Fly First & Fight Afterward: The Life Of Col. Clarence D. Chamberlin

In Fly First and Fight Afterward: The Life of Col. Clarence D. Chamberlin, director Billy Tooma tells the story of a man for whom defeat was a non-existent word.

While many remember Col. Clarence as the man who made it big by traversing nearly 4,000 miles across two continents in a non-stop flight, yet few know the story behind this daring endeavor, and all that went on during that one flight that shot Clarence to fame. Before taking the historic flight, Clarence was just another regular American, who had returned back home after his service in the army, and now ran an auto-repair company. However, his life was about to undergo a shocking transformation, when he registered himself for the Orteig prize in 1927, to win which he had to man a direct flight from Paris to New York, or the other way round. Even though he lost that contest after he was accused of breaching a contract, which later turned out to be a mistaken accusation, it marked the beginning of a journey that was to redefine the young man’s life, and etch his name in the world’s history forever. His first defeat motivated him to silence all his critics, and he decided to set a new record on the flight to Berlin.

In what seemed as an impossible task, Clarence, on his Bellance motor plane, with no knowledge of navigation, fearlessly embarked on his nonstop transatlantic flight, all the way from Long Island to Berlin, on June 4, 1927. With the whole world’s eyes set on him, he finished his mission 42 hours and 31 minutes later, as he landed at Eisleben, Germany.  Unfortunately, he ran short of fuel when he was just 43 miles away from Berlin, due to which he had to end his flight a little short of his destination.