Ernest Emery Harmon Captain Ernest Emery Harmon , Army Air Corps ( February 8 , 1893 , Fort Worth , Texas - August 27 , 1933 , Stamford , Connecticut ) was an aviation pioneer . Lesser known than many of the major figures of early flight , his significant contributions during the Golden Age of Aviation resulted , by an act of Congress ( June 23 , 1948 ) , in the naming of Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in his honor . Dedication ceremonies occurred on August 13 , 1949 , at the base in Stephenville , Newfoundland . Earns his wings . Harmon earned his wings in May 1918 at Gerstner Field , Louisiana , where he went on to become a flight , gunnery , and bombing instructor . Later ( after a hurricane devastated Gerstner Field ) Harmon was transferred to Wilbur Wright Field in Dayton , Ohio . During his career in the Signal Enlisted Corps , and the Army Air Corps , he also spent time at Bolling Field , Washington , D . C . , France Field , Panama Canal Zone , and Mitchel Field , Long Island . The " Round - the - Rim " flight . From July 24 to November 9 , 1919 , Lieutenant Harmon piloted the first ever flight around the continental United States , four years before John A . Macready and Oakley G . Kelly flew the first non - stop transcontinental flight across the United States , and eight years before Charles Lindberg ' s historic Atlantic Ocean crossing . Also on the flight was his commanding officer , Lt . Col . Rutherford Hartz , and two mechanics , Sgt . Jerry Dobias and Sgt . Jack Harding . Original plans called for a second pilot , Lt . Lotha A . Smith , but due to an injury that resulted from a crash landing in Jay , New York , he was forced to abandon the high risk mission shortly after it began . This left pilot Ernest " Tiny " Harmon ( he was 6 ' 3 " ) with the primary responsibility of assuring the successful completion of the 3 month long mission . The pioneering flight was monitored by the entire nation , and generated front - page headlines in newspapers across the country . Often landing in farmer ' s fields , when no airstrip was available , the Round - The - Rim flight set an unprecedented milestone during the formative years of winged flight . The efforts of the R - T - R crew resulted in helping to establish , and improve landing strip markings and design , navigation and mapping standards , and basic aviation communication . Among the many objectives of the flight were to prove aircraft endurance over long flights , establish new air fields , generate enthusiasm for commercial and military aviation , and to inspire new recruits into military aviation service . Aviation records . On February 19 , 1919 , Lieutenant Harmon set an air speed record flying a 400 hp LePere aeroplane from Washington , D . C . to New York City , achieving and covering the distance in 85 minutes . After the flight , his passenger , Lt . Col . R . F . Hartz said Lt . Harmon " burnt the air " in order to accomplish the unprecedented feat . On June 30 , 1919 , Harmon flew a Martin MB - 1 bomber non - stop from the Martin factory in Dayton , Ohio to Washington D . C . , covering the in three hours and 45 minutes , yet another speed record for him at the time . On October 14 , 1925 at the International Air Races , at Mitchel Field piloting a Huff - Daland bomber , Harmon won the Detroit News Transport Trophy and $ 1000 in Liberty bonds by achieving a speed of . Wife sets record . Early in 1919 , Harmon ' s wife , Harriette Alexander Harmon , was a passenger on one of his flights from Bolling Field in Washington D . C . to Mitchel Field , Long Island . This flight established Mrs . Harmon as the first woman ever to fly from the nation ' s capital to New York City . Other notable flights . Lieutenant Harmon was the first pilot ever to fly the giant L . W . F " Owl " Bomber with its three 400 hp Liberty motors . In 1924 , Harmon piloted the infamous Barling Bomber . He took off from Mitchel Field and crash landed literally across the street in Roosevelt Field , Long Island . After the flight , he deemed the Barling Bomber as " not yet airworthy " . Ultimately in 1928 , General Hap Arnold ordered the plane destroyed due to its inferior and unsafe design . In 1926 , Harmon , with his bombardier Harold George , won the bombing contest in the " heavier than air bomber " category at the international air races in Philadelphia . People trained by Harmon . While Capt . Harmon met an untimely death in an aviation accident in 1933 , he is credited with having recruited , and mentored the careers of many individuals who went on to become heroes , and leaders in the United States military . In 1924 , Harmon saw promise in a young University of Maryland football quarterback named Pete Quesada . Harmon took Quesada flying out of Bolling Field in Washington D . C . and successfully recruited him on the same day into the Army Air Service . Harmon , himself a former football player at Bethany College , West Virginia , had an ulterior motive in recruiting Quesada into the Air Service . It was to include Quesada on the Air Service football team at Kelly Field in San Antonio , Texas while he was in flight training . Later in his career , Gen . Pete Quesada , and his Ninth Air Tactical Command , led the air invasion on D - Day ( June 6 , 1944 aka " Overlord " ) during World War II . Lt . Gen Pete Quesada is widely recognized as having developed the strategy of proving the successful use of tactical " close air support " to ground troops during combat . In 1918 , while an instructor at Gerstner Field , Louisiana , Harmon trained the controversial Lieutenant Edmund G . Chamberlain who was reported to have shot down five enemy aircraft in one day during the first World War . Commanding officer . In June 1932 , Harmon was promoted to captain and was assigned commanding officer of the 5th Observation Squadron at Mitchel Field , Long Island . Lackland Air Force Base . Harmon Drive at Lackland Air Force Base is named in Captain Harmon ' s honor . Documentary Video . A documentary video about Captain Harmon ' s family , career , and pioneering contributions to early aviation can be viewed by searching for " Ernest Emery Harmon " in YouTube , or at this link : https : / / www . youtube . com / watch ? v = otDhL8Xnx1Q .