# Canonical recap data for First Aerial Combat: Wright Brothers Duel (1914)
# Source: https://recap.at/1914/first-aerial-combat
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: first-aerial-combat
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1914/first-aerial-combat"
title: "First Aerial Combat: Wright Brothers Duel"
subtitle: Combat pilots engaged in aerial dogfights over the Western Front, transforming aviation from experimental curiosity into a decisive weapon of modern warfare.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1914-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1914
decade: 1910
country:
name: France
slug: france
summaryShort: The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The 175-day journey from April to September covered over 26,345 miles (42,398 km). The team generally traveled east to west, a
summaryLong: The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The 175-day journey from April to September covered over 26,345 miles (42,398 km). The team generally traveled east to west, around the northern Pacific Rim, through to South Asia and Europe and back to Seattle's Sand Point Airfield in the United States. Airmen Lowell H. Smith and Leslie P. Arnold, and Erik H. Nelson and John Harding Jr. made the trip in two single-engined open-cockpit Douglas World Cruisers (DWC) configured as floatplanes for most of the journey. Lead aircraft Chicago, and the New Orleans completed the expedition. Four more flyers in two additional DWC began the journey but their aircraft crashed or were forced down. All airmen survived. They were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, and the flight won the Mackay Trophy aviation award for 1924.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Three_Douglas_World_Cruiser_aircraft_on_beach.jpg/1280px-Three_Douglas_World_Cruiser_aircraft_on_beach.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "First aerial circumnavigation"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation"
  title: First aerial circumnavigation
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- war
- sports
metaDescription: The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precurso
wikidataQid: Q5454118
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260403235900/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation"
  capturedAt: 2026-04-03
  label: First aerial circumnavigation
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation"
