Aviation History – September 11, 1931. On this Friday, September 11, 1931, two French crews will take off to try to establish the new straight line distance record, without making the slightest stopover, on a world scale. Until that date, it was the American air force which displayed it on its list.
Indeed, American pilots John Polando and Russell Boardman have held it since July 1931. From July 28 to 30, 1931, they managed to complete a flight of 8,065 kilometers. Having taken off from New York, United States, they evolved in the sky to Istanbul, Turkey.
With their device called “Trait d’Union”, the aviators Marcel Doret and Joseph le Brix, accompanied by René Mesmin, mechanic, hope to do much better, just like the pilot Paul Codos and the navigator Henri Robida with their “Question mark », these two crews leaving for this purpose on September 11, 1931. For the second, the attempt was quickly aborted, after only two hours of flight. And it is in Düsseldorf that Codos and Robida will finish their raid. The fault is a concern for the fuel supply of their aircraft, namely a Breguet 19, with a Hispano engine of 600 horsepower.
