Largest flying boat formation to cross the Atlantic

On 1 July 1933, the Italian General Italo Balbo commanded a formation flight of 24 Savoia Marchetti S.55X flying boats that flew from Europe to the USA. It was the largest such formation to cross the Atlantic. Flying from Orbetello, Tuscany, Italy, and organized in eight flights, each of three aircraft, and maintaining a V-formation, the aircraft routed over the Alps, and then in stages via Iceland, Greenland and Labrador to Lake Michigan, Chicago, USA, arriving in the evening of 15 July after a 9,200-kilometre (5,750-mile) flight and accumulating over 48 hours of flying time.