Soloing at age 16, Bohannon has since become an aviation legend. From 1999 to 2005, he set 30 records in “The Exxon Flyin’ Tiger” – one of the fastest climbing piston-engine aircraft – and with a total of 35 World Performance Records, is the only pilot ever awarded the prestigious “Louis Bleriot Medal” three years in a row. Bohannon is currently owner and operator of the Flyin’ Tiger Flying School in Angleton, Texas, and continues to inspire pilots of all ages.

On August 9, 2018, ExxonMobil announced that Mobil Jet™ Oil 387, a synthetic High Performance Capability turbine engine oil, had been approved by GE Aviation for use in its CF6 engines, which includes the CF6-6, CF6-50, CF6-80E and CF6-80C2 commercial as well as L1F and K1F military variants. CF6 engines are used to power a number of popular wide-body aircraft, including the Boeing 747 and 767, Airbus A300, A310, and A330, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, DC-10, as well as Air Force One.

The Port Allen Aviation Plant produces the entire line of Mobil Jet™ aviation lubricants – helping to meet rising demand for high-performance synthetic aviation lubricants. The facility utilizes the latest blending and packaging equipment in conjunction with a range of sustainable features to increase electrical energy efficiency.

July 26, 2016, Solar Impulse 2 landed in Abu Dhabi to eager crowds and cameras. After 14 months of travel and 550 hours in the air, the plane had accomplished what many had deemed impossible: traveling 25,000 miles around the world—over four continents, two oceans and three seas—without a drop of liquid fuel.

After a decade in the making, ExxonMobil in 2012 announced a game-changing new product: Mobil Jet™ Oil 387. The next year, this groundbreaking High Performance Capability (HPC) turbine oil made its first commercial flight aboard a Boeing 747-8, which was powered by GEnx engines. The product is known for its thermal stability and low coking while still being very benign to seals.

In the 2000s, testing began on commercial planes that would redefine the industry by flying more efficiently. To reduce fuel consumption, these aircraft featured lighter composite materials in place of aluminum alloys and modified engine designs. In some cases, the new designs led to higher engine temperatures that subjected lubricants to higher stress than ever before. In 2006, Airbus chose ExxonMobil Aviation jet fuel for every Airbus A380 test flight. When the A380 made its first commercial flight on October 25, 2007, for Singapore Airlines, Mobil Jet™ Oil II and Exxon HyJet™ hydraulic fluid were on board.

NASA chose Mobil Jet™ Oil II to lubricate the space shuttle Columbia when it launched for its first mission on April 12, 1981, the first flight of the Space Shuttle program. On the Columbia’s first flight, Mobil Jet Oil II lubricated seven separate auxiliary power units, four in the booster rockets that carried the shuttle into space and three within the orbiter itself. The auxiliary power systems controlled steering and landing operations. The shuttle orbited the earth 36 times before safely returning to Edwards Air Force Base.

On December 23, 1986, Voyager completed the first nonstop, non-refueled flight around the world. Constructed almost entirely of lightweight graphite-honeycomb composite materials and laden with fuel, Voyager began its historic flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California on December 14. Mobil was a key sponsor for the flight and did much to promote it. The company also provided a new type of synthetic aviation oil formulated to help enable optimal engine performance—a critical capability on such a long flight without refuelling—and also provide long-lasting protection, another vital factor on a nonstop flight around the world.

NASA chose Mobil Jet™ Oil II to lubricate the space shuttle Columbia when it launched for its first mission on April 12, 1981, the first flight of the Space Shuttle program. On the Columbia’s first flight, Mobil Jet Oil II lubricated seven separate auxiliary power units, four in the booster rockets that carried the shuttle into space and three within the orbiter itself. The auxiliary power systems controlled steering and landing operations. The shuttle orbited the earth 36 times before safely returning to Edwards Air Force Base.

By the 1960s, testing had begun on what was called SST—supersonic transport. France and England partnered to develop the Concorde, which began service between Europe and the United States. Mobil Jet™ Oil II was used in the Concorde’s test flights in the late 1960s. The aircraft also used legacy Exxon M2V hydraulic fluid to operate critical movements of the iconic droop nose during flights.

On February 9, 1969, the Boeing 747--one of the most famous commercial aircraft of all time---had its first test flight, and Boeing chose our Mobil Jet Oil II to ensure smooth operation. By the end of that year, the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the 747 for commercial use, and Pan Am took delivery of its first 747 on Jan. 15, 1970. It took more than 50,000 Boeing employees less than 16 months to build the first 747. The company assembled 1,573 more before discontinuing the aircraft’s production in 2022.

The first advanced gasoline turbine aircraft engine oil to dramatically reduce engine overhaul intervals, Mobil Jet Oil II was the exclusive oil used by Pan American Airways. Its powder-blue can with the sans serif letters – one of the most recognizable brand packages in the industry – was created after a marketing writer spent $2.35 on colored paper, paste and lettering.

