March 2
LUCKY LADY II DAY
For the first time in history, no enemy country anywhere in the world could attack the U.S. without potentially being in instant danger, itself. The flight of the USAF B-50 bomber, #B-5046010 aptly named Lucky Lady II, proved that an airplane could be refueled in-air and fly around the world, nonstop.
It took 94 hours from takeoff at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas for Lucky Lady II to return to home base on this day in 1949. The crew of 14, commanded by Captain James Gallagher; second pilot 1st Lt. Arthur M. Neal, and copilot Capt. James H. Morris, refueled in mid-air four times, once over the Azores, then over Saudi Arabia, followed the third day in flight over the Philippines and then over Hawaii.
Although they met with extreme adversity –- turbulence, bad weather, mechanical problems, extreme fatigue, and tragedy (a tanker plane returning to Clark Field in the Philippines after the refueling crashed, killing all aboard) –- the mission was deemed a major success.
All members of the crew of Lucky Lady II received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the MacKay Trophy for the most meritorious U.S. Air Force flight of the year.
Today, the flight of Lucky Lady II is all but forgotten. However, it was the start of something bigger, changing the world-view of the power of America’s land-based bombers.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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