Friendship One was a successful attempt at beating the round-the-world air speed record.

The flight was conducted from January 29 to January 30, 1988. It was operated by a Boeing 747SP

Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...

 owned by United Airlines, N147UA. A charitable foundation, the Friendship Foundation, was established and all money went to children's charities. A ticket on the flight cost $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

5,000, and in total the flight raised more than $500,000 for children. A total of 141 passengers were on board, including Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....

 and Bill Lear

Bill Lear

William Powell Lear was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding the Lear Jet Corporation, a manufacturer of business jets...

's widow, Moya

Moya Lear

Moya Marie Olsen Lear was an American businesswoman and the wife of aviation pioneer Bill Lear. Her father was vaudeville genius John "Ole" Olsen, whose Depression-era show Hellzapoppin was the longest running Broadway hit in history.Her mother was Lillian, a strong and practical woman...

.

The old speed record of 45 hours, 25 minutes, and 55 seconds was set by a Gulfstream III business jet, and Friendship One captain Clay Lacy

Clay Lacy

Clay Lacy is the founder and chief executive officer of Clay Lacy Aviation, established in 1968 as the first executive jet charter company in the Western United States...

 hoped to beat that by at least 6 hours. The flight followed a 23,125-mile route from Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 to Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Taipei

Taipei

Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

, and back to Seattle. It completed the trip in just 36 hours, 54 minutes, 15 seconds. Unfortunately, it was beaten less than a month later by a Gulfstream IV

Gulfstream IV

The Gulfstream IV and derivatives are a family of twin-jet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. The aircraft was designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States from 1985 until 2003.-Design and development:Gulfstream, in...

, which clocked 36 hours, 8 minutes. The Friendship One flight was sponsored by United Airlines

United Airlines

United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...

, Boeing

Boeing

The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

, Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...

, Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

, and Olympic Airlines

Olympic Airlines

Olympic Airlines was the flag carrier airline of Greece, with its head office in Athens. It operated services to 37 domestic destinations and to 32 destinations world-wide. Its main base was at Athens International Airport, with hubs at Thessaloniki International Airport, "Macedonia" and Rhodes...

.