Early days of flight - An old press portrait of Maitland & Hegenberger (1st nonstop flight California - Hawaii 1927). Major General Albert Francis Hegenberger (1895 – 1983) was a pioneering aviator who with Lester J. Maitland, completed the first transpacific flight to Hawaii in 1927 as navigator of the Bird of the 'Bird of Paradise' aka 'Paradise'. Hegenberger, a skilled aeronautical engineer won both the Mackay Trophy (1927) and Collier Trophy (1934). Lester James Maitland (1899 – 1990) was also a career officer who later became a Director of Michigan Civil Defence & a church minister.

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Size: 3575px × 5906px
Photo credit: © Colin Waters / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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