Friendship One
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- See also: Friendship One (Star Trek: Voyager)
Friendship One was a successful attempt at beating the round-the-world air speed record.
The flight was conducted from January 29 to January 30, 1988. It was operated by a Boeing 747SP owned by United Airlines, N147UA. A charitable foundation, the Friendship Foundation, was established and all money went to children's charities. A ticket on the flight cost $5000 and in total the flight raised more than $500,000 for children. A total of 141 passengers were onboard, including Neil Armstrong and Bill Lear's widow, Moya.
The old speed record of 45 hours, 25 minutes, and 55 seconds was set by a Gulfstream III business jet and Friendship One captain Clay Lacy hoped to beat that by at least 6 hours. The flight followed a 23,125 mile route from Seattle, Washington to Athens, Taipei, and back to Seattle. It completed the trip in just 36 hours, 54 minutes, 15 seconds. Unfortunately, it was beaten less than a month later by a Gulfstream IV. It clocked 36 hours, 8 minutes. The flight was sponsored by United Airlines, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Volkswagen, and Olympic Airlines.
