 On June 15, 1927, Maitland and Hegenberger took the chosen airplane, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2 transport plane nicknamed the "Bird of Paradise", and a team of aeronautical engineers cross country to check fuel consumption and the reliability of the aircraft and its navigational instruments.On June 24, while in San Diego, California, the results of the tests were reported to Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis and he approved the flight to Hawaii.The next day they flew to Crissy Field, at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.