Pilot and Crew See the Country in Record Time

A string of 48s brought an aviation record to San Diego lawyer Bill Wright. He touched down in all 48 contiguous states in his 1948 airplane within 48 hours of flying time.

When Wright and two crewmen landed in Pendleton, Ore., last Tuesday, they had flown for 44 hours, 35 minutes and 57 seconds over 11 days.

Wright, 54, owner and pilot of the plane; Michael La France, 32, of San Diego, his co-pilot and mechanic, and Eric Presten, 25, of San Jose, a National Aeronautics Assn. certified judge, flew around the continental United States in a 1948 Luscombe 11-A Silvaire Sedan, the first to set a speed record for the trip.

In designing the route, Wright chose general-aviation airports at which any pilot could land because he wanted to do something other people could repeat.

He used a long-range navigation device called LORAN and other standard navigation equipment for the flight, which was made during Learn to Fly Month.

The crew, which took off from Needles on July 1, stayed at some airports for as few as 15 minutes, but spent the night at others, resting and waiting for better weather, Presten said.

“When I first started the idea, I wasn’t thinking of setting a record, but some guys at the National Aeronautics Assn. encouraged me to get into it,� Wright said.

The three men flew at an average speed of 130 m.p.h., beating their goal of making the trip in 48 hours.

La France, who owns a smaller two-seat 1949 Luscombe, said that although he had little mechanical work to do on the airplane during the trip, the flying was intense.

“It really called on all my aviation experience,� he said.

Both Wright and La France said the ’48 Luscombe is fairly easy to fly because the 92 produced were designed with businessmen and families in mind. In fact, the inside of Wright’s plane looks a lot like a car because the parts come from automobile manufacturers.

The original upholstery, ashtrays and dome lights were purchased from Cadillac, and the panel incorporates prewar Studebaker and Stewart-Warner parts. The 3,700-square-inch window space also resembles that of a car, with its rear windows and overhead skylights.