The Flying Irishman

See the "inside story" of his flight in this exciting drama of life!

The Flying Irishman — Plot

This is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan starred in this film, which chronicled his infamous flight. On July 17, 1938, Mr. Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline (40 hours worth) into the tiny, single engine plane. While expressing his intent to fly west to Long Beach, CA, Mr. Corrigan flew out of Floyd Bennett Field heading east over the Atlantic. Instrumentation in the plane included two compasses (both malfunctioned) and a turn-and-bank indicator. The cabin door was held shut with baling wire. Nearly 29 hours later, he landed in Baldonnel near Dublin. He forever claimed to be surprised at arriving in Ireland rather than California. He returned to the US as a hero, with a ticker tape parade in New York and received numerous medals and awards.

• Release date
• April 7, 1939
• Runtime
• 71 min
• Genres
• Drama
• Director
• Leigh Jason

The Flying Irishman — Cast

Douglas Corrigan Douglas Corrigan Eddie Quillan Henry Corrigan Paul Kelly Butch Brannen Robert Armstrong Joe Alden Gene Reynolds Young Douglas Corrigan Minor Watson Airport Personnel Manager Dorothy Peterson Ma Corrigan Scotty Beckett Young Henry Corrigan