May 31, 1928
Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith departed Oakland, California, in a Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor monoplane for the first trans-Pacific flight. The others on board the plane, which was named the Southern Cross, were Charles Ulm, organizing manager of the flight and co-pilot; Harry Lyon, navigator; and James Warner, radio operator.
Over the next several days, the Southern Cross traveled approximately 7,250 miles (11,670 kilometers) altogether and stopped en route at both Hawaii and Fiji before landing on June 9 at Eagle Farm Airport near the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. About 25,000 people were on hand at the airport to welcome the Southern Cross and its crew.
Sir John Goodwin, governor of Queensland, was also in attendance and he had nothing but praise for Kingsford Smith and his companions at the end of their record-setting journey across the Pacific. “Your flight marks a new era in the history of aviation,” said Goodwin. “Your achievement will go down in history for all time because of the courage, will, and endurance it required.”
Additional information on the Southern Cross and its pioneering 1928 trans-Pacific flight is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_(aircraft).
For more information on Charles Kingsford Smith, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith.