Feliks Banel: Celebration of Seattle around-the-world flight should become annual event
Sep 20, 2024, 1:49 PM | Updated: Sep 27, 2024, 6:20 am
A crowd of 50,000 people welcomed the Douglas World Flyers back to what's now Sand Point Magnuson Park on Sept. 28, 1924; the centennial celebration in 2024 is good reason to think about creating an annual commemoration of the history-making event and this region's role in aviation heritage. (Webster & Stevens photo courtesy of Museum of History & Industry/MOHAI)
(Webster & Stevens photo courtesy of Museum of History & Industry/MOHAI)
The celebration of the centennial of the 1924 around-the-world flight which began and ended in Seattle will conclude next week with a series of events. As the festivities peak, it’s worth thinking about creating an annual occasion to commemorate this area’s unique aviation heritage and contributions to human flight.
On an April day a century ago, four Douglas World Cruisers left from what’s now Magnuson Park in Seattle on an unprecedented around-the-world journey. Though only two of the planes returned to Sand Point on Sept. 28, 1924, the epic adventure was considered a success by the U.S. Army, and by the 50,000 people who showed up to greet the aviators. It’s an often overlooked chapter in aviation history, as well as Pacific Northwest history.
For much of next week, the centennial celebration will conclude with a series of events held at the Museum of Flight and at the NOAA complex adjacent to Magnuson Park at Sand Point in North Seattle.
From Sept. 26-29, the Museum of Flight will host free displays of vintage aircraft in the parking lot, and will present a series of programs focused on topics such as modern-day adventure pilots and their recent and upcoming feats of aviation derring-do.
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On Sept. 28, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) complex adjacent to Magnuson Park will open its typically-closed gates to the public for a free day-long celebration. Activities include a vintage Model A car show, live music, history presentations and panel discussions. It all culminates with a massive “fly-by” of many of the vintage planes taking part in the display at the Museum of Flight, including FIFI, which is one of just two Boeing B-29s still in flying condition.
That NOAA compound, which is typically not accessible to the public, includes the site of the original Sand Point runway and hangar, to which aviation Lee Corbin has devoted considerable resources in order to determine the exact location.
Hope for more of these celebrations
With all the excitement this year, many aviation historians and enthusiasts hope that this celebration isn’t just a one-time or once-in-a-century thing.
A year ago, the idea was floated of creating a “National Aviation Heritage Area” to partner with the National Park Service and a consortium of museums and other history groups to create a permanent focus on the region’s unique aviation history. As representatives of the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area as well as the Mountains to Sound Greenway know from personal experience, creating a National Heritage Area can take years of work, and often requires alignment of political interests and other forces beyond any single group’s control.
Thus, what might make sense as an interim step toward creating a National Aviation Heritage Area in this region is establishing that from this year forward, the last week and/or last weekend in September will become “Aviation Heritage Week” in the Evergreen State – with a similar program of events each and every year. This way, all the work on this year’s centennial – and the story of the around-the-world flight, as well as all the unique contributions of Boeing and others to this area’s distinctive and global-impacting aviation history – are never forgotten.
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With this more incremental approach, the concept of a National Aviation Heritage Area can be tested by testing the viability of a coordinated effort to harness local museums, historic sites and active aviation places like airfields and manufacturing plants as engines of heritage tourism and other culturally-driven economic development.
Next weekend is not to be missed, but I’m also marking my September 2025 calendar for “Aviation Heritage Week” right now.
You can hear Feliks Banel every Wednesday and Friday morning on “Seattle’s Morning News” with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. Read more from Feliks here and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast here. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks. You can also follow Feliks on X.
