First Around The World: One Plane. One Engine, Two Aviation Pioneers

Wiley Post and Harold Gatty left New York on this day in 1931 on the first single-engine flight around the world. The flight began at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, and took them to Newfoundland, across the Atlantic Ocean to Wales, then to Germany, Russia, Alaska, and Canada, before returning to Roosevelt Field after a refueling stop in Cleveland. In all they made thirteen stops during a mission of eight days, fifteen hours, and fifty-one minutes. 

The two successful ocean fliers during their stopover at the Central Airport in Berlin - Tempelhof about to start their flight to Moscow. 

It's hard to believe this event occurred just fifteen years before my birth. We've come a long way in aviation and when you think about all the aircraft in flight around the world at this very minute the Post-Gatty flight seems insignificant. As readers of this blog know, I'm somewhat fond of aviation so I'm perfectly happy to give these pioneers the credit they deserve in a time when history seems little more than an afterthought.

"Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine"

Eric Whitacre, composer, with lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri

I.

Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine…

Tormented by visions of flight and falling,

More wondrous and terrible each than the last,

Master Leonardo imagines an engine

To carry a man up into the sun…

And as he’s dreaming the heavens call him,

softly whispering their siren-song:

“Leonardo. Leonardo, vieni á volare”. (“Leonardo. Leonardo, come fly”.)

L’uomo colle sua congiegniate e grandi ale,

facciendo forza contro alla resistente aria.

(A man with wings large enough and duly connected

might learn to overcome the resistance of the air.)

II.

Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine…

As the candles burn low he paces and writes,

Releasing purchased pigeons one by one

Into the golden Tuscan sunrise…

And as he dreams, again the calling,

The very air itself gives voice:

“Leonardo. Leonardo, vieni á volare”. (“Leonardo. Leonardo, come fly”.)

Vicina all’elemento del fuoco…

(Close to the sphere of elemental fire…)

Scratching quill on crumpled paper,

Rete, canna, filo, carta.

(Net, cane, thread, paper.)

Images of wing and frame and fabric fastened tightly.

…sulla suprema sottile aria.

(…in the highest and rarest atmosphere.)

III.

Master Leonardo Da Vinci Dreams of his Flying Machine…

As the midnight watchtower tolls,

Over rooftop, street and dome,

The triumph of a human being ascending

In the dreaming of a mortal man.

Leonardo steels himself,

takes one last breath,

and leaps…

“Leonardo, Vieni á Volare! Leonardo, Sognare!” (“Leonardo, come fly! Leonardo, Dream!”)

I wonder if Post and Gatty ever thought about Leonardo during their aerial circumnavigation of our planet.  I'm sure Leonardo dreamed about them and their journey.




Sources:

Photos and Illustrations:

Deutsches Bundesarchiv, photo 102-11928

Text:
lyrics, ericwhitacre.com

kalw.org, almanac