Bennet Griffin and James Mattern
Bennett Griffin and James Mattern tried to break the round-the-world record set by Post
and Gatty. They left New York in their Lockheed Vega monoplane "Century of Progress," on
July 5, 1932 for Harbor Grace, Newfoundland. They overshot the airfield and circled Bonavista
Bay for several hours before locating the runway blanketed in fog. After a two-hour refueling
stop, they were airborne again, crossing the Atlantic to Ireland in 11H 22M and continuing to
Berlin for the first successful non-stop flight from Newfoundland, in a total time of 18H 45M.
After departing Berlin when they were near Borisov, Russia on July 7, 1932 a cabin latch
fell off damaging the vertical stabilizer. They made a forced landing and had to discontinue
their efforts to break the round-the-world flight record.
