英语新闻与报道—News & Reports 78（在线收听）

 Wk 39 (28 September 1924)

The First Flight Around The WorldThis Week in History2 US planes, The Chicago and The New Orleans, complete the first flight around the world.

In 1924, two planes completed the first flight around the world, covering 26,343 miles in 175 days. Four bi-planes left Seattle in the USA and flew north to Alaska, where one of them crashed. The remaining three then flew across to Japan, down to South-East Asia, across India and then through Europe. Another crashed on the way to Iceland, but the last two, The Chicago and The New Orleans, completed the journey back to Seattle. The planes travelled at an average speed of 70mph and had to have their engines replaced many times during the trip. Despite the crashes, all eight pilots survived.