1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: show that soars its way through history one day at 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: a time. I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're talking about 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: the errant pilot who lifted the spirits of Depression era 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: Americans by flying three thousand miles to Europe, supposedly by mistake. 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: The day was July seventeenth, nineteen thirty eight. American aviator 8 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: Douglas Corrigan began his wrong way flight from New York 9 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: to Ireland. According to his approved flight plan, the pilot 10 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: was supposed to take off from Brooklyn and fly directly 11 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: to Long Beach, California, but because of what he later 12 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: called a navigational error, Corrigan wound up flying all the 13 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: way to Dublin instead. This accidental transatlantic flight earned him 14 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: the nickname Wrong Way Corrigan, but is just about everyone 15 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: suspected Corrigan's wrong turn was one hundred percent on purpose. 16 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 1: Douglas Corrigan was born in Galveston, Texas, on January twenty second, 17 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: nineteen oh seven. He fell in love with flying at 18 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: an early age and went on to earn his pilot's 19 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: license when he was just nineteen years old. In the 20 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 1: decade that followed, he worked a number of jobs in aviation, 21 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: including as an aircraft mechanic for the Ryan Aeronautical Company 22 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: in San Diego. Corrigan also assisted in building Charles Lindbergh's 23 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: famous plane, the Spirit of Saint Louis. Like many other pilots, 24 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: Corrigan was inspired by linn Bergh's historic flight from New 25 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: York to Paris in nineteen twenty seven. It was the 26 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: first solo non stop trans atlantic flight in history and 27 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: was considered a modern miracle at the time. Itching to 28 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: prove himself and hoping to become an overnight celebrity like 29 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: his idol, Corrigan began planning his own transatlantic crossing, and 30 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: because he was of Irish descent, he chose Ireland as 31 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: his destination. The only problem was the aspiring pilot had 32 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: no money and at the time no plane, So Corrigan 33 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: bided his time and saved his pennies, and in nineteen 34 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: thirty three he was able to salvage a nineteen twenty 35 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: nine Curtis Robin airplane that had been on its way 36 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: to the scrap heap. He spent the next several years 37 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: rebuilding and modifying the plane for long distance travel. Then, 38 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty five, he requested permission from the Bureau 39 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: of Air Commerce to fly from New York to Ireland. 40 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: The application was swiftly denied, as Corrigan's ramshackle single engine 41 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: plane was deemed unairworthy for a transatlantic flight. Undeterred, the 42 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: pilot continued to tinker with his plane, boosting the engine 43 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: and adding extra fuel tanks. Still, despite his best efforts, 44 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: all of his later applications were rejected as well. In 45 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: those days, it was illegal for an American pilot to 46 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: fly across the Atlantic without first obtaining a permit from 47 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: the Bureau, But since that clearly wasn't in the cards 48 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: for Corrigan, the brash pilot decided to take a different course. 49 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: In July of nineteen thirty eight, eleven years after Lindbergh's crossing, 50 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: Corrigan flew his plane called Sunshine, from California to New York. 51 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: This cross country flight wasn't newsworthy in itself, but because 52 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: the Sunshine was in such sorry shape, the national press 53 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: covered it anyway out of sheer amazement that Corrigan's plane 54 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: had survived the trip. Shortly after landing in New York, 55 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: Corrigan once again sought permission for a transatlantic crossing. He 56 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: was promptly refused, but was allowed to schedule a return 57 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: flight to the West Coast, even though his plane probably 58 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: should have been grounded for safety violations, and so at 59 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: five point fifteen in the morning on July seventeenth, nineteen 60 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: thirty eight, Douglas Corrigan took off from Floyd Bennett Field 61 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: in Brooklyn, ostensibly bound for California. However, a few minutes 62 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: into the flight, he inexplicably turned east and then disappeared 63 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: into a cloud bank. Authorities feared the worst when the 64 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: plane failed to land in California, but then twenty eight 65 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: hours after his departure, Corrigan touched down in Dublin, safe 66 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: and sound. He claimed to have lost his way in 67 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: the heavy clouds and then never found it again because 68 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: of his malfunctioning compass, only noticing his mistake after about 69 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: