Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific [Hardcover]

A thrilling account,Race to Hawaii chronicles the first flights to Hawaii in the 1920s, during the Golden Age of Aviation. These journeys were fraught with danger. To reach the tiny islands, fearless pilots flew unreliable and fragile aircraft outfitted with primitive air navigation equipment. The Dole Derby was an unprecedented 1927 air race in which eight planes set off at once across the Pacific, all eager to reach the islands first and claim a cash prize offered by "Pineapple King" James Dole. Military men, barnstormers, a schoolteacher, a Wall Street bond salesman, a Hollywood stunt flyer and veteran World War aces all encountered every type of hazard during their perilous flights. With so many pilots taking aim at the far-flung islands in so many different types of planes, everyone wondered who would reach Hawaii first, or at all.

"A page-turning account of ‘the precarious, pioneering flights to Hawaii’ during the late 1920s."—Kirkus Reviews

“Sputtering engines, empty fuel tanks, failed radios, never-ending fog…lots went wrong when early aviators tried to steer the first planes across the Pacific....Jason Ryan thrillingly recounts each pitfall as he details American airmen’s ultimate triumph over the world’s mightiest ocean.”—WINSTON GROOM, author ofThe AviatorsandForrest Gump
 

“Race to Hawaiitakes you on a wild ride over 2,400 miles of storm-tossed skies to a tropical paradise. Painting a mural of America’s quest to reach Hawaii by air in lush, vivid colors, Jason Ryan breathes life into the death-defying pioneers of aviation’s golden age.”—JONATHAN W. JORDAN, author of Brothers, Rivals, Victors and American Warlords

“Beautifully captures the excitement, wonder, and tragedy of the pioneering age of aviation. Combining masterful researcl“¡