Stupid Mistake or Daring Plan? | Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan and His Solo Transatlantic Flight

on july 18th 1938 a tiny silver airplane made its most turn over the airfield and then began the landing it touched the ground and slowly rolled down the runway towards the airport building after greeting the customs officer the pilot asked where exactly he had landed 28 hours earlier the plane took off from new york and headed to los angeles but due to heavy clouds the pilot lost the course and became lost the funny thing was that the pilot landed not in los angeles not even in the united states but in the completely opposite direction from his destination in dublin ireland it was douglas corrigan a pilot who accidentally made a transatlantic flight and earned the nickname douglas wrong way corrigan the history of mankind is arranged in a such way that we perfectly remember the names of the firsts the first ones to conquer everest the first one to conquer outer space the first one on the moon the history of aviation is no exception either and that makes the story of douglas corrigan so amazing having made a solo flight over the atlantic he was not the first not even the second pilot who managed to cross the ocean but at the same time his achievement being a result of incredible determination pilot and skills and courage was a bit of audacity and humor on top of it earned douglas corrigan an honoured place among the most famous pilots in the history of aviation douglas corrigan was born in a small town in texas but moved to california with his family as a child the boy was not particularly interested in anything after quitting high school he went to work in construction i never had any aims he said after he became famous that's why i never got anywhere but douglas's life turned upside down after he met jenny in october 1925 not far from his home douglas saw a small biplane in the sky that was making pleasure flights over the city it was curtis j iv or jenny as it was often called the famous us civil aviation's workhorse the boy's curiosity was stronger than his fear and having paid 25 dollars corrigan went up into the sky for the first time in his life the first impression of his first flight was so strong that his encounter with jenny became a turning point in his life that ultimately led douglas to moments of great joy and bitter disappointments moments of mortal danger national glory and even a short career in hollywood just a week after his first flight douglas went back to the airfield and took his first flying lesson on march 25 1926 corrigan who was not yet 20 completed his first solo flight and received a pilot's license this day as douglas then recalled was the most important day of his life douglas spent all of his free time at the airfield among pilots and mechanics and soon got a job as an aircraft mechanic at a small company named ryan aircraft the company built and repaired airplanes and was not very well known until the day when there was a telegram from a pilot who was looking for a company to build an aircraft capable of long distance flight and severe weather conditions the owners of the company responded that they could build such an aircraft within two months their terms and conditions appeared acceptable for the pilot and in february 1927 he personally arrived in california to discuss the technical details the pilot's name was charles lindbergh [Music] north atlantic one of the most hostile and at the same time one of the most important places on the planet for a long time this transport corridor that connects the old and new worlds could only be crossed by water but since the very births of aviation people's minds were eager to cross the atlantic by air in 1913 a famous newspaper the daily mail offered a ten thousand pound surprise to an aviator who would be the first to fly over the atlantic ocean but the airplanes of the time were so fragile that the task seemed simply impossible the sudden outbreak of world war one on the one hand pushed this goal far into the background while on the other hand served as a big push in the further development of aviation in 1919 for the first time in history british pilots alcac and brown had managed to cross the atlantic by error in a vigorous limit to an engine bomber but a solo flight due to long distance and lack of technologies has long remained a dangerous and impossible goal all attempts to cross the ocean ended unsuccessfully some flights failed on the airfield while others crashed somewhere in the cold waters of the north atlantic and those failed attempts were not due to some rookie pilots either but these were highly professional aviators some of whom were even famous world war one aces the increase in death toll did not stop the flow of new dare devils though among them was a young but already experienced pilot charles lindbergh with the financial backing of several businessman farms and lawyers charles was looking for a company that could design and build an aircraft that would be capable of a transatlantic flight his choice fell on a small company ryan aircraft one of the mechanics at this company was douglas corrigan douglas was directly involved in the construction of one of the most famous airplanes in the history of aviation the spirit of saint louis the plane that charles lindbergh in 1927 