A legend is re-born in the Miss Veedol 1931 Bleeanca J-300 Special
Test pilots Dave Stadler (near) and Arnie Clarke prepare to taxi for the first flight
The communities or Wenatchee Wa, Misawa Japan and Pangborn and Herndow descendatns gater to watch the first flight in May 2003
Spirit of Wenatchee
The Spirit of Wenatchee is a non profit organization of EAA Chapter 424 Pilots. We have taken on the ambitious porject of recreating the historic aircraft flown by Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. The Spirit of Wenatchee has built a replica of the 1931 Bellanca J-300 Special named the Miss Veedol. Bringing recongnition back to Pangborn and Herndon whom history nearly forgot has fuiled the project.
On the 1931 flight from Misawa, Japan to Wenatchee, Washington in order to increase range, Pangborn and Herndon dropped their landing gear in the ocean just after take off and had to belly land in East Wenatchee at Fancher field.
In October 2010 to October 2011 the Miss veedol was shipped to Japan and displayed at the Museum for the communityh of Misawa and all of Japan to enjoy. She was proudly flown for two shows over Misawa druing that time. It was our dram to let Japan one again hear the roar of the Miss Veedool and we deeply appreciate the opportunity that presented to us. We are honored to have flown the Miss veedol (repliaca) over Japan soil and would like thank all who made it possible.
October 5th, 1931 Moments after landing the 41 hour 15 minute transpacific flight in Wenatchee. Note Clydeleft his boots in Japn, just un-needed weight
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A legend is re-born in the Miss Veedol 1931 Bellanca J-400 Special
Test pilots Dave Stadler (near) and Arnie Clarke prepare to taxi for the first flight
The communities or Wenatchee Wa, Misawa Japan and Pangborn and Herndon descendants gather to watch the first flight in May 2003.
The crowd cheers as the new MissVeedol roars into the air for the first time. A sound last heard in the Wenatchee Valley 72 years earlier when the original landed in 1931
The Miss Veedol flies over a water tank dedicated to her near her home base in the beautiful Wenatchee Valley in Washington state.
June 2006
Spirit of Wenatchee
The Miss Veedol was the first airplane ever to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean. Piloted by Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, she left Misawa, Japan on October 3rd, 1931 and landed in East Wenatchee, Washington 41 hours and 15 minutes Later. The historic flight earned the pilots a $25,000 prize and worldwide fame that was soon eclipsed by the ongoing news of the Great Depression.
In the mid-1990s a group of pilots in Wenatchee took on anb ambitious project of recreating the Miss Veedol, a Bellanca J-400 Special, and flying it to celebrate the Pangborn and Herdons feat. The volunteers, now organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation called the Spirit of Wenatchee, succeeded in building a replica aircraft without benefit of blueprint plans for the original. They completed construction in 2003 and flew the aircraft to various sites across the United States--Including Kitty Hawk-- that year, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight.
Spirit of Wenatchee's goal is to rekindle recognition of Pangborn and Herndon's historic feat. The SOW pilots fly the plane each year around the Pacific Northwest and to numerous air shows in the U.S. and Canada. From October 2010 to October 2011 the Miss Veedol was shipped to Japan and displayed to hundreds of thousands of spectators at the Misawa Museum. She was flown for two air shows in Misawa during that time.
October 5th, 1931. Moments after landing the 41 hour 15 minute transpacific flight in East Wenatchee. Note Clyde left his boots in Japan, just extra weight
Welcome to the home of the
Miss Veedol
The communities of Misawa, Japan and Wenatchee/East Wenatchee, Washington both take pride in Pangborn and Herndon's historic flight. The communities formed a Sister City relationship, with delegations from each city visiting the other city every year. Wenatchee/East Wenatchee's airport is named Pangborn Memorial Airport, in honor of the man who was born nearby and brought honor to our community.
We invite you to explore this website to learn more about the 1931 historic flight, ace pilot Clyde Pangborn's history, the process of building the modern Miss Veedol replica, a current schedule of Miss Veedol appearances, and Veedol momorabilia available for sale.
An interesting note as found on uselessinformation.org. Sixteen months after the flight, the captain of a schooner named the Presho spotted something floating in the water. It was a Firestone branded tire, which was indentified by the serial number as having been part of the landing gear that had been jetisoned by the Miss Veedol shortly after takeoff. It had followed nearly the indentical path across the Pacific that Pangborn and Herdon had taken, being found just off shore 200 miles away from their landing location.