Douglas Corrigan, a pioneering aviator, gained international acclaim in 1938 when he embarked on a transcontinental flight from New York to California in his second-hand Curtiss Robin monoplane, only to surprise everyone by landing in Ireland instead, earning him the enduring nickname "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
On July 17, 1938, Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline into his single-engine plane, sufficient for a 40-hour journey, and announced his destination as Long Beach, California. However, when he took off from Floyd Bennett Field, his plane's nose pointed east, contradicting his initial statement. The Department of Commerce had previously denied him permission to fly the Atlantic due to the condition of his aircraft.
After a near-29-hour flight, Corrigan landed in Baldonnel, near Dublin, Ireland, on July 18, 1938. He returned to the United States as a hero, and his ticker-tape parade in New York City was even larger than Charles A. Lindbergh's. Corrigan's remarkable journey inspired a movie, The Flying Irishman, released in 1939.
Despite his newfound fame, Corrigan remained a private and shy individual. During World War II, he served as a test pilot for Douglass Aircraft. After the war, he relocated to Santa Monica, California, in 1951 and spent his later years growing oranges.
