Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight

Sleek, aerodynamic and almost 80% faster than its closest competition in the 20s, the Vega could travel up to 2,500 miles without refueling if its cabin was modified to carry extra tanks, 1,000 miles with paying passengers aboard. Nearly every notable pilot of the day flew the Vega, using the theretofore unprecedented combination of speed and range to set record after record.

Today, the Vega that Amelia Aerhart flew across the Atlantic and across the U.S. sits in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. She flew with then-new instruments sustantially more reliable than others available at the time, but without any forward view of the horizon in level flight. The 450 horsepower radial engine occupied too much space for that, but the Vega was still carried more than one famous pilot to benchmark achievements in aviation.