1945 Japan–Washington flight
An illustration of the flight path. The three bombers take parallel routes off the coast of Siberia, pass through Alaska, follow the Canadian west coast and then the U.S./Canada border before turning gradually towards Chicago. A dotted line marks the path from Chicago to Washington D.C.
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| Date | September 18–19, 1945 |
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| Location | Japan, United States |
| Participants |
Barney M. Giles Emmett O'Donnell, Jr. Curtis LeMay |
The 1945 Japan–Washington flight was a record-breaking air voyage made by three specially modified Boeing B-29 Superfortresses on September 18–19, 1945, from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō to Chicago in the Midwestern United States, continuing to Washington, D.C. The flight was made by three United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) generals and other airmen returning to the United States from their overseas duty after World War II. At that date, it involved the heaviest load carried by an American aircraft (144,000 lb, 65,300 kg), the longest nonstop flight made by the USAAF (5,840 mi, 9,400 km), and the first nonstop flight from Japan to the United States made with a complete aircraft. However the flight did not break the then-world distance record established by the Royal Air Force in 1938.
Originally intending to fly 6,500 miles (10,460 km) nonstop to Washington, D.C., the airmen encountered unexpected headwinds over Alaska Territory and Canada, and they predicted that two of the aircraft would not have enough fuel to take them the full distance. All three B-29s landed in Chicago instead, refueled, and continued to Washington, where each crewman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, including the three pilots: Generals Barney M. Giles, Emmett O'Donnell, Jr. and Curtis LeMay.
The USAAF distance record did not last long: two months later, another American aircrew flew a B-29 from Guam to Washington, D.C. a distance of 7,916 miles (12,740 km), breaking the world record. Nevertheless, the Japan to Washington flight pioneered a route similar to that used by later airliners. Importantly for the airmen, America was able to demonstrate the reach of airpower in light of the nascent Cold War.
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