Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island, New York, was a site where one record after another was set and broken in rapid succession during the golden era of aviation between the two world wars. In this photograph, Hughes and his crew prepare to set out for Paris from the Field on the first leg of their tour. Their 91-hour adventure generated publicity for the World's Fair, set to open the following year -- and made Howard Hughes an international celebrity.
Advance planning was necessary to pass over or land on foreign soil. In a race for a world record, prior arrangements for food, fuel and any needed repairs were essential to minimize time on the ground at each stopover. Requests were made for stops in Canada that Hughes ended up bypassing in an effort to gain time.
Hughes' plane landing at Floyd Bennett Field on its final touchdown for the round the world record, with the crowds on either side of the runway.
The "List of Stores" is not attached to the Hughes manifest, but we can speculate on what he carried based on his advance requests for the landing sites. Detailed in his flight operations manual, at Paris, Hughes asked for "15 gallons of Poland water in one or one half gallon bottles with unbroken seals, 12 quarts of pasteurized milk in one quart sealed bottles, 3 lbs. of fried chicken, 15 lbs. of dry ice, 5 gallons of hot coffee, ready to be poured in ship's thermos bottles, 5 hot dinners, individually packed, consisting of lamb chops, baked potatoes, and fresh string beans, and a container of coffee" along with oil, gasoline, and spare parts.
Manifest No. 152 was issued on July 9, 1938 for Howard Hughes, whose signature appears as Master. The full name of the plane was "New York World's Fair 1939." Grover Whalen, president of the Fair, backed the trip as a way to invite other nations to participate. Rumors of the flight hit the newspapers over a week before, with reports that the Department of Commerce granted Hughes a permit from New York to Paris.
Howard Hughes in the doorway of his plane, surrounded by press and well-wishers, shortly after setting the round-the-world record.
