First Aerial Refueling in 1923

I give those guys credit, given what they had to work with pretty extraordinary.

Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on June 27, 1923, Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter performed the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane.
Image:
1. Capt. Lowell Smith and Lt. John P. Richter, made the first mid-air refueling, June 1923, at Rockwell Field.
2. Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter receiving the first mid-air refueling on June 27, 1923, from a plane flown by 1st Lt. Virgil Hine and 1st Lt. Frank W. Seifert [1280x982]
3. Douglas O-2 aircraft posted by COL Lowell Herbert Smith
4. Douglas World Cruiser Transport posted by COL Lowell Herbert Smith

Background from
1. http://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/john-p-richter/
2. airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.

Background from {[https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/john-p-richter/}]
"The first successful aerial refueling took place on June 27, 1923, when a DH-4B, Air Service serial number A.S. 23-462, carrying Lieutenants Virgil S. Hine and Frank W. Seifert passed gasoline through a hose to another DH-4B which was flying beneath them carrying Lieutenants Lowell H. Smith and John P. Richter.
Hine and Smith piloted their respective airplanes while Seifert and Richter handled the refueling. A 50 foot (15.24 meter) hose with manually-operated quick-acting valves at each end was used. During the refueling, 75 gallons (284 liters) of gasoline was passed from the tanker to the receiver.
Smith and Richter landed after 6 hours, 38 minutes, when their airplane developed engine trouble. Only one refueling had been completed but that had demonstrated the feasibility of the procedure.
For their accomplishment, all four officers were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The Airco DH.4 was a very successful airplane of World War I, designed by Geoffrey de Havilland. It was built by several manufacturers in Europe and the United States. The DH-4B was a rebuilt DH.4 with fuel capacity increased to 110 gallons (420 liters). The DH-4B was 30 feet, 6 inches (9.296 meters) long with a wingspan of 43 feet, 6 inches (13.259 meters) and height of 10 feet, 4 inches (3.150 meters). Loaded weight of the standard DH-4B was 3,557 pounds (1,613.4 kilograms).
In place of the Rolls-Royce Eagle VII V-12 of the British-built version, Army Air Service DH-4s were powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,649.336-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Liberty L-12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine with a compression ratio of 5.4:1. The Liberty produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. The L-12 as a right-hand tractor, direct-drive engine. It turned turned a two-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller. The Liberty 12 was 5 feet, 7.375 inches (1.711 meters) long, 2 feet, 3.0 inches (0.686 meters) wide, and 3 feet, 5.5 inches (1.054 meters) high. It weighed 844 pounds (383 kilograms).
The Liberty L12 aircraft engine was designed by Jesse G. Vincent of the Packard Motor Car Company and Elbert J. Hall of the Hall-Scott Motor Company. This engine was produced by Ford Motor Company, as well as the Buick and Cadillac Divisions of General Motors, The Lincoln Motor Company (which was formed by Henry Leland, the former manager of Cadillac, specifically to manufacture these aircraft engines), Marmon Motor Car Company and Packard. Hall-Scott was too small to produce engines in the numbers required.
The DH-4B had a maximum speed of 128 miles per hour (206 kilometers per hour), service ceiling of 19,600 feet (5,974 meters) and range of 400 miles (644 kilometers)."



