southern cross

On July 35th, 1930, the “Southern Cross” landed at the Harbour Grace Airstrip, with Charles Kingsford-Smith and his crew, from Ireland on the last leg of their round the world trip. During their stay, they resided at Cochrane House (presently known as Hotel Harbour Grace), and departed the next morning for Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York.

sikorsky amphibian

The Sikorsky Amphibian arrived at the Harbour Grace Airstrip on August 20th, 1932. Wickford, the pilot of the plane, landed in Harbour Grace to pick up pilot James Mollison after his record breaking first solo east-to-west trans-Atlantic flight, from Portmarnock, Ireland. James Mollison was supposed to land in Harbour Grace, but unfortunately over shot his destination, ending up in New Brunswick instead.

LIberty

On June 22nd, 1931, Hillig and Hoiriis, the pilots of “Liberty” landed on the Harbour Grace Airstrip, their final point on the western side of the Atlantic, as they crossed the Atlantic. Once leaving Harbour Grace, they made a long, 32 hour flight, across the Atlantic to Krefeld, Germany.

century of progress

The pilots of “Century of Progress,” Mattern and Bennett departed New York, in 1932, in hopes of beating the eight-day round-the-world record that was previously set. They landed on the Harbour Grace Airstrip, in the midst of the adventure, for enough time to refuel and take off again. A few days later, Mattern and Bennett were found in Sibera, where the controls of the “Century of Progess” had failed, leaving them nose down in a Siberian bog and turn turtle. Sadly, this crash defeated their chances of setting a new world record.