Conrad was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for heroism for flying his Piper aircraft in 50-60 mph winds during and after the 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard to locate and help rescue stranded duck hunters throughout the Mississippi River backwaters near Winona.
Over several flights, Conrad dropped tins with whiskey, sandwiches, cigarettes, and matches to marooned survivors struggling to survive in temperatures below 10 degrees.
After learning how to fly and becoming Minnesota's youngest commercially certificated pilot at the age of 19, Donahue worked for Conrad helping to run the flight school until he left to join the Royal Air Force.
With interior seats replaced by fuel tanks, the aircraft was loaded 2,000 lb (910 kg) over its production gross weight limit when Conrad took off from Casablanca.
A few months later, on November 24, 1959, Conrad set the record (that still stands) for the 1000–1750 kg weight class, flying from Casablanca to El Paso, Texas, in the same aircraft fitted with a smaller engine, with a flight time of 56 hours.
He made stops in Long Beach, California, Honolulu, Wake Island, Guam, Manila, Singapore, Bombay, Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar, Amapa, Brazil, Atkinson Field (British Guiana), Port of Spain (Trinidad), and crossed the equator twice.
At the same time, an unauthorized attempt was announced by Woodrow Wilson Sayre, who was planning to fly in a Piper Apache piloted by Conrad with four companions into the Sentinel Range to climb the Vinson Massif.
Conrad had difficulties with his plane, and according to press reports at the time, he and Sayre were still in Buenos Aires on the day the first four members of authorized team reached Vinson's summit.