By the end of WW II, heavy research into aviation technology gave America unquestionably the most powerful air force in the world. The marquee bomber of the early postwar period was the B-50 Superfortress, an advanced design featuring the latest lightweight metal alloys, along with a pressurized cabin and electronic gun control. Its powerful engines gave it three times the speed of the most widely-used wartime bomber, the B-17 Flying Fortress.

On this day, March 2, in 1949, in a simultaneous test and demonstration of the plane’s capabilities, a B-50 Superfortress completed the world’s first non-stop around-the-world flight. It was the last hurrah for the last bomber of the propeller age.

The B-50 flew at a cruising speed of 250 mph, and required four in-air refuels. Altogether the flight took 94 hours and 1 minute. It was then relegated to support-craft status to its successor, the turbine-powered B-52. An around-the world flight of a B-52, refueled by several B-50s, halved the time record, clocking in at 45 hours and 19 minutes.