From June 11th to July 4th, 1930, four brothers, Albert, John, Kenneth “Beans” and Walter Hunter broke a world record for an endurance flight by keeping their Stinson SM-1 Detroiter “City of Chicago” aloft in the air for 553 hours 41 minutes and 30 seconds. And naturally as soon as their flight passed the 420 hours set by the previous attempt, the newsreelers set up camp at the former Sky Harbor airport at Northbrook, Illinois, that was located just north of Chicago.

There were no relief crews for the Sky Harbor inhabitants. For 133 hours, they had to stay put: eating, sleeping, amusing themselves and waiting for the four brothers to land.

One of the newsreel photogs who was there wrote about that story:

It seems that these endurance flyers are causing other endurance contests that we never read about. For instance, out at Sky Harbor, Illinois, a couple of young aviators decided to break the world’s record for staying in the air. Well you have all read about them being in the air, but I don’t think anyone has any idea of how the news cameramen have been “in the air” on the ground. The minute the 420 hours record had been passed, all the news men started for Sky Harbor and were there for twenty-four hours each day “in the air” you should have heard them when they called in for clean shirts, smokes, bedding, etc.

Sleeping right on the job, as they never knew when this “City of Chicago” was going to descend. Well it finally came down after breaking the world’s record by 133 hours, making a total of 553 hours in the air for the aviators and 133 hours “in the air” for all the news men. When that plane came down, it was a sight; cameraman with long beards, some in pajamas, some with half of their faces lathered and all trying to get the first close ups. Norman Alley claims that had these flyers stayed up much longer he was going to buy a house near Sky Harbor and move his family out with him. He feared being away so long, his family might mistake him for a stranger and fill him full of lead if he tried to enter their home.

Fred Felbinger also wrote his reminisces of that story (note: Jack Barnett was only 24 when he went dancing in his skivvies on the runway if that explains anything).

Well, I’m sure glad that endurance flight record has ended. Most all the star celluloid historians of 666 were there. The newspapers forgot to mention the endurance contest between flyers and the movie men waiting for ‘em to land and, what’s more, the movie boys again won the contest, for they were still up when the flyers came down. A lot of 666 boys are still dashing about sleepy-eyed, trying to make up some of the missing winks they lost out at Sky Harbor.

As soon as the endurance ship City of Chicago approached a new record, Norm Alley moved Eddie Morrison and Phil Gleason out to the field. Charlie David dragged the body out in person and brought Jack Barnett along for company. The Pathe truck rumbled up. carrying our friend Rufus Pasquale, Wallie Hotz and Tony Caputo. Orlando Lippert, of Paramount, dashed in wearing riding breeches and boots, so Eddie Morrison set out to see where Lip left his horse.

After the first two or three nights the boys mastered the knack of getting some winks stretched out on canvas on the hard ground and on cushions from the cars. All except Charlie David; it seems that ever since Charlie mixed with them hombres out on the coast he wants to put on the Ritz, so Charlie moved his own tent out to the field, which he refused to share with anybody.

Well, one night after retiring the tent came down on Charlie, and he is still trying to find out to this day who done it. So far he ain’t been successful. As we report all the news in this here column, we are sorry, but we now gotta tell the secret as to who done it. Honest, we can’t tell a lie; it was Jack Barnett and Phil Gleason.

About one thousand spectators who hung around the field every night to keep the newsmen from sleeping got an awful shock to see Rufus Pasquale wear his heavies in the hot summer weather. It all came about when Rufus, Jack Barnett and Phil Gleason trotted out wearing nothing but their underwear to do a spring dance for the crowd. They were showered with pennies to play a return engagement, but you know how modest them boys is, so they had to be coaxed out for the curtain call.