes’ plan to place a
wreath at Floyd Bennett
Field that day in memory
of the late Wiley Post, who
had landed at Floyd Bennett
Field after his 1931 solo
global flight in the Lockheed
5C Vega Winnie Mae.
Later feted at a ticker-tape
parade in New York City,
Hughes took the oppor-
tunity to praise his crew in
remarks published in the
Daily News. He told report-
ers, “Mechanically, all our
equipment was perfect,” but
added: “There’s no use try-
ing to compare Wiley Post’s
flight....His flight must still
remain the most remarkable
in history.”
Nan Siegel
Globetrotter Police, press and spectators surround Howard
Hughes’ Lockheed Super Electra 14 at Floyd Bennett Field.
BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES