Runway of Sand: The Transatlantic Gamble

In the late nineteen twenties, this beach was one of the most famous runways in the world. The reason was that hard, flat sand at low tide. It gave a heavy, fuel laden airplane a longer takeoff run than most airfields could, so daring crews chasing the dream of a transatlantic crossing came to Old Orchard Beach to launch from the shore.

Some made history. In August of nineteen twenty-seven, the Pride of Detroit lifted off here and crossed the ocean on its way around the world. Two years later, a French monoplane called the Yellow Bird thundered down this sand and flew nonstop across the Atlantic to the coast of Spain, carrying, without their knowledge until they were airborne, a young stowaway from Portland, Maine.

But the ocean took its price. In September of nineteen twenty-seven, a plane called Old Glory took off from this beach bound for Rome carrying three men. It vanished over the North Atlantic.

Its wreckage was found days later hundreds of miles east of Newfoundland. All three aboard were lost, and their bodies were never recovered. For every triumphant crossing that began on this sand, there was a crew that gambled everything and did not come home.

The beach that gave families their summers also gave some of aviation's boldest their last takeoff.