The Flying Keys
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On June 4, 1935, The Flying Keys, brothers Fred and Algene Key, lifted off in a borrowed Curtiss Robin monoplane named Ole Miss from Meridian, Mississippi's airport. Twenty-seven days, 52,320 miles and 6,000 gallons of gasoline later, on July 1, they landed. Their non-stop endurance flight lasted 653 hours, 34 minutes, a record which still stands (for intra-atmospheric flight). For this flight, a spill-free aerial refueling nozzle was developed, which was later adopted by the US Army Air Corps. The Ole Miss is permanently displayed in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
After this historic flight, Meridian's public airport was renamed Key Field in the brothers honor.
The Key brothers later served as bomber pilots in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Fred was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (USA), and Al earned a Distinguished Flying Cross (USA), a Distinguished Service Cross (USA), an Air Medal, a Distinguished Service Cross (UK) and seven Bronze Star Medal's for participating in combat. They both had distinguished careers--Al remained in the Air Force until his retirement in 1960 at the rank of full Colonel and Fred ran the Key Brothers Flying Service at Key Field until his death in 1971. The cutoff valve developed for the Keys by A.D. Hunter was an important innovation for national defense, being the precursor of those used by modern tanker airplanes, such as the KC-135 Stratotanker, that keep bomber and fighter aircraft in the air. Today, with only slight modifications, U.S. Air Force and Strategic Air Command airplanes use the valve that Hunter invented.
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External links
- Information about this flight at the National Air and Space Museum Web Site (http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/curtiss_j1.htm)
- Key Field: Birthplace of Air to Air Refueling presented by the 186th Air Refueling Wing of the Air National Guard (http://www.msmeri.ang.af.mil/HTML/airrefueling.htm)
- The US National Park Service maintains this site documenting the brothers (http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/old.htm)
- Where it all started -- Meridian Regional Airport at Key Field (http://www.meridianairport.com/history.html)