Lester Maitland and Albert
Hegenberger; And the First Nonstop Flight to Hawaii
The Pacific Veil LiftsIn a previous essay, the saga of Army Lieutenants Oakley Kelly’s and John Macready’s pioneering coast-to-coast nonstop flight was told, and a few years later, in 1927, a new adventure was about to dawn. This effort would entail flying nonstop across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii, a feat previously attempted on a number of occasions but never accomplished. The destination of Hawaii consists of eight main islands (the big island of Hawaii, Kahoolawe, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Nihau) and, because of its distance from the United States, the Philippines, Japan, China and South East Asia, it is one of the most isolated population centers in the world. If measured from one end to the other, Hawaii is the largest state in the union although when Maitland and Hegenberger flew there it was still a territory. Hawaii has the highest sea cliffs in the world, and Mauna Kea, one of the five volcanoes that make up the island of Hawaii, is considered the tallest mountain in the world. If measured from its base of 19,000 feet below sea level, it then rises 14,000 feet above the water surface to a staggering height of nearly 33,000 feet. This was the mission of Lts. Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger: to fly nonstop from the west coast of the United States to Hawaii, and no better-qualified fliers could have attempted this venture.
Lester J. Maitland
One future aviator benefiting from Kelly and Macready’s exploits was Lester Maitland who was born in Milwaukee on February 8, 1899, attended Riverside High School, and graduated in 1917. Three days after the United States entered WWI, Maitland enlisted in the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, Army Air Service and was assigned to the School of Military Aeronautics in Austin, Tex., on October 18, 1917. His logbook notes that he began receiving instruction two months later at Rich Field in Waco, Tex., in a Hall Scott A7A-powered Standard biplane with a reputation of catching on fire in flight. Maitland’s first solo occurred on March 20, 1918, in a Standard J-1. He so impressed his superiors that he became an instructor at the youthful age of 19 and was considered by many to be a "born flier."
After additional training in aerial gunnery at Taliaferro Field, Hicks, Tex., Maitland was assigned as one of the Army’s first test pilots to the Wilbur Wright Experimental Field, Dayton, Ohio, from November 1, 1918, until April 17 of the following year. Among his colleagues and later-famous fliers were Muir Fairchild, Harold Harris, Oakley Kelly, John Macready, Russell Maughan, Alex Pearson and Rudolph "Shorty" Schroeder. Following his assignment at Wright Field he served from 1919 through 1921with the 6th Aero Squadron stationed at Luke Field on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During his time in Hawaii he began contemplating the idea of flying from the islands to the mainland using a twin-engine 1919 Martin bomber, but his application for permission for such a mission was rejected and probably, for that moment in aviation’s development, it was a wise
decision.
Returning to the mainland following completion of his Hawaiian tour of duty Maitland was assigned to Bolling Field at Anacostia in Washington, D.C., where he flew a wide variety of aircraft and was noticed by a soon. . . .
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Albert Hegenberger & Lester Maitland
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