On October 26, 1958, 111 passengers boarded the Pan Am Clipper America for its first transatlantic flight, just 10 days after Boeing had delivered the 707 to New York’s Idlewild Airport (now JFK). Headed to Paris, the Pan American World Airways flight, using Mobil aviation fuel, left an indelible mark on commercial air travel and aviation history. The Boeing 707—140 feet long with a 130-foot wingspan—featured four Pratt & Whitney JT3C-6 turbojet engines. Unlike its competitors, whose engines were embedded in the wings, the 707’s engine pods hung beneath the wings, using pylons to guide airflow over the wing on a straight path. The 707’s airspeed at the time was nearly 600 miles per hour, about 200 mph faster than its competitors. That meant the aircraft could make the journey from NY to Paris in just over 6 hours, compared to the roughly 9 hours it took other passenger aircraft.

On July 17, 1938, pilot Douglas Corrigan took off from Floyd Bennett airfield in Brooklyn, New York, in his modified Curtis Robin monoplane powered by Mobiloil fuel. Although his final destination was California, Corrigan ultimately landed in Dublin, Ireland — over 3,000 miles east of his target — the following day. The aviator claimed cloudy conditions made it difficult for him to navigate, resulting in his landing on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean instead of on the US West Coast. Media quickly dubbed him "Wrong Way” Corrigan, but some speculated Corrigan flew to Europe on purpose.

On July 22, 1933, renowned aviator Wiley Post finished an around-the-world solo flight in seven days, 18 hours and 49 minutes — beating his previous record of eight days. Mobiloil, the predecessor to Mobil 1 motor oil, manufactured the lubricants used in Post's airplane, the Lockheed 5C Vega Winnie Mae. The 15,596-mile flight, which both started and ended at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, was groundbreaking for various reasons. For instance, it employed a new autopilot system that helped keep the plane on course and a new radio detection device that allowed Post to navigate toward radio transmitters while flying. Upon landing in New York, Post was welcomed with a ticker tape parade.

Australian Captain Sir Hubert Wilkins, a renowned polar explorer, aviator, scientist, and photographer, made a historic flight across Antarctica in 1928, with help from Gargoyle Mobiloil B, a brand of engine oil made by Vacuum Oil, a legacy ExxonMobil company. On December 20 of that year, Wilkins and explorer-ethnologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson flew some 600 miles south from Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands and across Graham Land, in the process discovering several new islands. The pilots trusted Gargoyle Mobiloil B engine oil for their flight above miles of barren, craggy ice and mountainous land.

Bn June 18, 1928 – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She did so as a passenger aboard the Fokker F.VII “Friendship” tri-motor aircraft, which was protected by Mobiloil lubricants from ExxonMobil predecessor Vacuum Oil Company. Wilmer Stultz piloted the aircraft, with Louis Gordon as his co-pilot and mechanic. The trio landed near Burry Port, South Wales, after a nearly 21-hour flight. Just a few years later–in May 1932–Earhart would make her historic solo flight across the Atlantic in her red Lockheed Vega 5B aircraft. Earhart left Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, Canada, and landed 15 hours later near Londonderry, Northern Ireland. (Photo credit: 99s Museum of Women Pilots)

On May 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh made history as the first person to complete a solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in his Spirit of St. Louis, leaving Long Island, New York and touching down in Paris, France 33 hours later. Famously, Lindbergh reported that he was unable to sleep the night before he left, and at one point claims to have paused his trip to circle a fishing ship and ask the people aboard for directions, shouting “which way is Ireland?” During the trip, he relied on Mobiloil, having been recommended it due to its reliability in harsh conditions.

On November 19, 1916, aviator Ruth Law flew an unprecedented 590 miles nonstop from Chicago to New York state, breaking the existing cross-America flight air speed record of 452 miles (previously set by aviator Victor Carlstrom). At the time, President Woodrow Wilson attended a dinner celebrating Law’s achievement. Following the flight, Law wrote to Vacuum Oil, a legacy ExxonMobil company, “Although offered free oil from many concerns, I prefer to buy and pay for Gargoyle Mobiloil. I have yet to find an oil that has the body and durability of Gargoyle Mobiloil A.”

On December 18, 1910, seven years and one day after the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight — Sir Thomas Sopwith won the £4000 Baron de Forest Prize for the longest flight from England to the Continent in a British-built airplane, flying 169 miles in 3 hours 40 minutes. Mobiloil A played an important role in this event. Sopwith later wrote to the Vacuum Oil Company (a legacy ExxonMobil company), “I used your Mobiloil A…during my record flight across the channel…and my engine ran perfectly throughout.”

On May 29, 1910, pioneer aviator Glenn Curtiss flew from Albany to New York City to make the first long-distance flight between two major cities in the U.S. For this 137-mile (220 km) flight, which he completed in just under 4 hours including one stop to refuel. Curtiss wrote to Vacuum Oil Company executives a week after completing the flight, telling them: “I am pleased to report the success we have met with in the use of Mobiloil in lubricating the engines of our aeroplanes and to say that it maintained its reputation in my Albany-New York flight.” A renowned aircraft and engine designer, Curtiss would go on to be a leading innovator throughout the early decades in the field of aviation.

December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers took their historic first flight using fuel from Jersey Standard (a legacy ExxonMobil company) and Mobiloil branded lubricants. Four years of research and development went into creating the first successful powered airplane -- the 1903 Wright Flyer -- which Wilbur and Orville first flew out of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. ExxonMobil is honored to have been a part of this historic event.