John Arthur Macready (October 14, 1887 – September 15, 1979) was an American test pilot and

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. He was the only three-time recipient of the

Mackay Trophy The Mackay Trophy is awarded yearly by the United States Air Force 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 Museu ...

, receiving the trophy three consecutive years. Macready won the MacKay Trophy three times: once for the altitude flight, once for the transcontinental flight, and once for an endurance flight of 36 hours, 4 minutes and 32 seconds.

History

Born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, California, Macready received a bachelor's degree in economics from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1912. He enlisted in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1917, earning his pilot's wings at

Rockwell Field Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California. This airfield ...

, in San Diego. In 1923, Macready graduated from the Air Service Engineering School located at

McCook Field McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917 to 1927. It was named fo ...

in Dayton, Ohio. He quickly rose to the position of flight instructor at the Army Pilot School at Brooks Field, Texas. While based at Brooks Field, Lieutenant Macready wrote a basic flight manual for student pilots, ''The All Thru System of Flying Instructions''. The book became the U.S. military's basic flight manual during the early years of aviation.

McCook Field

In 1918, Lieuteant Macready was assigned to

, the Army Signal Corps' new experimental test field in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

.Cornelisse, Diana G. ''Splendid Vision, Unswerving Purpose: Developing Air Power for the United States Air Force During the First Century of Powered Flight''. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: U.S. Air Force Publications, 2002. . On 3 August 1921, Lieutenant Macready became the first person to test fly an experimental

aerial application Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific sp ...

system for spraying pesticides from an aircraft, flying the world's first "crop duster". In 1921, he set an altitude record of feet for which he was awarded the first of three consecutive Mackay trophies. On September 28, 1921 he climbed to in an experimental Le Pere biplane designed and modified at McCook Field with a special breathing apparatus to provide him oxygen during his ascent. October 5, 1922 Macready and Lieutenant

Oakley G. Kelly Oakley George Kelly (December 3, 1891 – June 5, 1966) was a record setting pilot for the United States Army Air Service. Biography He was born on December 3, 1891 in Pennsylvania and grew up in Grove City. In May 1922, Lieutenant Oakley G. K ...

set a world endurance record of 35 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds. On 2–3 May 1923 with Kelly, Macready made the first non-stop coast-to-coast flight, from

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field (Hazel ...

, formerly Mitchell Field, 2.3 miles south-east of Mineola, Long Island, New York to

, North Island, San Diego, California, with a total flight time of 26 hours, 50 minutes and 48 seconds. En route, he made the first in-flight aircraft engine repair in Air Service history, replacing a defective voltage regulator switch while the single engine, high wing Fokker T-2 Liberty mono-plane churned westward. The flight also set a new distance record for a single cross-country flight, 2,625 miles. At McCook, he also became the first pilot to bail out of a stricken aircraft at night. On 13 June 1924, while he was making a night airways flight from McCook Field to Columbus, Ohio and back, his engine died just as he was approaching Dayton. His first idea was to make an emergency landing, but the two flares he released failed to ignite. Even though no one had ever made an emergency jump at night, he decided to trust to his parachute and came down safely, though his parachute tangled in a tree and he required help to get to the ground.

World War II

Macready was recalled to active duty in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served as a colonel and commanded several Army Air Force groups, as well as serving in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

as inspector general for the

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

. Macready was inducted into the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

. He retired from active duty in 1948.

Mackay Trophy

Macready remains the only person to win the Mackay Trophy three times. The trophy is awarded for the year's greatest accomplishment in aviation by an American pilot. Lieuteant Macready won the trophy in three consecutive years. * 1921 - The trophy was awarded for a series of high altitude test flights at McCook Field using the XC05A involving the first use of supplemental oxygen. The flights established a world record altitude of 40,800 feet; the previous record being 39,596–ft set by a French aviator Callizo. * 1922 - The trophy was awarded for a flight on 5–6 October 1922. Taking off on 5 October, an aircraft piloted by Macready and Lieutenant Oakley G. Kelly established a world flight endurance record of 35 hours 18.5 minutes over San Diego, California. This, and later endurance flights led to the development of the world's first air-to-air refueling system. * 1923 - The trophy was awarded for the first non-stop coast-to-coast flight. The flight began on 2 May 1923, and concluded on 3 May. Macready and Kelly took off from

, New York in a modified

Fokker T-2 The Fokker F.IV was an airliner designed in the Netherlands in the early 1920s, with only two ever made, both for the United States Army Air Service (designated T-2). Design and development The Fokker F.IV was constructed in typical Fokker styl ...

loaded with gasoline. The pair landed at Rockwell Field, in San Diego, California having completed the first nonstop U.S. transcontinental flight in an official time of 26 hours, 50 minutes and 38 3/5 seconds.

Honors

*Macready was enshrined in the

in 1968. *In 1976, Macready was inducted into the

International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...

.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .

References

Media

He is the subject of a book written by his daughter Sally Macready Wallace.(''see External links EarlyAviators'')

External links

''John A. Macready'' at Earlyaviators.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macready, John A. 1887 births 1979 deaths Aviators from California Mackay Trophy winners National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees People from San Diego Stanford University alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Flight altitude record holders American aviation record holders United States Army officers United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from California