James Doolittle

James Doolittles achievements are so great and the list is so long that I will discuss only his golden age of aviation achievements. In 1922, he was the first to fly across the U.S. in a single day, from Pablo Beach, Florida, to San Diego, California. In 1925, in a Curtiss P-1 pursuit plane, he performed the first outside loop. As winner of the 1925 Schneider Trophy Race, he established a world record speed of 245 MPH. His greatest contribution to the advancement of aviation during this period was his work with the Guggenheim Flight Laboratory, in the development of instruments for flight in adverse weather. On September 24, 1929, in complete blind conditions from take off to landing, he made the first blind flight in history.

In 1930 he became Manager of Shell Oil Company's Aviation Department, where he furthered the development of high-octane aviation fuel. In promoting aircraft engine-fuel developments, he became the dominant air race figure. In 1931 he turned the 1931 Bendix Trophy race into a new transcontinental record.Flying the Laird Super Solution He flew from Burbank's Union Air Terminal to at 1:40 am PST and landed for fuel at Albuquerque, NM and Kansas City, MO. He landed in the time of 9 hours 10 mins. 21 secs. at a speed of 223.038 m.p.h. His wife, Jo was waving a lunch, but Jimmy was already grabbing the hose and fueling up the ship to go on to the coast. He landed at Newark, NJ at 3:51 pm. His elapsed time was 11 hrs. 16 min. and 10 sec. for a speed of 217 mph. He beat Frank Hawks record in his "Texaco 13 Mystery Ship" set earlier that same year by 1 hour and 8 minutes. After spending 30 minutes with the press, he flew back to Cleveland where he was greeted with a big kiss from his wife and $10,000 in prize money.Then he rode as a passenger in Shell Oil's company plane (a Bellanca) with Jimmy Haizlip piloting back to St. Louis for a victory party.IN 1932 he established a new land-plane speed record of 296 MPH and won the Thompson Trophy Race in the famous Gee Bee R1.James Doolittle's aviation Achievements are so incredible,that I highly recommend that you go to the library and research his life and career.