Since the flight started in early spring, it was determined that the weather during the flight would be better for most of the way if the flight proceeded from east to west instead of the normal west to east route. The 25,180 mile route pushed across Japan, to Korea, China, Indochina, Burma and India -- trying to beat the rainy season before proceeding to Europe by way of Constantinople, Turkey, Bucharest, Romania, Vienna, Austria, Paris, France, and London, England.

The goal was to arrive in England early enough to cross the Atlantic during the summer months. The route over the ocean would be via the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, to Boston, then across the northern U.S. to Seattle, completing one of the greatest flight of all times.

Unfortunately, the lead airplane (the "Seattle") crashed just 24 days after leaving Seattle, on the way to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, destroying the airplane. Miraculously neither crew member was injured. An extensive search by air, sea, and land, failed to locate the airplane. Eleven days later, the pair had made their way to the Pacific coast by walking, and were finally rescued. However, the Seattle and its crew was out of the expedition, leaving the three remaining airplanes to complete the flight.

All the airplanes had numerous mishaps along the way; however no other major problems or accidents marred the rest of the trip. The pilots flew in fog, blowing snow storms, freezing and torrential rain, terrible cold, and extreme heat. The temperature during the flight ranged all the way from 20 degrees below zero to 120 degrees above zero. The remaining three airplanes arrived in Boston on September 7, 1924, returning triumphantly to Seattle, on September 28, 1924, after 177 days.

About this time, the government began to recognize that the lack of progress in the development of aircraft could lead to serious problems if emergency conditions (war) were to arise. After several years of study, the Air Commerce Act of 1926 was passed. This legislation, along with the creation of the Bureau of Aeronautics, went a long way towards jump starting aircraft manufacturing. It also reflected the government's growing concern for the building and development of aircraft -- or rather the lack of aircraft development. This also including the much-needed building of airports.

One of the most important events in the manufacturing and selling of aircraft was the entry of Henry Ford into aviation when he bought the Stout Metal Airplane Company in 1925. Ford automobiles were such a symbol of reliability at the time that the public accepted the Ford Airplane as being safe as well as reliable. Inspired by the Fokker F-VII, the most successful airplane built during the 1920s, Henry Ford promptly designed and built the very successful Ford 4AT Trimotor, affectionately called the Tin Goose.

Richard Byrd, along with his co-pilot Floyd Bennett, flew a Fokker F-VII Tri-motor, named "Josephine Ford" when he made his first expedition to the North Pole in May, 1926. Australia's Charles Kingford-Smith, along with his co-pilot Charles Ulm, flew a Fokker F-VII Tri-motor named "Southern Cross" on their record breaking flight from London to Brisbane, arriving in Brisbane on June 28, 1928.