# The Spirit of Butts' Farm
**The Spirit of Butts' Farm** (also designated TAM-5, for Transatlantic Model No. 5) was a radio-controlled model airplane that on 11 August 2003 became the first model aircraft to cross the [Atlantic Ocean](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-ocean), flying from [Cape Spear](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-spear), Newfoundland, Canada, to Mannin Beach near Clifden, Ireland, in 38 hours, 52 minutes, and 19 seconds[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/63083-longest-time-flying-a-model-aircraft).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Record flight | 9 to 11 August 2003, Cape Spear, Newfoundland to Mannin Beach, Ireland; duration 38 hr 52 min 19 sec[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/63083-longest-time-flying-a-model-aircraft) |
| Distance | Official claimed distance 1,881.6 miles; FAI straight-line record 3,030 km[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) • [3](https://www-2025.fai.org/records?f%5B0%5D=field_country%3AUS&f%5B1%5D=field_zone%253Aname%3AWorld&f%5B2%5D=field_group%3A185&order=field_subclass&sort=asc) |
| Designer | Maynard Hill, a retired metallurgist then aged 77, of Silver Spring, Maryland[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2003/08/14/news/5f036e11-9b0f-4fc4-b0d2-f2cfaa4a5c23/) |
| Airframe | Mostly balsa wood with plastic film (Mylar/MonoKote) covering; wingspan 1.82 m (6 ft), length 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/63083-longest-time-flying-a-model-aircraft) • [2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) |
| Weight | Dry weight 6 pounds (2.7 kg) by the builder's account; fueled weight a quarter ounce under the 11 lb (5 kg) model-aircraft limit[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) |
| Engine | 10 cc (0.61 cu in) O.S. four-stroke burning Coleman lantern fuel, turning a 14-inch wooden propeller at about 3,900 rpm[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) • [5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf) |
| Fuel margin | 99.2% of the fuel load consumed; about 1.5 ounces (44 ml) remained at landing[5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf) |
## The record flight
Joe Foster piloted the takeoff and ascent; once the model was over the horizon it switched to autopilot, leaving satellite guidance, tailwinds, and its fuel load to carry it to Europe[6](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/clifden-welcomes-a-new-role-model-in-the-history-of-flying-1.369381). It cruised at roughly 1,000 ft (300 m) altitude at an average ground speed of 48 mph (77 km/h) with a tailwind[5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf).
The landing nearly outran the fuel. The plane carried enough fuel for about 37 hours, but had been airborne 38.5 hours when it appeared over the horizon; landing pilot [Dave Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-brown) took over manual control and brought it down in one piece, and his wife Sally delivered live commentary by satellite phone to Hill in Newfoundland[6](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/clifden-welcomes-a-new-role-model-in-the-history-of-flying-1.369381). The flight consumed 99.2% of its fuel, leaving about 1.5 ounces (44 ml) in the tank, a burn rate of 2.02 ounces per hour[5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf) • [2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying).
The landing site carried its own historical echo: the team had chosen a spot half a mile from where Alcock and Brown crash-landed after the first nonstop transatlantic flight in 1919, and the Irish Times noted that the bogs around Clifden had received a piece of aviation history for the second time in a century[6](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/clifden-welcomes-a-new-role-model-in-the-history-of-flying-1.369381).
## Design and equipment
Maynard Hill designed the airplane to be as simple and "low-tech" as possible, to increase reliability and reduce weight[5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf). The airframe was mostly balsa wood with a translucent red MonoKote covering, had only one aileron, no rudder, and no landing gear[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) • [5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf). By international regulation the aircraft had to weigh no more than 11 pounds to qualify as a model airplane for record purposes; the fueled TAM-5 came in a quarter ounce under that limit[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying). [Guinness World Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/guinness-world-records) lists the unfueled weight as 1.3 kg (3 lb), while Hill's own account gives a dry weight of 6 pounds (2.7 kg)[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/63083-longest-time-flying-a-model-aircraft) • [2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying).
**Fuel economy was the central engineering problem.** The unmodified O.S. four-stroke engine would have burned 18 to 20 times the fuel the flight could carry, so Hill modified the engine with smaller valves and fitted a carburetor from a small O.S. 0.10 two-stroke engine, mounted remotely inside the fuselage and connected by tubing in which the fuel droplets fully vaporized; fuel filtration went down to 1 micron[7](https://fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/ciam-flyer_2-17.pdf) • [2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying). The fuel was Coleman stove fuel with 16 ounces of Indopol L-50 lubricant per gallon[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying).
