THIS MONTH IN AIRPOWER HISTORY: World record set in 1935 for sustained flight!

In 1935, this Curtiss Robin established a world record for sustained flight, using air-to-air refueling. After two unsucessful attempts the year before, Fred and Algene Key took Ole Miss up from Meridian, Mississippi on June 4 and did not touch the ground again until July 1, for a total time in the air of 653 hours and 34 minutes, or 27 days. During the flight, the Keys received fuel and supplies 432 times from another aircraft. They braved severe thunderstorms and an electrical fire in the cabin before returning to a safe landing in Meridian.

The Curtiss Robin series was produced in the late 1920s and early 1930s as a 3-plane general aviation aircraft. Ole Miss varies from a typical Curtiss Robin by virtue of modifications made for the flight, including a new fuel tank, engine servicing catwalk, and a sliding top hatch for receiving supplies in flight.

Read more at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.