First Nonstop Around-the-World Flight

In 1949 a United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress named Lucky Lady II completed the first nonstop flight around the world. Taking off from Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, the bomber circled the globe and returned to its starting point after roughly 94 hours in the air, covering more than 23,000 miles without ever touching down.

The feat was made possible by aerial refueling. The B-50 was topped off in flight four times by tanker aircraft positioned over the Atlantic, the Middle East, the Pacific, and other points along the route. A crew of fourteen worked in shifts during the four-day endurance run, an early demonstration of the techniques that would keep aircrews aloft for extended missions.

The flight dramatically illustrated the global reach that aerial refueling gave the U.S. Air Force in the opening years of the Cold War. By proving that bombers could strike any point on earth and return without landing, the mission underscored the strategic doctrine of long-range air power that would define the Strategic Air Command for decades.