Around the World in 94 Hours

Stephen Pope

Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 09:14 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The author plans a trip to Chino, California, to see the *Lucky Lady II* at the Planes of Fame Museum, which was the first airplane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop in 1949.
This record-setting flight, commanded by the author's distant cousin Capt. James Gallagher, was a four-day journey made possible by innovative aerial refueling.
The article also highlights other significant aviation records held by the author's family, including his father being the first to tow a glider with a helicopter and a great-uncle serving as a gunner on the B-29 *Bockscar*.

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I’m going to Chino, California. I’m not sure when, but I’m going. Here’s why.

Exactly 65 years ago to the minute, a Boeing B-50 Superfortress named Lucky Lady II was rumbling high over the Mediterranean on an epic four-day journey, its four massive Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines supplying a combined 12,000 horsepower as the bomber’s crew attempted to set a record that ranks right up there with the feats of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. Commanded by U.S. Air Force Capt. James Gallagher, Lucky Lady II became the first airplane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop – thanks to the then-new concept of aerial refueling and those reliable Wasp Major radials.