The custom autopilot, its harness, piezoelectric gyro, pressure sensor, and GPS receiver together weighed about 8 ounces (roughly 250 g)[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) • [7](https://fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/ciam-flyer_2-17.pdf). Electrical power came from a brushless motor core used as an alternator, and the C&H Electronics capacitive-discharge [ignition system](https://www.edgepedia.org/ignition-system) fired successfully about 8.5 million times over the flight[2](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying) • [7](https://fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/ciam-flyer_2-17.pdf).
## The team and the five attempts
The project was led by Maynard Hill (1926–2011), a retired metallurgist who had worked on remotely piloted vehicles for the US military and had set 25 model-aircraft world records for speed, duration, and altitude beginning in the 1960s; he was inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1977[8](https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/article/document/en_press-release_6sept1970-hill-aeromodelling-record.pdf). A group of retired engineers and computer scientists provided technical support, and the Society for Technical Aeromodel Research was organized to help fund the project[7](https://fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/ciam-flyer_2-17.pdf).
The Spirit of Butts' Farm was the fifth transatlantic attempt. Four previous TAM airplanes crashed into the ocean due to mechanical or weather-related problems: TAM 1 fell into the sea shortly after takeoff in August 2002, TAM 2 fared little better, TAM 3 flew 479 miles before being lost in a rainstorm, and TAM 4 lost contact after 430 miles[5](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf) • [7](https://fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/ciam-flyer_2-17.pdf).
## Name and legacy
The name honors R. Beecher Butts, an aviation enthusiast near Damascus, Maryland, whose farm the team used for flight testing during the winter and spring of 1999–2000; Hill suggested the name out of admiration for Butts and to lift the team's spirits after early crashes. The name also echoes the [Spirit of St. Louis](https://www.edgepedia.org/spirit-of-st-louis), [Charles Lindbergh](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-lindbergh)'s transatlantic aircraft[9](https://old.fai.org/download/RECS/2430-4.pdf).
The aircraft itself hangs in the National Model Aviation Museum in Indiana, and a backup plane from the transatlantic effort is in the collection of the [National Air and Space Museum](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-air-and-space-museum)[10](https://www.modelaviation.com/legendary-life). The FAI record list now shows the straight-line distance of 3,030 km set on 11 August 2003 as ratified, reclassified after changes in the sporting code[3](https://www-2025.fai.org/records?f%5B0%5D=field_country%3AUS&f%5B1%5D=field_zone%253Aname%3AWorld&f%5B2%5D=field_group%3A185&order=field_subclass&sort=asc). Hill died of cancer on 7 June 2011 at the age of 85[8](https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/article/document/en_press-release_6sept1970-hill-aeromodelling-record.pdf).
## References
1. [Longest time flying a model aircraft, Guinness World Records](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/63083-longest-time-flying-a-model-aircraft)
2. [Two Sunsets & Still Flying, Model Aviation (Maynard Hill, January 2004)](https://www.modelaviation.com/Two-Sunsets-Still-Flying)
3. [FAI Records, Aeromodelling F8 Open, Distance in a straight line](https://www-2025.fai.org/records?f%5B0%5D=field_country%3AUS&f%5B1%5D=field_zone%253Aname%3AWorld&f%5B2%5D=field_group%3A185&order=field_subclass&sort=asc)
4. [Model Flight: 1,888 Miles, The Washington Post (13 August 2003)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2003/08/14/news/5f036e11-9b0f-4fc4-b0d2-f2cfaa4a5c23/)
5. [Introduction to Aerospace Engineering with a Flight Test Perspective](https://repo.poltekbangsby.ac.id/id/eprint/668/1/11.%20Introduction%20to%20Aerospace%20Engineering%20with%20a%20Flight%20Test%20Perspective%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29.pdf)
6. [Clifden welcomes a new role model in the history of flying, The Irish Times (13 August 2003)](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/clifden-welcomes-a-new-role-model-in-the-history-of-flying-1.369381)
7. [CIAM Flyer 2-2017: Small-Scale Lindbergh 2003, Maynard Hill's transatlantic flight, FAI](https://fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/ciam-flyer_2-17.pdf)
8. [FAI press release: Maynard Hill, a model-airplane history maker](https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/article/document/en_press-release_6sept1970-hill-aeromodelling-record.pdf)
9. [The AMA History Program Presents: Autobiography of Maynard L. Hill, FAI record document](https://old.fai.org/download/RECS/2430-4.pdf)
10. [A legendary life, Model Aviation (July 2016)](https://www.modelaviation.com/legendary-life)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Aviation › Aviation history, people, and culture › Flight simulation and model aviation › Aeromodelling competition › Aeromodelling records*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license