Lester J . Maitland Lester James Maitland ( February 8 , 1899 - March 27 , 1990 ) was an aviation pioneer and career officer in the United States Army Air Forces and its predecessors . Maitland began his career as a Reserve pilot in the U . S . Army Air Service during World War I and rose to brigadier general in the Michigan Air National Guard following World War II . In 1927 Maitland and Lt . Albert F . Hegenberger completed the first transpacific flight from California to Hawaii . Although the recognition accorded them was less in comparison with the adulation given Charles Lindbergh for his transatlantic flight only five weeks earlier , Maitland and Hegenberger ' s feat was arguably more significant from a navigational stand point . Maitland continued his career in the Air Corps , serving in combat as a bombardment group commander during World War II . He later became the first director of the Wisconsin Aeronautics Commission and the Director of Civil Defense for the state of Michigan before changing professions and becoming an Episcopal minister . Early history and World War I . Born in Milwaukee , Wisconsin in 1899 , Maitland graduated from Riverside High School in 1917 . He enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Aviation Section , U . S . Signal Corps three days after the United States entered World War I and was assigned to training at a School of Military Aeronautics on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin , Texas in the fall of 1917 . His flight training took place at Rich Field in Waco , Texas , after which he received a rating of Reserve Military Aviator and was commissioned on May 25 , 1918 as a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Service , National Army at the age of nineteen . After a stint as a flying instructor , he was sent to gunnery school at Taliaferro Field , Texas , but the war ended before he could be sent overseas . Between wars . Following World War I , Maitland was assigned to McCook Field in Ohio from November 1918 to April 1919 as a pilot with the Testing Squadron . Maitland was transferred to Luke Field , Hawaii , and assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron on May 13 , 1919 . He petitioned to remain in the Army , passed the required examinations , and received a regular commission as a 1st lieutenant in the Air Service on July 1 , 1920 , the date that the service was recognized by law as an organizational part of the Army . Leaving Hawaii in May 1921 , Maitland became an aide to General Billy Mitchell in July and was selected as one of the pilots to take part in the sinking of the battleship " Ostfriesland " , a military experiment set up by Mitchell to prove the effectiveness of air power against ships . In September and October 1925 he acted as an aide to Mitchell during the Morrow Board hearings . During the 1920s , Maitland competed for the Air Service and its Air Corps successor in air races and pioneering flights as part of the service ' s program of generating favorable publicity . While Operations Officer for Col . Augustine Warner Robins at the Fairfield Air Intermediate Depot ( FAID ) in October 1922 , he was part of the Army team at the National Air Race s held that year at Selfridge Field , Michigan . On October 14 , he reputedly became the first U . S . pilot to fly faster than 200 mph ( 320 kmh ) and received a letter of congratulations from Orville Wright . Flying a Curtiss R - 6 racer over a 50 - kilometer ( 31 miles ) course , Maitland finished second in the Pulitzer Trophy race , behind Army test pilot Lt . Russell Maughan but ahead of four Navy and eight Army racers , averaging 198 . 8 mph ( 319 kmh ) and reporting brief blackouts during the tight pylon turns . On March 29 , 1923 , he set a world ' s absolute speed record of 236 . 58 mph ( 380 . 75 kmh ) over one kilometer in the R - 6 , but the record was disqualified because he failed to maintain level flight . However he broke his own record in October when he flew at a recorded speed of 244 . 94 mph ( 394 . 19 kmh ) , also in the R - 6 . On March 17 , 1925 , Maitland was assigned command of the new 18th Headquarters Squadron ( redesignated from the 18th Observation Squadron ) at Bolling Field , a position he held until June 4 , 1925 , when he returned to FAID . In November 1926 he began a three - year tour as Assistant Executive Officer to Assistant Secretary of War for Air F . Trubee Davison . Flight of the " Bird of Paradise " . " See main article : Bird of Paradise ( aircraft ) " While stationed in Hawaii , Maitland sought permission from the Chief of the Air Service to organize a flight between Hawaii and the mainland . Not until December 1926 , however , was he granted authorization . Others had also been working on the project , including 1st Lt . Albert F . Hegenberger , former Chief of the Instrument Branch at McCook Field . Hegenberger had overseen the development of a number of navigation instruments that would make the trip feasible but like Maitland had also been transferred to Hawaii , where his repeated written requests for a transpacific flight were likewise refused . In 1926 Hegenberger returned to McCook , where he helped test a navigation system using signals from low - frequency radio beacon s . The transpacific flight from California to Hawaii was then approved to demonstrate the difficult task of navigating to a small island using the beacons as a navigational aid . 