twenty six hours of flying the wrong way. As unbelievable 70 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: as his cover story was, the most amazing thing was 71 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: that he had survived the journey at all. His only 72 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: provisions were two chocolate bars, a couple boxes of fig 73 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: bar cookies, and two dozen gallons of water. There was 74 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: no radio, and no parachute on board. If that weren't 75 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: bad enough, a post flight inspection of the plane revealed 76 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: more than sixty violations, including leaky fuel pipes. Corrigan later 77 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: said the tanks had been leaking so badly that at 78 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: one point he had to cut a hole in the 79 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: floor to drain out all the gas that had pooled 80 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: in the cockpit. Thankfully, he had at least brought a 81 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: screwdriver along, otherwise he likely would have passed out from 82 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:47,239 Speaker 1: the fumes or perhaps even exploded mid air. Journalist HR 83 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: Knickerbocker examined the plane himself in Dublin and concluded that 84 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: Corrigan was lucky to be alive. As I looked over 85 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: it at the Dublin Aerodrome, he wrote, I really marveled 86 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: that anyone should have been rash enough even to go 87 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: in the air with it, much less try to fly 88 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: the Atlantic. He built it, or rebuilt it, practically as 89 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: a boy would build a scooter out of a soapbox 90 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 1: and a pair of old roller skates. The nose of 91 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: the engine hood was a mass of patches soldered by 92 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: Corrigan himself into a crazy quilt design. The door, behind 93 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: which Corrigan crouched for twenty eight hours, was fastened together 94 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: with a piece of baling wire, and the reserve gasoline 95 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: tanks put together by Corrigan left him so little room 96 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: that he had to sit hunched forward, with his knees 97 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: cramped and not enough window space to see the ground 98 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: when landing. As you might imagine, aviation authorities didn't believe 99 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: that Corrigan had flown to Ireland by mistake. After all, 100 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: he had brought along more than three hundred gallons of gas, 101 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: and even with his limited visibility, he must have noticed 102 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: that he was flying over open ocean on what was 103 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: meant to be a transcontinental flight. In light of this, 104 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: Corrigan's pilot's license was immediately suspended, though only for a 105 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: couple weeks. By the time the grounded pilot and his 106 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: creded airplane arrived back in the US by boat, the 107 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: suspension had already been lifted. Upon his return to New York, 108 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: the pilot, now dubbed Wrong Way Corrigan by the press, 109 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: was treated to a hero's welcome. The New York Post 110 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: celebrated his return by printing a giant backwards headline declaring, 111 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: Hail Wrong Way Corrigan. The city also threw a Lavish 112 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: Ticker Tate parade in his honor, and with roughly a 113 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: million people in attendance, the crowd was said to be 114 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: much larger than the one at Charles Lindbergh's parade. Corrigan 115 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: stuck to his story for the public's amusement, but he 116 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: did give several cheeky interviews in which he admitted his 117 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: mistake while grinning and winking at the camera. Having final 118 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: won the fame he had craved for more than a decade, 119 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: Corrigan made the most of his fifteen minutes. He quickly 120 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: penned a memoir titled That's My Story, which was published 121 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: in time for holiday shopping later that same year. He 122 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: also endorsed a string of wrong way products, such as 123 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: a wristwatch that ran backwards. In the following year, he 124 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: played himself in a Hollywood adaptation of his life story 125 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: called The Flying Irishman. Corrigan retired from aviation in nineteen 126 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: fifty and lived the rest of his life on an 127 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: orange grove in California with his wife and three sons. 128 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: He passed away on December ninth, nineteen ninety five, having 129 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: maintained to the end of his life that his flight 130 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: to Ireland had been completely unintentional. I'm gay, Blues gay, 131 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 132 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,439 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep 133 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 134 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,680 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 135 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 136 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: way by writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 137 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: Thanks to Casby Bias for producing the show, and thanks 138 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 139 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in history class.