Charles F Blair and Maureen O Hara at his retirement flight home

Arlington National Cemetery

Remarks by President Truman on the award presented November 18, 1952

Newspaper Article of Blairs retirement travel with wife

Charles Blair, 69, an aviator who set a transatlantic speed record for piston-engine airplanes in 1951, when his plane, a Grumman Goose, capsized after attempting an emergency landing in heavy seas about a mile west of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. He was the founder of Antilles Airboat, an airline in the Virgin Islands. He and three others died in the crash landing. Seven others were rescued.
Mr. Blair was a transatlantic pilot for Pan American Airways when he purchased a "civilianized" P-51 Mustang from a Hollywood stunt pilot in 1950.

In January 1951, he set the transatlantic speed record from New York to London for piston-engine aircraft at 7 hours and 43 minutes, which stands to this day.

Mr. Blair developed new navigation methods so a polar route between Europe and North America could be opened. A magnetic compass is unreliable near the poles, as military and civilian aircraft had to fly a more southerly route that was much longer, but, in using a magnetic compass, safer.



CHARLES F BLAIR

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