Around the World in 20 Days
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| Dates | 30 September–19 October 1936 |
|---|---|
Around the World in 20 Days was an informal race around the world held in autumn of 1936. The competition started on 30 September[1] in New York City and the participants were allowed using only commercial airline flights[2] and other means of transportation available to the general public.[3] The competition finished[4] on 19 October as the winner arrived back to New York City after merely 18 ½ days.
The purpose of the contest was to show that travel by air no longer was exclusive, time consuming and expensive but was accessible and affordable to the broader public.[1] Earlier around the world trips such as the fictive journey in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days published in 1873 and Nellie Bly's actual 1889 journey later described in Around the World in Seventy-Two Days published in 1890 were made before the introduction of aircraft.
The timing of the race was handled by the National Aeronautic Association[1] and the race started on the evening of 30 September.
The Contestants
All participants were working as journalists at daily newspapers[5] in New York.
- Herbert Roslyn "Bud" Ekins,[2] of the New York World-Telegram.
- Leo Kieran,[6] of The New York Times.
- Dorothy Kilgallen, of the New York Evening Journal.
During the race all three participants sent daily dispatches[4] by telegram about the journey to their respective newspapers for further spreading. Kilgallen's participation drew much attention because she was the only woman.
The Race
The race started on 30 September,[5] Kieran went to Newark Airport to take an "American Airlines" flight to Lakehurst in New Jersey. There all three participants joined on the "Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei" rigid airship LZ 129 Hindenburg[5] for the flight to Flug- und Luftschiffhafen Rhein-Main in Frankfurt, Germany. The journey across the Atlantic Ocean took 58 hours and the Hindenburg landed on 3 October, but being 4 hours delayed[7]) the participants all missed their planned connections jeopardizing the crucial connection at Manila for the journey across the Pacific Ocean. Ekins now chose a flight to Vienna, Kieran decided on a flight to Basel and Kilgallen boarded a flight to Munich.
Ekins, now choosing a different route to reach Manila, took a "Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij" DC-2 flight[3] via Vienna to Athens, Greece, there transferring on to a flight via Alexandria and Gaza to Baghdad, Iraq where he stayed overnight. From Baghdad he continued across the Indian subcontinent (stop-over overnight Jodhpur) and Southeast Asia (stop-over overnight Rangoon) until arriving at Batavia, Dutch East Indies. During this leg of the race some parts of the route were piloted by aviation pioneer Jan Hondong. At Batavia Ekins now switched to the "Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij" flight to Manila via Balikpapan,[8] Indonesia and Zamboanga finally arriving in Manila, Philippines on 10 October.
Kieran and Kilgallen rejoined in Brindisi, Italy after using various means of transport[1] (airplane, train and automobile). Kieran and Kilgallen now boarded a flight to Athens[4] where they switched to an "Imperial Airways" flight across the Near East (with stop-overs in Rutbah Wells, Basra and Baghdad, Iraq) and across the British Raj (stop-overs[8] Karachi, Jodhpur, Delhi, Calcutta and Rangoon) to Bangkok (at the time Siam). On arrival in Bangkok Kilgallen split from Kieran choosing a different route to reach Hong Kong. On arrival in Hong Kong Kieran and Kilgallen obtained information that Ekins had left Manila already on 14 October on an irregular "Pan American" Martin M-130 testflight carrying no passengers,[2] the "Hawaii Clipper",[3] by pretending[6] to be part of the crew (even so the route being the same they considered this a violation of the rules[9]). Kieran and Kilgallen left Hongkong on the "Dollar Steamship Line" steamship SS President Pierce[8] for Manila. Their flight across the Pacific Ocean was scheduled first on 17 October.
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Kieran and Kilgallen left Manilla on the first regular "Pan American"[6] west to east bound passenger flight of the flying boat-line,[10] the Martin M-130 "China Clipper", destined for San Francisco. This long stage included four stop-overs (the islands of Guam, Wake, Midway and Hawaii). During the flight[4] Kieran and Kilgallen were delayed further[11] due to a typhoon at Wake island. The duo arrived in Honolulu on 22 October[1] before continuing to San Francisco.
Ekins had left Hawaii already on 17 October arriving in San Francisco (Alameda airport) on the 18th and there boarding a "United Airlines" flight from Oakland) (1 stop-over) to Los Angeles. After switching to a "Trans World Airlines" flight (5 stop-overs) Ekins arrived in Newark[2] on 19 October.
In San Francisco Kieran[12] also boarded a "United Airlines" flight arriving in Newark at 9:07 o'clock a.m. on 25 October and finally reaching The New York Times Building near Times Square at 10:50 o'clock a.m. Kilgallen boarded a chartered[12] flight at Alameda airport leaving one hour ahead of Kieran arriving in Newark at 5:45 o'clock a.m. Kieran however completed the trip around the World using only[11] scheduled airlines and transportation, the journey from Honolulu to Newark Airport by scheduled airlines was a record-breaking trip covering 5 281 mi in 39 hr. and 20 min.
The total distance[3] traveled was calculated to being 25 794 mi (about 41 511 km, the total time[5][4][12][6] traveled for Ekins was 18 days, 14 hr. and 56 min, Kilgallen's amounted to 24 days 12 hr. and 35 min with Kieran finishing at 24 days, 14 hr. and 20 min.