made the first solo transatlantic flight in history after 33 hours in the air the staff of ryan aircraft that were involved in the construction of the spirit of saint louis signed the back of the spinner with good wishes to charles among the signatures was also the name of douglas corrigan being involved in the construction of the legendary aircraft alongside limburg had such a powerful impact on douglas that he set himself a goal inspired by charles's success to reduplicate lindbergh's achievement by any means however since he was an irish american he chose dublin rather than paris as his destination but having a strong inspiration was not enough first of all douglas needed a reliable aircraft [Music] in 1930 corrigan moved to new york where he and his friends started a small business offering short airplane rides even though they were doing quite well douglas never forgot about his dream to cross the atlantic even for a moment later on corrigan decided to spend all of his savings on buying a plane and returned to california to prepare for his transatlantic flight ten thousand five hundred and eighty dollars that is how much charles lindbergh paid to build the spirit of saint louis of course douglas corrigan did not have that much money the best that he could afford was an old curtis robin that cost him 310 dollars the flight to california took almost two weeks because on his way douglas made landings every 100 150 kilometers to pick up passengers when he could find them so it would at least partially cover the cost of fuel but there was a huge disappointment for douglas when he finally arrived in california douglas had made some improvements to his plane including the installation of more powerful engine and additional fuel tanks which by the way were placed right in the cabin completely blocking the forward view from the cockpit and even though he made these upgrades a federal inspector assessed the aircraft and considered the plane unsafe for flight across the ocean and issued permission for cross-country flights only however it did not stop douglas in 1936 he set out on a flight to new york and simultaneously sent a request to the federal bureau of air commerce asking for transatlantic flight permission but for no apparent reason he was told to wait until the next year and he waited then douglas was told that to make a transatlantic flight a pilot must be able to work with a radio and have a radio operator's license frustrated douglas returned to california even though his plane did not have a radio corrigan received the radio operator license after a couple of months he submitted his application to the federal bureau but it was rejected again on july 2nd 1937 the famous amelia earhart who was the first woman pilot to fly over the atlantic disappeared over the pacific ocean in the light of such tragic events it seems like the bureau simply did not want to take risks and give permission for another solo flight across the ocean to make matters worse the government refused to renew the license for corrigan's plane this now meant that he was not allowed to fly not only across the ocean but at all it seemed that this would definitely put an end to his dream but douglas simply refused to give up he figured well they can't hand you for flying a plane without a license and headed to new york again corgan never admitted this but apparently his plan was to land in new york late at night when airport officials would have already left the airfield then he was going to refuel his plane unnoticed and set out to europe but unexpectedly for douglas due to bad weather conditions and technical breakdowns his flight to new york lasted for as long as nine days as a result he missed a safe weather window the conditions over the atlantic began to worsen and corrigan reasonably decided that it was better to postpone his flight across the ocean it is one thing to play with american bureaucrats and quite another to joke around with the harsh weather over the north atlantic which doesn't have a sense of humor as corrigan later noted in his autobiography the only bright moment in his chain of failures was his old curtis robin friends call his plane an old crate since the plane's door was held tied with a piece of wire but douglas loved his plane he later recalled i had always considered my plane as a little ray of sunshine and that was the name he put on the colony corrigan flew back to california but a federal inspector was already waiting for him at the san diego airfield immediately after landing corrigan's plane was locked in the hangar for the next six months so now after having lost the sunshine it seemed like horrigan's dream disappeared into darkness for good [Music] with the band on flying his plane and the constant refusal from the federal bureau of aerocommerce douglas felt that there was no end to his bad luck but despite all these setbacks corgan had no intentions to give up douglas took on any job whether it was an aircraft mechanic or anything else that would allow him to have access to airplanes and flying thus improving his pilot skills based on his recent experience of flying in harsh weather conditions and experiencing technical issues which likely happen over the continent and not somewhere above the atlantic ocean douglas peaks and slightly upgraded the engine on his sunshine this