In 1924, three years before Lindbergh flew to Paris, four young army airmen answered the call of General Billy Mitchell to save U.S. aviation from destruction by the politicians by winning the race with a dozen other nations to make the first flight around the world. In primitive open-cockpit biplanes powered by unreliable engines and few airfields, they were given little chance of success or even survival. This is the untold epic story of American patriotism, valor, and can-do ingenuity which triumphed over adversity and led to aviation dominance for the balance of the Century -- and the forgotten heroes that made it happen. Over 15 years of research, including the first access ever to the private Donald Douglas collection of Aviation memorabilia including worldwide newspaper accounts, diaries and logs of the aviators, have gone into the writing of this remarkable story. Two of the most fascinating stories in the history of American aviation are intertwined. Both are little known. One, the first flight around the world is a gripping story of incredible courage, determination and endurance. It is a significant part of our aviation history that few American know about. The second is the story of General Billy Mitchell, a World War 1 flying hero and arguably the the most far-sighted officer ever to serve in the armed forces. Spencer Lane, an accomplished pilot, has spent 15 years researching both of these stories and has written a book, not only rich in aviation history, but riveting in its account of both stories. His book, First World Flight - The Odyssey of Billy Mitchell, is the first detailed account of the first flight around the world, and an in-depth analysis of one of the most extraordinary men who ever wore a U.S. uniform. The flight began in Seattle. Early on, Major Frederick Martin, the flight leader, and his mechanic Alva Harvey, were flying through a Mountain pass in Alaska, when a blinding snowstorm obscured their visibility and they crashed. They were presumed dead, but ten days later they, weak and exhausted, the pair stumbled upon a group of Native Americans and were miraculously rescued. Their compatriots flew on encountering every type of adversity imaginable. They flew through freezing weather, in their open cockpit airplanes battling typhoons, monsoons, sandstorms and 20 foot waves. They flew around towering icebergs under low ceilings. In the course of the flight they suffered broken oil lines, exploding cylinders, blown engines and damaged pontoons. The fliers landed back in Seattle on Sept. 28, 1924 after a trip of almost 6 months. They had covered 26,445 miles in 363 hours and seven minutes. That was three years before Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic. All of their competitors had crashed and the two aircraft that completed the flight became the first to fly around the world. Lane's "First World Flight" is a marvelous account of two significant events in U.S. Military history, an engrossing and suspenseful telling of what was the most extraordinary flight in aviation history and a revealing insight into the effects bureaucracy and political correctness can have on the nation's preparedness. It is a highly recommended absorbing work that will stay with you long after you have put the book down. --Jack Elliott - N.J. Sunday Star Ledger Spencer Lane's First World Flight is the story of two odysseys. One odyssey is Billy Mitchell's and Lane ably relates the genuinely heroic accomplishments of Mitchell's early military career, as a member of the signal corps, and later, in World War 1 flying borrowed French planes fearlessly of the sinuous front lines, spotting for artillery and gathering intelligence for the use of the American Military. Through Lane, one gets the impression of Mitchell as a forceful, ambitious, tireless military machine, always thinking, always right, always frustrated with the lack of support from the [powers that be. In the environment of of World War 1, watching from the air, as the youth of Europe and America hurled themselves at each other, only to be cut to pieces by artillery fire, it must have been very frustrating to know that it didn't have to be that way, that air power was the way out of the deadlock. Where Lane, and First World Flight really shines is in his detailed descriptions of the other "odyssey, the flight around the world of three rather large Biplanes, flown by Army personnell. The background to the flight is interwoven with Mitchell's history, appropriate as he saw the World Flight as a way to galvanize support behind air power in general, and the idea of a separate Air Service specifically. During the flight, Mitchell was on a tour of Pacific military installations, but his mark was on all aspects of the flight, as he was instrumental in the choice of aircraft, the route, and had introduced many of the people undertaking the mission into the Army Air Service. Spencer Lane makes all this real. First world Flight draws you in to the point wher