Mackay Trophy

The Mackay Trophy is awarded yearly by the National Aeronautic Association for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization. The trophy is housed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The award is administered by the NAA in cooperation with the U.S.A.F..
The award was established on 27 January 1911 by Clarence Mackay, who was then head of the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company and the Commercial Cable Company. Before the establishment of the Air Force in the 1940s, aviators could compete for the trophy annually under rules made each year or the War Department could award the trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year.

Awardees

The following is a list of awardees:

1910s

1920s

Year	Awardee	Action
1920	Captain St. Clair Streett First Lieutenant Clifford C. Nutt Second Lieutenant Erik H. Nelson Second Lieutenant C. H. Crumrine Second Lieutenant Ross C. Kirkpatrick Sergeant Edmond Henriques Sergeant Albert T. Vierra Sergeant Joe E. English	For a flight from Mitchel Field, New York to Nome, Alaska and back.
1921	Lieutenant John Arthur Macready	World altitude record.
1922	Lieutenant John Arthur Macready Lieutenant Oakley George Kelly	World duration record.
1923	Lieutenant John Arthur Macready Lieutenant Oakley George Kelly	Non-stop transcontinental flight.
1924	Captain Lowell Herbert Smith First Lieutenant Leslie P. Arnold Second Lieutenant John Harding Jr. First Lieutenant Leigh Wade First Lieutenant Erik H. Nelson Second Lieutenant Henry H. Ogden	First round-the-world flight.
1925	Lieutenant James H. Doolittle Lieutenant Cyrus K. Bettis	For winning the Schneider and Pulitzer Races.
1926	Major Herbert A. Dargue Captain Ira Clarence Eaker Captain Arthur B. McDaniel Captain C. F. Woolsey First Lieutenant J. W. Benton First Lieutenant Charles McK Robinson First Lieutenant Muir Stephen Fairchild First Lieutenant Bernard S. Thompson First Lieutenant Leonard D. Weddingon First Lieutenant Ennis Whitehead	Pan-American Good Will Flyers.
1927	Lieutenant Albert Francis Hegenberger Lieutenant Lester James Maitland	First transoceanic flight to Hawaii
1928	Lieutenant Harry A. Sutton	Performing spin testing of observation aircraft.
1929	Captain A. W. Steven	Long range aerial photography.

1930s

Year	Awardee	Action
1930	Major Ralph Royce	For conducting an 'Arctic Patrol' round trip flight from Selfridge Field to Spokane, Washington, in January 1930. The flight provided valuable information about equipment and personnel operating in extreme cold weather.
1931	Brigadier General Benjamin Delahauf Foulois	Commanded the 1st Air Divisions through 40,000 flying hours with no loss of life or serious injury.
1932	11th Bombardment Squadron First Lieutenant Charles H. Howard	Relief missions to snowbound Navajo and Hopi.
1933	Captain Westside T. Larson	For his pioneering flights in connection with the development of methods and procedure of Aerial Frontier Defense.
1934	Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Arnold	Commanding officer of mass flight of 10 Martin B-10s from Bolling Field to Fairbanks, Alaska, and back.
1935	Captain Albert William Stevens Captain Orvil Arson Anderson	Flew balloon to 72,395—a then-record.
1936	Captain Richard Emmel Nugent First Lieutenant Joseph A. Miller First Lieutenant Edwin G. Simenson Second Lieutenant William P. Ragsdale, Jr. Second Lieutenant Burton W. Armstrong Second Lieutenant Herbert Morgan, Jr. Tech Sergeant Gilbert W. Olson Staff Sergeant Howard M. Miller Corporal Air Mechanic 2/c Frank B. Connor	For demonstration of expert instrument flying and navigation, and the will to overcome obstacles to accomplish their mission under exceptionally adverse weather conditions during a flight of three B-10 s from Langley Field to Allegan, Michigan.
1937	Captain Carl J. Crane Captain George Vernon Holloman	For successful development and demonstration of an automatic landing system.
1938	2d Bombardment Group Lieutenant Colonel Robert Olds	For good will flight to Buenos Aires and return.
1939	Major Caleb Vance Haynes Major William D. Old Captain John Alexander Samford First Lieutenant Richard S. Freeman First Lieutenant Torgils G. Wold Tech Sergeant William J. Heldt Tech Sergeant Henry L. Hines Tech Sergeant David L. Spicer Staff Sergeant Russell E. Junior Staff Sergeant James E. Sands Master Sergeant Adolph Cattarius	For flight of Boeing XB-15 from Langley Field to Chile on relief mission after 1939 Chillán earthquake.

