Every time I see this posted I read it all over again. Such a great story. It would make a terrific movie.
Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
31–40 of 79 posts
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#32I thought this was fiction until I read HN comments. Not sure I like this style for this sort of story.
I love this style. Just compare it to the Wikipedia article. So dry and boring with no sense of how amazing this accomplishment was.
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#33Reminds me of Wrong Way Corrigan who "accidentally" crossed the Atlantic solo claiming his compass malfunctioned.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wrong-way-corrig...
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#34My grandfather was recruited by Pan-Am for the Pan-America-Africa project. (Hey kid, wanna learn how to fly?) and spent the WW2 years flying into many of the places mentioned in this article. It's great to read about where he spent his time before settling down as a commercial pilot. Much later on he had to dodge an errant Agean rocket that was flying where it really shouldn't have been. I bet that was a hell of a debrief.
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#35I'm shocked that this story hasn't had significant discussion on HN. Several earlier submissions, but no uptake. It is worth the read.
> I'm shocked that this story hasn't had significant discussion on HN.
It got quite a few votes before.
It's a great story and I'm glad I caught it today, I upvoted it but ... I don't really have anything to comment. I have no informed opinions to offer, related anecdotes to share, or related stories I can think of right now. It's just a great story. Comments aren't everything.
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#36This is an incredible story. It's crazy how they aren't better known for this feat.
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#37For an early history of Pan Am and the Pacific along with this story check "China Clipper: The Age of the Great Flying Boats" by Robert Gandt. The audiobook is ok but you need to download the supplemental pdf.
I gotta admit the plane-tower conversation would make a great end to a movie.
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#38I am kinda sad that the Brazillian part in that story is how they forced them to stay because of Yellow Fever, but then they stole stuff from inside the plane... The saddest part of this, is that I am not even surprised :( As Brazillian I deal all the time with online distrust with Brazillians, and often when people explain why they distrust us, I can't fault them, there are even online games where Brazillians have t…
Well, don’t read too much into that. There are rude people everywhere. From what I know, Brazil produces high-quality software developers/computer scientists (elixir and Lua come from Brazil). Of course there are big social issues in Brazil but… aren’t there in all western countries? Poverty, unemployment, violence (maybe Brazil is an outlier in this case), etc.
> for example the excellent popcorn time
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#39Would someone kindly explain why this is considered round the world? I see a gap between NYC and SF…
Re: Plane accidentally flew around the world (2018)
#40Would someone kindly explain why this is considered round the world? I see a gap between NYC and SF…
They went the "long way around". As a flying boat their operations are centered on the oceans, not land. This route operated over the Pacific Ocean. So going through Africa to reach NYC is "around the world". In fact the crossing of Africa was itself harrowing because they had limited places to "land".