This Day in Aviation History
November 14th -17th, 1965
The Rockwell Polar Flight takes place.
 
14–17 November 1965: Captains Fred Lester Austin, Jr., and Harrison Finch, two retired Trans World Airlines pilots, took off from Honolulu on a 26,230-mile (42,213 kilometer), 57 hour, 27 minute flight around the world—from Pole to Pole!
 
The pair leased a brand new Boeing 707-349C, c/n 18975, registered N322F, from Flying Tiger Line. Nick-named Pole Cat, the airplane was crewed by a total of five pilots, all rated captains. In addition to Austin and Finch, there were Captain Jack Martin, Chief Pilot of Flying Tigers Line, Captain Robert N. Buck, TWA, and Boeing Senior Engineering Test Pilot James R. Gannett. Three navigators and three flight engineers completed the flight crew. John Larsen, TWA’s chief navigator, did most of the planning and the other two navigators and all three flight engineers were Flying Tiger Line employees….
 
Source:
ThisDayinAviation, The Rockwell Polar Flight: http://gstv.us/1Mchwc3
 
The audio interview with Fred goes into great detail about the Rockwell Polar Flight. Link is below:
Ohio State University, Interview of Fred L. Austin by Brian Shoemaker: http://gstv.us/1MchCR4
 
If you enjoy the “This Day in Aviation History” collection, you may enjoy some of these other collections from Gazing Skyward TV: http://gstv.us/GSTVcollections
 
Photo from: http://gstv.us/1OJdBar
 
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