Wrong Way Corrigan - July 17, 1938

I'll explain why Mr. Corrigan is my pick for the day at the end.

Douglas Corrigan, born in Texas, January 22, 1907, he changed his name from Clyde Groce to Douglas as an adult. He fell in love with flying October, 1925 when he saw passengers being flown in a Curtiss JN-4. He soon started taking lessons himself and made his first solo flight on March 25, 1926.

Corrigan took a job with Mohoney and Ryan of Ryan Aeronautical Company. This led to his working on the design and construction of Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. Determined to fly transatlantic himself, Corrigan started working a string of jobs to afford his dreams. In 1933 he bought a 1929 Curtiss-Robin monoplane. It was apparently not in the best of conditions and he made quite a few special modifications to it to ready it for his flight.

His applications to fly transatlantic were all rejected because of the condition of his plane. None of the officials thought he could make it. In fact, his plane was grounded in 1935 for six months because both federal and state officials felt it wasn't safe to be flown at all.

On July 8, 1938, Corrigan flew the Sunshine from California to New York with a conditional transcontinental license to test more modifications to the plane. He was supposed to return to California on July 17. Instead Corrigan headed east over the Atlantic. He claims that he didn't realize he was over water until 26 hours into his flight, however some repairs he made with the experimental fuel tank array don't mesh with what he would have done if he'd been expecting to fly over land.

He landed at Baldonnel Field, Dublin, July 18, 1938 after a journey of 28 hours (and change). Officials pressed him but he stuck with it, insisting low visibility and a faulty compass were the reason for his "mistaken" flight. Corrigan's answer in the end was "That's my story" (which became the title of his autobigraphy) and the officials gave up on trying to shake him. He had his license suspended temporarily and was welcomed home with a ticker-tape parade. The New York Times headline read "Hail Wrong Way Corrigan" printed backwards.

Corrigan lived a quiet life after his flight, never admitting he did it on purpose, dying in California December 9, 1995.

Now, as for the reason I chose him. When I played baketball in seventh or eighth grade, I actually got the ball. I was so thrilled I immediately turned and shot...and missed. Thank the Gods! It was the wrong basket! One of my neighbors, a great old gentleman, never let me forget it. To Austin, from that day on, I was Wrong Way Corrigan. He died a few years ago and a nicer man there never was. When I saw Wrong Way's name come up on my list of possibles I just had to do it, in honor of Austin.

Wrong Way Corrigan - This Day in History
Wrong Way Corrigan - Wikipedia
Wrong Way Corrigan - US Centennial of Flight Commission