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 to visit the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, to see the B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II.
Lucky Lady II made history in 1949 by becoming the first airplane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, a feat commanded by the author's distant cousin, Capt. James Gallagher.
The author's family boasts multiple aviation record-holders, including his father (first to tow a glider with a helicopter) and a relative who was a gunner on the B-29 Bockscar.
He envisions an ambitious cross-country trip with his son, visiting various aviation historical sites, culminating at the Planes of Fame Museum to see Lucky Lady II.

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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.