Having flown across the Pacific, the Bellanca Miss Veedol was sold and renamed The American Nurse for a transatlantic flight to Rome captained by the Italian-born Dr Pisculli, founder of the American Nurses' Aviation Service. The pilot was William Ulbrich and the co-pilot Edna Newcomer, who was also a nurse and a dancer. Pisculli intended to study the health of the pilots and of his groundhog Tailwind during the flight. They took off from Floyd Bennett Field on 13 September 1932 but disappeared over the Atlantic and were never found. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon aborted a fast flight around the world and instead managed to make the first non-stop flight across the Pacific, from Japan. Arriving over the American coast, they even decided to continue to Boise, Idaho, but the weather would not cooperate and they belly-landed at Fancher Field, Washington state, having jettisoned Miss Veedol's landing gear after take-off. Veedol is a motor oil brand. The CH-400 Special Model J seems to be the same model as the Bellanca J-300. Photo from: The Oregon Journal / Oregon Historical Society