not only increased corrigan's chances for success but also allowed him to get a permit for a test flight corrigan received a permission to make a non-stop flight to new york and then if he made it and non-stop flight back to los angeles without wasting any time corrigan headed to new york where he spent several days according to the official plan he was supposed to fly back on july 17th and then roughly after 27 hours land in los angeles before takeoff corgan asked the manager floyd bennett field which runway he should use the manager told him to use any runway as long as he did not take off to the west in the direction of the administration buildings where he had his office and even though that was the exact direction corgan was supposed to take on his flight to los angeles strangely the manager's response did not seem to upset him much early in the morning on july 17th douglas corgan started his plane and headed to the runway the plane was so overweight with fuel that it took almost the whole runway before it finally left the ground not long after that the plane disappeared into the fog heading to the east it was several hours already that douglas was in the air but the visibility was still poor due to the continuous cloudness the only thing scoring had was him on board were 15 dollars two chocolate bars a box of fig bars and a quart of water for the navigation equipment he had an old compass and the map of the usa it wasn't much but quite enough for a cross-country flight but the thing is he was not over the continent anymore all this time douglas was flying not to the west but in the opposite direction to the east meanwhile on the ground everybody was already searching for the missing plane the probability that the pilot had gotten lost and was somewhere above the ocean was considered pretty much right away we are calling ships at sea possibility nx9243 american plane may be crossing atlantic anyone seeing plane reports but all ships and boats in the u.s coastal zone reported that they hadn't seen the missing plane meanwhile after about 10 hours of flight corrigan's feet suddenly felt cold it turned out there was a leak in the fuel tank and gasoline had spilled under the cabin floor since he was somewhere over the ocean the loss of the precious fuel in itself was a huge cause for concern but to make matters worse the leaking fuel could reach the hot exhaust pipe increasing the risk of an explosion in the air which would leave douglas without a chance of survival unable to find and fix the leakage the only idea douglas could come up with was to punch a hole in the cabin floor was a screwdriver so that the fuel would drain away on the opposite side from the pipe the loss of fuel did not stop but at least he reduced the risk of explosion after that corrigan tried to run the engine slowly to save the remaining fuel but then he realized that this slower he flies the more time is available for fuel to leak out therefore douglas made a contrary decision he boosted the engine and increased his speed to make the most of the remaining fuel soon he saw a small fission boat below which meant that the land was already closed a few hours later green hills emerged on the horizon it was ireland 28 hours in the air 28 hours of incredible stress and mortal danger that were now behind him on july 18 1938 douglas corrigan landed at an airfield in dublin having gone through all the difficulties and challenges he had finally fulfilled his stubbornly pursued dream he managed to fly across the ocean emotions overwhelmed douglas but the sight of a customs officer who was quickly approaching his plane brought him back to reality corrigan achieved his goal but now it was time to think about the consequences not only did douglas fly to ireland without permission but he did not have a visa to enter ireland or even his passport on him douglas was well aware that what he was going to say now could determine how and where he would spend the next few years corrigan explained to the customs officer that he was flying to los angeles but lost his course and became lost to his surprise the officer was already aware of douglas because everyone knew about the missing american plane the perplexity of the situation was that nobody knew what to do with douglas next should they detain him arrest him or just let him go there had never been a case like this before eventually douglas was taken to the us embassy in ireland corrigan repeated his story to the american ambassador saying that the plane was overweight and had difficulty gaining altitude he explained that after taking off douglas wanted to fly a few miles east and then turn west his main compass was broken so he used a small backup one after 26 hours of flying in overcast sky there was finally a break in the clouds and he found himself flying over the ocean that was strange as i had only been flying 26 hours and shouldn't have reached the pacific yet douglas said i looked down at the compass and now that there was more light i realized was horror that all this time i had been flying in the wrong direction having found his mistake corrigan immediately decided to land at the nearest airfield and by incredible coincidence it turned out to be dublin the ambassador agreement well that definitely sounds funny but now come on and tell me the real story i've just told you the