June 23, 1924, The first dawn-to-dusk flight across the U.S. was by Lt. Russell L. Maughan on June 23, 1924 from Mitchel Field, Long Island, N.Y. to San Francisco. Taking off in a PW-8 at first light, Maughan raced the sun across the U.S. and after five refueling stops, landed at San Francisco 21 hrs, 48 1/2 minutes later. A

lthough he did not actually land before the sun set, he was credited with making thefirst dawn-to-dusk flight becauseof the loss of 1hour, 20 minutes at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, due to the repair of damage caused tohis airplane by an eager mechanic who accidentally twisted off a fuel line valve with an oversize monkey wrench.