Some of the most ridiculous aviation achievements fall into both the genius and crazy columns, and some seem to be so ludicrous that it’s hard to believe they can possibly be true.
1 Flying a 172 non-stop for 65 days
In 1959, an inexplicable craze for flying continuously for extremely long periods culminated in a flight lasting 64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and 5 seconds in Las Vegas. Robert Timm and John Cook flew a modified Cessna 172 from 4th December 1958 to 7th February 1959, refuelling by flying over a fuel truck driving on a race track. Timm and Cook were in a fierce rivalry with Jim Heth and Bill Burkhart, vying for the same record.
Timm, a poker machine mechanic at the Hacienda casino, convinced the hotel owner to sponsor his attempt in return for the publicity that the flight would generate. The Cessna 172, with 1500 hours on the airframe, named Hacienda, was prepared with an autopilot, a Sorenson belly tank, a concertina door, a mattress and a sink. They also modified the oil system so that the filter was on the inside of the firewall, allowing oil changes during flight. An alcohol injection system was also invented to reduce carbon buildup in the cylinders.
The first three attempts were unsuccessful, with the longest lasting only 17 days. Then, Heath and Burkhart took the record from 47 days to 50 days in their 172, The Old Scotchman. On 4th December 1957, Timms and Cook took off from Las Vegas. One of their first tasks was to fly low over a truck so that the tyres could be chalked, tothe fuel hose, and then hauled up.) They refuelled in this manner 128 times. Gourmet meals, oil, water, and towels were also delivered from the support truck and bags of waste dumped overboard in the desert. When they finally landed, they had flown a distance of 150,000 miles. Their record is unlikely to be ever broken.