real story i don't know any other one he replied that's my story but i sure am ashamed of my poor navigational skills the news about the american who accidentally crossed the atlantic ocean by air quickly spread across the planet by the evening a huge crowd of reporters and photographers gathered around the embassy douglas received multiple telegrams and phone calls from friends and celebrities from all over the world henry ford howard hughes and many others greeted corrigan the next morning douglas had to repeat his story again this time to the prime minister of ireland who laughed at the story and did not inflate any scandals in fact he even thanked douglas for bringing public attention to ireland i was just flying in the wrong direction because of the broken compass corrigan repeated again and again to the reporters as a result they gave him the nickname wrong way corrigan the nickname that will remain with douglas for the rest of his life for violation of flight rules the us authorities temporarily suspended douglas's license therefore corrigan returned home with his sunshine aboard the steamship manhattan interestingly enough the license suspension ended on august 4th precisely on the day manhattan arrived in new york america greeted douglas as a national hero corrigan's name was on all magazine covers and newspapers some of which even wrote their headlines backwards in purposefully wrong way in his honor the new york ticker tape parade turned out to be one of the biggest in history even bigger than the one given in lindbergh's honor when he first crossed the ocean but the incredible popularity of douglas corrigan was not only because he managed to fly over the atlantic ocean no doubt this was an impressive achievement even though he was not the first such flights were still considered extremely difficult and dangerous but douglas's story resonated in the hearts of vast number of people even those who were not interested in aviation at all for many corrigan's life pass was a reflection of their own lives without downsizing lingbear's achievement if the two flights were to be compared douglas did not have strong support neither public nor financially like lindbergh did every day for years corrigan worked overtime saved money on his food and living expenses only to be able to buy and maintain his airplane and his plane was not a modern aircraft such as the spirit of saint louis which was built specifically for the record flight the only thing that douglas could count on was himself his incredible persistence and good flying skills as well as his nine-year-old sunshine that looked like it was ready to fall apart any moment corrigan was not stopped by authority refusals nor by the bureaucracy of getting flight permits and licenses it looked like fort douglas on the way to his dream the word no did not seem to exist and people liked that despite multiple violations of the rules corrigan's flight was also welcomed by the u.s president his favor was probably because douglas and his achievement were to some extent an embodiment of the core american values strong ambitions hard work and reliance on one's own strengths and achieving goals rather than expecting support from the state in this regard corrigan was an excellent example of personal qualities that were so crucial in that moment in the country which was emerging from a difficult economic crisis even though there's some doubt about whether i deserve them or not and i just hope that if i make any more mistakes they'll turn out as successful as this as for douglas himself a couple of months after his return he published his autobiography titled that's my story and a year later he played himself in the 1939 movie titled the flying irishman he received 75 000 dollars for featuring in the film which was equal to his mechanic salary for 30 years when the united states entered world war ii he tested bombers and flew as a regular pilot in the ferry command a division of the u.s air transport command and after an award douglas worked as a commercial pilot for a small california airline for a couple of years corrigan retired in 1950 and bought an orange grove in santa ana california where he lived with his family until his death in 1995. uh doug it's been 19 years now since uh you headed for l.a and landed in dublin uh the name of this show is to tell the truth how about telling the truth and telling us did you really head for dublin 19 years ago no throughout his life douglas never admitted that his flight to ireland was intentional and repeated over and over again that he flew across the ocean by mere accident thus in the history of the asian he forever remained as douglas wrong-way corrigan and that's the story if you like aviation and stories like this watch my video about the most famous world war ii bomber b-17 memphis bell and what made that plane so special that's all for now thanks for watching and see in the next video goodbye

Channel: Paper Skies

Views: 138,115

Rating: 4.959228 out of 5

Keywords: aviation, history, aviation history, paper skies, history of aviation, douglas corrigan, wrong way corrigan, amazing stories, transatlantic flight, pilot

Id: KjL8gXcOWSU

Length: 19min 46sec (1186 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 11 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/pbradley179]

Great story.