Lieutenants John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly made America’s first nonstop transcontinental flight in 1923 in a Fokker F-IV designated as Transport-2 . It was their third attempt.
For attempts 1 and 2 they flew west to east to take advantage of wind currents but due to fog could not find a way through the mountains, the aircraft was too heavy with fuel to climb over them. The second attempt ended at the Indianapolis Speedway when the waterjacket on the Liberty engine cracked causing the loss of the coolant.
On May 22 1923, they made their third attempt, starting from New Jersey to take advantage of unusual east to west wind systems. 26 hrs 50 minutes and 38 seconds they later landed in San Diego. Average speed was 92 mph.
For comparison the last Cannonball coast to coast record run was 25 hrs 39 minutes for an average speed of 110 mph on public roads.
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