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 . On June 27 , Maitland and Hegenberger made the short hop from Crissy Field to the newly opened Oakland Municipal Airport , whose runway was much preferable for the takeoff roll with full fuel load , and departed the next morning just after 7 a . m . for Wheeler Field , Oahu , with Maitland as pilot and Hegenberger as navigator . Although assisted as planned by the Signal Corps beacon on Maui , the directional radio receiver in the C - 2 operated only intermittently before cutting out altogether . The earth inductor compass on the C - 2 failed just after takeoff , and despite increasingly cloudier weather , Hegenberger navigated most of the charted Great Circle route by dead reckoning , using a magnetic compass and driftmeter supplemented by celestial navigation observations . Contact with several ships at sea was used to verify their position and adjust the original flight plan . 23 hours into the flight , before dawn on June 29 , the crew observed a lighthouse beam on Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands at their estimated time of arrival , but still in complete darkness , decided to circle until daybreak before landing at Wheeler . The " Bird of Paradise " completed its trip of in 25 hours and 50 minutes , and was greeted by thousands of spectators . In becoming the first to make the transpacific crossing to Hawaii , Maitland and Hegenberger earned the third awarding of Distinguished Flying Cross by the Air Corps and received the Mackay Trophy for that year . Of the feat , the official history of the United States Air Force states : The flight . . . tested not only the reliability of the machine but the navigational skill and the stamina of the two officers as well , for had they strayed even three - and - a - half degrees off course , they would have missed Kauai and vanished over the ocean . In 1928 Maitland and Charles Lindbergh were invited together to the White House to meet President Calvin Coolidge . Air Corps years . Maitland wrote " Knights of the Air " , a history of early aviation emphasizing " aviation firsts " that included his own transpacific flight , and was published in 1929 . He then undertook writing " Skyroads " a serialized comic strip about aviation in 1929 with artist and fellow World War I pilot Dick Calkins . The pair continued to release " Skyroads " until they passed the writing and drawing duties to Calkins ' assistant Russell Keaton in 1933 . After his tour in Washington D . C . concluded in December 1929 , Maitland served at Kelly Field , Texas , as a flight instructor in the Advanced Flying School . He was promoted to captain in 1932 . Maitland served in various positions in the Training Command at Kelly , including senior instructor in Attack , to September 1934 , when he entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field as a student in the comprehensive 845 - hour , 36 - week course . Making up the 59 members of his class were five majors , 40 captains including himself , 13 first lieutenants , and one second lieutenant . In addition to 49 Air Corps officers were four Army officers , one from each of that service ' s combat arms , two Turkish Army aviators , one Mexican captain , and three Marine Corps aviators . Among Maitland ' s Air Corps peers were future generals Muir S . Fairchild , Barney Giles , Laurence S . Kuter , Haywood Hansell , and Hoyt S . Vandenberg ; and aviation pioneer Major Vernon Burge , who as a corporal in June 1912 had been the first certified enlisted military pilot . Maitland graduated in June 1935 . From September 11 , 1935 , to July 16 , 1938 , he commanded the 8th Attack Squadron at Barksdale Field , Louisiana , flying the Northrop A - 17 attack bomber . On July 20 , 1940 , Major Maitland and his wife Kathleen " Kay " Maitland were sent to the Philippine Department for a two - year tour of duty in command of the 28th Bombardment Squadron . By seniority he was also made base commander of Clark Field , where the 28th BS was stationed . On March 13 , 1941 , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and command of the 28th BS passed to a more junior officer , but Maitland remained base commander at Clark . Shortly after , the Army extended the tours of all Air Corps personnel in the Philippine Department by an additional year , fearing aggressive Japanese moves against the Philippines , and ordered their dependents to return to the United States . This created a serious morale problem that Maitland combatted at Clark , at the suggestion of a subordinate , by issuing an order in May 1941 that all base personnel ( including himself ) had to grow beards . He modified the order in mid - August , making beards optional , but he and many others maintained their facial hair . ( Link to photograph ) . World War II . Maitland was on the headquarters staff of the newly created Far East Air Force when the United States entered World War II . On November 3 , 1941 , the 19th Bomb Group completed its reinforcement movement to the Philippines and its commander , Lt . Col . Eugene Eubank , was senior to Maitland at Clark Field . When the FEAF was activated on November 16 , Maitland was named as executive officer of the Far East Air Service Command . The FEAF was surprised and largely destroyed by Japanese air attack on December 8 , 1941 , and Gen . Douglas MacArthur ordered its headquarters withdrawn to Australia on December 24 . Maitland joined a small group of staff officers flown out from Nielson Field on Christmas Day by Captain Paul I . " Pappy " Gunn in a former Philippine Air Lines Beech 18 . Reassigned to duty in the United States , Maitland was named to command the 386th Bomb Group , flying B - 26 Marauder s , upon its activation