In 1949, the city of Yuma was losing it's population rapidly. The military base had shut down due to government cutbacks. A group of YUMA JAYCEES was returning from a trip to Parker, AZ, and were talking and thinking of a project they could do for the community. They came up with the idea of putting a plane in the air, and establishing a WORLD RECORD of in-flight time at the old airfield in YUMA. There begins the story of one of the most important events to occur in the 20th century for the city of Yuma
RAY SMUCKER, a local radio personality and Arizona Junior Chamber of Commerce President, started the ball rolling. They soon found that A.A. Amusement Company was willing to loan their new Aeronca airplane for the project and they christened it the "City of YUMA". They found PAUL BURCH and BILL WILCOX, two fully capable, and agreeable aircraft mechanics, who were willing to put and keep this airplane in the air. CONTINENTAL ENGINES agreed to replace the original engine after the flight was completed. Two ex-Navy pilots and Yuma businessmen, BOB WOODHOUSE AND WOODY JONGEWARD, were volunteered to be the pilots. Union 76 operator NORMAN BANN would furnish the fuel and oil. The vehicle was furnished by HORACE GRIFFEN, from GRIFFEN BUICK. DR. RALPH IRWIN was respnsible for the health, exercise, and diet of the pilots. The meals were furnished by a local restaurant, VALLEY CAFE, and delivered by local law enforcement officers.
While HORACE GRIFFIN and CHARLIE GILPIN, from GILPINS WELDING, drove the car down the runway, BOB HODGE of GENERAL PETROLEUM and BERNIE PENSKY of PENN SIGNS were ssigned the job of refueling the plane. They refueled by passing 3 gallon milk cans of Gasoline from the moving car, which ran down the runway under the wing of the plane to whichever pilot not at the controls at the time.
The goal wast to stay airborne for 1010 hours, beating the current record of 1008, which was held by two flyers from Fullerton, CA. They did, in fact, stay aloft for a total of 1124 hours, thereby establishing the New World's Record. The record was 47 days in the air, and, in miles, 89,920, which is equivalent to 3 1/2 times around the world. That record stood for 9 years when, ultimately, it was broken by a couple for flyers from Las Vegas, NV.
Publicity on the event soon became world renown and virtually every newspaper in the country was publishing the attempt to establish the new Norld Record. The remarkable event was followed daily on major radio networks. All eyes throughout the nation viewed the newsreels that were shown at their local theaters. When the plane landed on October 10, 1949 at 3:25 PM, there were an estimated 13,000 Yumans, spectators, and media in attendance.
In 1949, Arizona Highways Magazine wrote an article on this historic event. This may take a few minutes to load.
Further historical information on the "City of YUMA" can be obtained by viewing the "On Tour" article. Webmasters note: This is a large page (over 2 mg) of scanned pages and may take several minutes to load. It contains a good article and some pictures. They are difficult to read online. but it is readable if you print the page out.
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Last Modified Nov, 1998.