Hegenberger Road to the Airport  

Hegenberger's Fokker"The Pacific has been Lindberghed" shouted the headlines on June 29, 1927. Just a month before, Charles Lindbergh had completed the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Now, Albert Hegenberger and Lester Maitland had flown the Pacific from the new Oakland Municipal Airport to the Hawaiian Islands.
The 7,000 foot runway at the airport had been complete just in time for the takeoff. The 2,400-mile flight had taken 25 hours and 49 minutes. It was the first flight from the continental U.S. across the Pacific Ocean, and it opened the way for commercial aviation service to Hawaii, the Pacific and the Far East. Hegenberger Rd. is named to commemorate this pioneering flight.

Deborah Cooper
Oakland Museum of California

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