Coastal Georgia Historical Society
Lt. William Devoe Coney
Lieutenant William DeVoe Coney was the first person to successfully complete a solo transcontinental flight in under 24 hours. In February 1921, Coney made the 2,070-mile flight from San Diego’s Rockwell Field to Pablo Beach, today’s Jacksonville Beach, in a record-breaking flying time of 22 hours and 27 minutes.
Born in Atlanta in 1893, Coney spent most of his childhood in Brunswick. His parents were Martha Ann Dillon Coney and Edgar Fairchild Coney. His father was a partner in both the South Atlantic Towing Company and Coney & Parker, a local coal and coke business. William DeVoe Coney went to Georgia Institute of Technology before entering the Army Air Service in 1917. He spent most of World War I as a flying instructor. At the time of his solo attempt, he was a member of the 91st Aero Squadron.
Coney’s plane was a DeHaviland-4, a large biplane leftover from World War I. The plane’s inauspicious nickname was the “flying coffin” because it was large and unwieldy to fly. The 27-year-old pilot worked with mechanics at Rockwell Field to enlarge the fuel tanks in his airplane to necessitate only one refueling stop, planned for the halfway point at Dallas’ Love Field.
Lt. Coney took off from San Diego on February 21st at 6:55 p.m., carrying a package of official mail from the commander of Naval Air Station San Diego to the commander of Naval Air Station Pensacola, two bottles of hot coffee, and four pounds of chocolate. Ten hours later he was forced to land near Abilene, Texas, to partially refuel and repair the engine. It was a full day before he could fly to Dallas for his planned stop. He took off on February 23rd at 11:00 p.m. for the final leg of his journey.
At 7:27 a.m. the next morning, Lt. Coney landed on the sands of Pablo Beach, breaking the airtime record. He was greeted by well-wishers, including many of his relatives from Brunswick and Atlanta. A few days later, Lt. Coney flew his plane to Brunswick. According to the local newspaper, “the entire city turn[ed] out to greet and cheer him when he landed on the local aviation field.”
Coastal Georgia Historical Society
Lt. Wm. Devoe Coney's DeHaviland-4
Shown here are photographs of Lt. Coney and his DeHaviland-4, taken during the trip to Brunswick. A month later, the intrepid aviator was critically injured while attempting to break his own record on a cross-country flight back to California. Coney experienced engine trouble while flying over swampland in Louisiana on March 25th and attempted a forced landing near Crowville; however, the plane struck a tree. A seriously injured Coney was extricated from the wreckage, brought to Winnville, then transported by train to Natchez, Mississippi, where he died at a hospital a few days later. After services at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Brunswick, Lt. Coney was buried in Palmetto Cemetery.
Coastal Georgia Historical Society presents this article and images from our archives as part of our mission “to connect people to Coastal Georgia’s dynamic history.” The Society operates the iconic St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and the World War II Home Front Museum, housed in the Historic Coast Guard Station at East Beach. To learn more about the Society, its museums, diverse programs, and membership, please visit coastalgeorgiahistory.org.
UPDATE - This article has been updated to correct the information regarding the date, location and circumstances of Coney’s forced landing in accordance with the account reported in The Charlotte News, March 26, 1921. Thank you to a reader for pointing out the factual inaccuracy in the original copy.
