Page "Lituanica" Paragraph 6

Darius and Girėnas were Lithuanian pilots, emigrants to the United States, who made a significant flight in the history of world aviation.

On July 15, 1933, they flew across the Atlantic Ocean, covering a distance of 3, 984 miles ( 6, 411 kilometers ) without landing, in 37 hours and 11 minutes ( 107. 1 mph ).

In terms of comparison, as far as the distance of non-stop flights was concerned, their result ranked second only to that of Russell Boardman and John Polando, and ranked fourth in terms of duration of flight at the time.

Although Darius and Girenas did not have navigational equipment and flew under unfavorable weather conditions, the flight was one of the most precise in aviation history.

It equaled, and in some aspects surpassed, Charles Lindbergh's classic flight.

Lituanica also carried the first Transtlantic air mail consignment in history.