1933
Maurice Rossi (1901-1966) started his aviation career very early: in 1919 he became the youngest military pilot in France. Together with Paul Codos (1896-1960), a former typographer turned pilot, he broke all previous records for a non-stop distance flight. From the 5th to 7th August 1933, the two French aviators, with Codos as main pilot, flew over the North Atlantic in a straight line from New York to France, passing over Germany and heading south east until they landed at Rayak (today Lebanon).
Codos and Rossi travelled for 5,657 miles (9,104 km), keeping their Blériot 110, equipped with Longines chronometers, in the air for 55 hours. Powered by a Hispano-Suiza engine, the Blériot 110 travelled at an average speed of 102 mph (164 km/h).
Long-distance record-breakers Maurice Rossi (left) and Paul Codos at Floyd Bennett Field, New York, August 1933.