Cape Cod (aircraft)

Cape Cod
Other name(s)	The American Legion
Type	Modified Bellanca CH-300
Registration	NR761W
Owners and operators	John Polando and Russell Boardman
Fate	Crashed in 1948

The Cape Cod (Registration: NR761W) was a single engine six-seat utility aircraft that was flown by Russell Boardman and John Polando from New York City to Istanbul in 1931.

The plane was purchased as a Bellanca CH-300, and was originally named The American Legion. Following a fire which destroyed the aircraft in October 1930, the aircraft was sent back to Bellanca for a repair cost of $25 thousand (equivalent to $358 thousand in today's dollars). After it was repaired, it was renamed Cape Cod, after the peninsula in Massachusetts where John Polando and Russell Boardman trained for their overseas flight. The plane was then reclassified as a Bellanca Special J-300.

The record attempt took place between July 28th and 30th, 1931. John Polando and Russell Boardman took off from Floyd Bennett Field, flying over Newfoundland and dropping the New York Times at lighthouses in the province. Along the way, they also flew over Ireland, Paris, and Munich. They also circled the Swiss Alps at night to avoid crashing into them. While it was originally planned for them to fly to Moscow, it was determined that Istanbul would be easier, because it would allow for them to still break the record.

The distance of 5,011.8 miles (8,065.7 km), over a total of forty nine hours and twenty minutes helped to establish a distance record, was the first known non-stop flight whose distance surpassed either English (5,000 mi) or metric (8,000 km) mark.

The plane itself was shipped back on the SS Exochorda.

...
Wikipedia