Background on Lowell H. Smith {[https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=103910]}
"Lowell H. Smith was a pioneer American airman, who performed the first mid-air refueling (along with Lieutenant John P. Richter), setting an endurance record of 37 hours on De Havilland DH-4B (August 23, 1923). Smith, as a First Lieutenant, with mechanic, Leslie P. Arnold, was also aboard the "Chicago" airplane, which among two others made the first aerial circumnavigation in 1924. Smith held 16 records for military aircraft in speed, endurance and distance. Smith first became an aviator for the Mexican Army (1915), but in 1917 joined the Army Air Service as a private, shortly receiving his commission and flight wings. In 1919, he found himself able to participate in the Great Transcontinental Air Race. However, on the evening of 15 October, his aircraft was destroyed by fire when lanterns being used by mechanics ignited a wing. Smith received permission to continue the race if he could find a replacement aircraft. Prospects seemed dim until Major Carl Andrew Spaatz arrived on 17 October. It took only a little pleading before Spaatz agreed to turn over his plane to Smith. Going on to conquer wind and weather, Smith became the first West Coast flier to complete the round trip when he arrived in San Francisco on 21 October. A very early Army aviator, in 1915, he served as a pilot with the revolutionary forces of Pancho Villa in Mexico. He later set a record for remaining in air for 37 consecutive hours. In 1923 he was first pilot to take part in air-to-air refueling of an aircraft. He was a major participant in the US Army Air Service 1924 Flight Around The World, commanding the Army's Around the World Flight (6 Apr-28 Sept 1924). For these services, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal respectively. He held sixteen world records in military aircraft for speed and endurance and was awarded the Mackay Trophy in 1924 for his leadership of the World Flight. Also, after the war, he distinguished himself between 1920-21 in carrying out the work of airplane forest fire patrol throughout California, Washington and Oregon as "forestry patrol flyer". He saved the government and private forest holdings millions of dollars. In 1923, Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter performed the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane. Besides his refueling endurance records and the World Flight, he developed in the 1930s, the entire procedure for massed airborne troop landings. He piloted the first plane to participate in mass parachuting. In 1936, Smith was appointed to the War Department Board for standardizing airplane design and procurement procedures. During WWII, Smith trained heavy bombardment crews at the Davis-Monthan Field. He also commanded the base during that time. Under his guidance from February, 1942, to March, 1943, Davis-Monthan became the top training base for B-17 and B-24 crews during World War II. Smith died from injuries suffered when he fell from a horse in the Catalina Foothills, Arizona. He died on November 4, 1945 and was buried with full military honors in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery. Details of Around the World Flight: On 6 April 1924, four Douglas World Cruisers and eight crewmen set out from Seattle, Washington, to attempt the first-around-the-world airplane flight. One hundred seventy-five days later, on 28 September, three of the planes and crews became the first to circumnavigate the earth by air. Other nations were competing against the United States to make the first world flight. The Americans success was largely a result of extensive planning. The best qualified pilots and mechanics were recruited. Twenty-eight nations along the flight path cooperated. Stations were established to supply the thousands of gallons of gasoline and oil necessary to make the trip. Named after four major American cities: Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and New Orleans, the airplanes could operate from land or water and were equipped with the latest navigational aids. Even so, fog, blizzards, thunderstorms and sand storms took a toll. The "Boston" was forced to land at sea, subsequently sank and had to be replaced by a backup plane. Later, while flying in dense fog, the "Seattle" crashed on an Alaskan mountainside and was not replaced. No serious injuries resulted from either accident so the six crewmen continued on and made history in the "Boston II," "Chicago," and "New Orleans." The trip had totalled 175 days, covering 44 360 km (27,553 miles), with stops in 61 cities, the total flying time being 371 hours, 11 minutes. Crews for this flight: The First Transworld Flight, 1924 Aircraft: "CHICAGO" 1st Lt. Lowell H. Smith, Pilot 1st Lt. Leslie P. Arnold, MechanicST. Aircraft: "BOSTON" 1st Lt. Leigh Wade, Pilot Sgt. Henry H. Odgen, Mechanic Aircraft: "NEW ORLEANS" 1st Lt. Erik H. Nelson, Pilot 2nd Lt. John Harding, Jr. Mechanic"
FYI Col Carl Whicker Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj Marty Hogan SMSgt Lawrence McCarter MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC (Join to see) LTC Wayne Brandon TSgt Joe C. Maj Robert Carson SFC William Farrell SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL MSG Andrew White MSgt David Hoffman SPC Woody Bullard SPC Nancy Greene PVT Mark Zehner

SGT (Join to see): To Our Dearest David, we thank thee; beyond compare; for your/thy history post.