Aviation History - July 2018

64 AH JULY 2018

east for their historic flight. They flew to Miami,

and were refueled and resupplied at selected air-

ports along the route. A ground crew flying ahead

of Sunkist Lady loaded a waiting Willys Jeepster at

each resupply location. Riedel and Barris flew low

over the speeding Jeepster to retrieve fuel and sup-

plies. After reaching Miami, they loitered in the air

for 14 days as they waited for the weather to clear

along their route back to California. Upon their

return on March 11, they circled the skies ticking

off the hours, touching down on April 26 after

1,008 hours, two minutes in the air, or 42 days.

As amazing as the 42-day record was, it didn’t

last long. After their first two attempts were cut

short due to mechanical problems, Bob Wood-

house and Woody Jongeward departed Yuma,

Ariz., in the Aeronca Sedan City of Yuma on

August 24, 1949. The flight was intended to

prompt the government to reopen Yuma Army

Airfield, which had been closed after WWII.

Since Riedel and Barris had remained aloft for

1,008 hours, the new goal was 1,010 hours, or

“ten-ten,” which became the name of the refu-

eling car, a 1948 Buick convertible. During their

flight, the pair were interviewed on national news-

casts over their two-way radio. People wanted to

know the details of how they managed to eat,

sleep and, most important, go to the bathroom.

“We had these double bags, and I would always

joke that we’d fly over California and throw it out,”

Jongeward explained. The men took four-hour

shifts at the controls, and two or three times per

day would return to the Yuma airport for resupply

from the speeding Buick.

Woodhouse and Jongeward passed the 1,010-

hour mark and continued on until October 10:

ten-ten. They landed after 1,124 hours and 17

minutes in the air—nearly 47 days. “The time of

the landing came on Woody’s shift,” said Wood-

house. “He was a little worried because we hadn’t

landed in seven weeks and we had knocked a

spotlight or two off of the side of the Buick and

REFUEL & RESUPPLY

Left: City of Chicago

refuels during its

record run. Below: The

Aeronca Sedan City of

Yuma takes on supplies

from a Buick in 1949.