Russell Maughan Russell Lowell Maughan was an officer in the United States Army and a pioneer aviator . His career began during World War I , and spanned the period in which military aviation developed from a minor arm of the Army Signal Corps to the huge Army Air Forces on the verge of becoming a separate service . Maughan became a pursuit pilot and served in combat in France in 1918 with the United States Army Air Service . Following the war , he remained in the Air Service and became a test pilot . In 1924 Maughan completed the first flight across the continental United States within the hours of daylight of a single calendar day . Biography . Maughan was born March 28 , 1893 in Logan , Utah , to Peter W . and Mary ( née Naef ) Maughan . He graduated from Utah State Agricultural College in June 1917 . The United States had entered World War I and Maughan enlisted as an Army aviation cadet . Commissioned a first lieutenant in the Signal Officer Reserve Corps after flight training and rated a Reserve Military Aviator , he served in France with the 139th Aero Squadron , where he flew a Spad XIII . Maughan was credited with four aerial victories and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on October 27 , 1918 , the citation for which is given below . He remained in the Air Service following the end of the war and was assigned to its Engineering Division at McCook Field , Dayton , Ohio , as a test pilot . Besides testing new designs , his responsibilities including public demonstrations of military aircraft and participation in air races . The Engineering Division had drawn the interest of Brig . Gen . Billy Mitchell , Assistant Chief of the Air Service , who saw in it the opportunity for promoting the concept of an Air Force independent of the Army . On July 1 , 1920 , when the Air Service became a combat arm of the Army , Maughan received a Regular commission as a 1st lieutenant , Air Service . He transferred to Crissy Field at the Presidio of San Francisco in 1921 and joined the 91st Observation Squadron , then engaged in aerial forest fire patrol . In 1922 the National Air Race s were held at Selfridge Field , Michigan , where the Air Service entered the Pulitzer Trophy Race with ten aircraft it had solicited from various manufacturers for use as possible pursuit planes , with specification that they be capable of reaching a speed of or greater . Flying a Curtiss R - 6 racer , a precursor of the PW - 8 design , Maughan won the Pulitzer race with an average speed of , on October 14 , 1922 . On October 16 , flying the 1 - kilometer course , he averaged for eight circuits , for four , and reached on one . This established a new international record , but it was not observed by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ( FAI ) officials and was not officially recognized . The following year Maughan officially set a new international speed record of . He also made two attempts in July to fly coast - to - coast in a single day , using the new Curtiss PW - 8 , but mechanical problems thwarted both flights . On June 23 , 1924 , his third attempt succeeded , the first Dawn - to - dusk transcontinental flight across the United States . The flight was made in six legs , with an actual flying time of 18 hours and 20 minutes , at an average ground speed of more than 156 mph . Maughan served in the Philippines from 1930 to 1935 , with duty as Secretary of Aviation and Consultant to the Philippine Cabinet from 1930 to 1932 . In 1939 he surveyed and selected airfields in Greenland and Iceland for aircraft ferry routes to Britain . Maughan , promoted to lieutenant colonel , commanded the 60th Transport Group , Pope Field , North Carolina , from July 28 , 1941 to April 15 , 1942 . Promoted again to colonel , he was advanced to command of the 51st Troop Carrier Wing from June 1 , 1942 to October 20 , 1942 , during its deployment to England to drop airborne forces in the invasion of North Africa . Colonel Maughan retired in 1946 , and died April 21 , 1958 , at San Antonio , Texas during surgery . He is buried in the Logan City Cemetery near the Utah State University campus in Logan , Utah . He is a member of the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame and is honored with a plaque in the Hill Aerospace Museum , Hill Air Force Base , Utah . A plaque commemorating the first " Dawn - to - dusk transcontinental flight across the United States was erected on the Utah State University campus in Logan , Utah , on Veteran ' s Day , 2006 . Citation for Distinguished Service Cross . MAUGHAN , RUSSELL L .