on December 1 , 1942 , at MacDill Field , Florida . He organized the group and moved it on February 9 , 1943 , to Lake Charles Field , Louisiana , to complete its group combat training , which was accomplished without a loss of any B - 26 to accident in more than 10 , 000 hours of flight . In June 1943 the group moved to England and was assigned to the 3rd Bomb Wing of the Eighth Air Force on June 4 , 1943 . Assigned to the new station at RAF Boxted , the 386th did not immediately enter combat because extreme losses in May to B - 26s attacking at low altitudes forced a suspension of all B - 26 operations to develop new tactics . Over the following seven weeks the 386th embarked on an intensive training program covering aircraft recognition , flying control procedures , German fighter tactics , combat formations , and medium altitude bombing ( between and ) . After flying four diversionary missions in mid - July , the 386th BG began combat operations on July 30 , 1943 , attacking the Luftwaffe fighter base at Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands . The attack was the first at medium altitude by B - 26s in Europe and was sharply contested by Focke - Wulf Fw 190 fighters of II . / JG 26 . The group , attacking alone , suffered its first loss , a bomber at the rear of the formation nicknamed " Wolf " and carrying 2nd Lt . Cyrus S . Eaton , Jr . , son of the investment banker . Another B - 26 , " Two Way Ticket " , crashed on takeoff and was a total loss . The group continued its attacks on Luftwaffe bases in France and the low countries throughout the summer of 1943 . On September 24 , 1943 , the 386h moved to a new base still under construction at RAF Great Dunmow , and flew its final mission as part of the Eighth Air Force on October 8 , an attack on airfields in the vicinity of Lille that was abandoned because of bad weather . While with the Eight Air Force it flew 32 missions , losing six bombers in combat , and developed the procedure for the simultaneous release of bombs by formations of B - 26s . It also earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for its first year of operations , part of which was under Maitland ' s command . On October 18 the 386th resumed operations from Great Dunmow as part of the Ninth Air Force , with Maitland leading the group in an attack on Beauvais - Nivillers airdrome in France . He also led the group in an attack on the construction site of the fortress of Mimoyecques , France , on November 5 . At age 44 , Maitland was one of the oldest pilots to see combat in World War II , personally leading four of first five missions of the 386th in a B - 26 nicknamed the " Texas Tarantula " , but his tenure was cut short when he was relieved of command on November 18 , 1943 , possibly for excessive drinking . Maitland received the Silver Star , a second award of the Distinguished Flying Cross , and five Air Medal s . The first group history , " The History of a Bombing Outfit , " said of its first commander : His leadership of the group had been strong and colorful . He had been rough on those who did not produce but fine to those who had . He had given a lot of character to the group , and although he had been rough at times , had been fair always . The group was sorry to see him go . After World War II . In 1947 , Maitland was appointed Wisconsin ' s first state aeronautics director . He resigned the post in 1949 over the lack of priority the state gave to airports and flying . He accepted a similar post with the state of Michigan and in 1951 went on to become Michigan ' s Director of Civil Defense , for which he was appointed a brigadier general in the Michigan Air National Guard . In the mid - 1950s Lester Maitland ' s career goals shifted and he was given permission by the state of Michigan to begin seminary studies . He would go on to become a lay - minister in the Episcopal Church . His first appointment was as lay - vicar at a parish in Iron River , Michigan . He retired as rector emeritus in Red Bluff , California . Maitland died at a convalescent home in Scottsdale , Arizona in 1990 . He was 91 years old . Awards and decorations . Citation for Distinguished Flying Cross . The President of the United States of America , authorized by Act of Congress , July 2 , 1926 , takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant ( Air Corps ) Lester J . Maitland , U . S . Army Air Corps , for extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight . As pilot of the United States airplane , by his masterly skill , courage , endurance , and tenacity of purpose , with his navigator , Lieutenant Maitland successfully piloted his airplane on 28 – 29 June 1927 , from Oakland , California , to Honolulu , Territory of Hawaii , over the greatest expanse of open sea yet crossed in a nonstop flight . Lieutenant Maitland , with full knowledge of the dangers and difficulties , traversed over 2 , 400 miles of the Pacific Ocean with marvelous accuracy of direction , and thereby demonstrated conclusively the practicability of accurate aerial navigation . His masterful exploit is worthy of the greatest praise and has bestowed much credit on the United States Army . Recognition legacy . Maitland Field , a downtown lakefront airport in Milwaukee between 1927 and 1956 , was named at a ceremony honoring Maitland for the transpacific flight on July 18 , 1927 , during his return trip from Hawaii . In 1987 he was elected to the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame . Maitland Drive , near the Oakland International Airport in California , is also named for him .