Turtle and the Dreamboat

The Turtle and the Dreamboat is the first detailed account of the race for long-distance flight records between the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy less than fourteen months after World War II. The flights were risky and unprecedented. Each service intended to demonstrate its offensive capabilities during the new nuclear age, a time when America was realigning its military structure and preparing to create a new armed service - the United States Air Force.The first week of October 1946 saw the conclusion of both record-breaking, nonstop flights by the military fliers. The first aircraft, a two-engine U.S. Navy P2V Neptune patrol plane nicknamed the Truculent Turtle, flew more than eleven thousand miles from Perth, Western Australia, to Columbus, Ohio. The Turtle carried four war-honed pilots and a young kangaroo as a passenger. The second plane, a four-engine U.S. Army B-29 Superfortress bomber dubbed the Pacusan Dreamboat, flew nearly ten thousand miles from Honolulu to Cairo via the Arctic. Although presented as a friendly rivalry, the two flights were anything but collegial. These military missions were meant to capture public opinion and establish aviation leadership within the coming Department of Defense.Both audacious flights above oceans, deserts, mountains, and icecaps helped to shape the future of worldwide commercial aviation, greatly reducing the length and costs of international routes. Jim Leeke provides an account of the remarkable and record-breaking flights that forever changed aviation.

"Journalist and Navy veteran Jim Leeke has produced a masterpiece of aviation history, well researched and dramatically told as American ingenuity, science, technology, and courage proved in 1946 that air power capability could reach anywhere in the Cold War world."--Col. William D. Bushnell, Military Officer, "The Turtle and the Dreamboat is an interesting book. It is fast paced and engrossing."--Tony Bruno, Cipher Brief-- (7/19/2022 12:00:00 AM), "Readers can now fly between North America and Europe or the Southern Hemisphere due in major part to the historical flights and flight crews of The Turtle and the Dreamboat. Aside from aviation history book shelves this book also belongs to those who read about explorers and feel simpatico with that special urge to do what has not been done. It is also a quite pleasant read."--Travel for Aircraft-- (7/25/2022 12:00:00 AM), "[The Turtle and the Dreamboat] offers an interesting footnote in the history of aviation in America's post-war military services."--Steven C. Haack, Journal of America's Military Past, "The Turtle and the Dreamboat crews were true pioneers. Jim Leeke presents the tale of how their two aircraft paved the way for the thousands of planes flying around the world today and helps us to appreciate how we got here."--Maj. Gen. Edward J. Mechenbier, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)

Jim Leeke attended journalism school at Ohio State University after serving in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He wrote for newspapers and national magazines as a police reporter, lifestyle columnist, sportswriter, and business and technology writer. He is the author or editor of several books. He lives in Morgantown, WV.