1940s

Year	Awardee	Action
1940		Not Awarded
1941		Not Awarded
1942		Not Awarded
1943		Not Awarded
1944		Not Awarded
1945		Not Awarded
1946		Not Awarded
1947	Captain Chuck Yeager	First to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.
1948	Lieutenant Colonel Emil Beadury	For the rescue of twelve marooned airmen from the Greenland ice sheet
1949	Crew of Lucky Lady II Captain James G. Gallagher	First non-stop aerial round-the-world flight.

1950s

Year	Awardee	Action
1950	27th Fighter Wing	For moving 180 fighter jets across the Atlantic Ocean.
1951	Colonel Fred Ascani	For breaking the world speed record at 635.686 mph at the National Air Races.
1952	Major Louis H. Carrington, Jr. Major Frederick W. Shook Captain Wallace D. Yancey	First non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean in a multi-engine jet bomber; a B-45 Tornado.
1953	40th Air Division	For flying 25 F-84 Thunderjets non-stop from the United States to the United Kingdom and North Africa under adverse conditions.
1954	308th Bombardment Wing	For successfully completing a leap from intercontinental maneuver, a milestone in expanding and proving the combined operational capabilities of the B-47 Stratojet and in determining fatigue limits of combat crews.
1955	Colonel Horace A. Hanes	Breaking the flight airspeed record at 822.1 mph in an F-100 Super Sabre at the National Air Show.
1956	Captain Iven C. Kincheloe	Breaking the flight altitude record in a Bell X-2.
1957	93d Bombardment Wing	For non-stop circumnavigation of the globe by three B-52 Stratofortresses.
1958	Tactical Air Command's Air Strike Force, X-Ray Tango	For its rapid and effective deployment to the troubled Far East during the fall of 1958.
1959	U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds	For goodwill tour of the Far East.

1960s

Year	Awardee	Action
1960	6593d Test Squadron	For its first aerial recovery of an object from space orbit.
1961	Lieutenant Colonel William R. Payne Major William L. Polthemus Major Raymond R. Wagener	For their nonstop flight from Carswell Air Force Base to Paris, which culminated in the establishment of two international speed records.
1962	Major Robert G. Sowers Captain Robert MacDonald Captain John T. Walton	For flight as members of a B-58 Hustler crew which established three transcontinental speed records.
1963	Crew of C-47 "Extol Pink" Captain Warren P. Tomsett Captain John R. Ordemann Captain Donald R. Mack Tech Sergeant Edson P. Inlow Staff Sergeant Jack E. Morgan Staff Sergeant Frank C. Barrett	For the evacuation of wounded troops in Vietnam at night under enemy fire with a C-47 Skytrain.
1964	464th Troop Carrier Wing	For its participation in the humanitarian airlift of some 1,500 hostages and refugees from rebel held territory in the Republic of the Congo during November 1964.
1965	Colonel Robert L. Stephens Lieutnenat Colonel Daniel Andre Lieutenant Colonel Walter F. Daniel Major Noel T. Warner Major James P. Cooney	For flight in the Lockheed YF-12, which culminated in the establishment of nine new world speed and altitude records.
1966	Lieutenant Colonel Albert R. Howarth	For his exemplary courage and airmanship as a pilot in a combat strike mission in Southeast Asia under hazardous conditions of darkness and intense enemy fire.
1967	Major John H. Casteel Captain Dean L. Hoar Captain Richard L. Trail Master Sergeant Nathan C. Campbell	For performing the first multiple aerial refueling between a KC-135 Stratotanker and an A-3 Skywarrior which simultaneously refueled an F-8 Crusader under emergency fuel shortages and combat condition.
1968	Lieutenant Colonel Daryl D. Cole	For gallantry as a C-130 Hercules pilot in the emergency evacuation of personnel in Vietnam.
1969	49th Fighter Wing	For a flawless deployment of 72 F-4 Phantom IIs from Spangdahlem Air Base to Holloman Air Force Base without a single abort, completing 504 successful air-to-air refuelings on the 5,000 mile trip.