Creator:

Blair, Charles F., Jr., 1909-1978  Search this

Names:

Antilles Air Boats  Search this

Operation Julius Caesar  Search this

Operation Sharkbait  Search this

Pan American World Airways, Inc.  Search this

United States. Air Force  Search this

Blair, Charles F., Jr., 1909-1978  Search this

Extent:

1.74 Cubic feet ((1 shoebox) (1 23.5x19x4 flatbox) (1 16x13.5x3 flatbox))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Photographs

Place:

Arctic regions -- Aerial Exploration

Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration

Date:

[ca. 1950s]

Scope and Contents:

This collection consists of two large scrapbooks, 15 glass slides and a print and copy negative film of Blair on his historic polar flight.

Biographical / Historical:

Charles F. Blair, Jr. (1909-1978) graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Vermont in 1931. After flight training with the Navy and completing a tour of duty as a naval aviator, Blair went on to be a pilot for United Airlines, American Airlines, and for Pan American Airways. In 1951 he set a record for an Atlantic crossing (7 hours, 48 minutes) in his converted North American P-51 Excalibur III. The next year, Blair became the first individual to fly over the North Pole in a single engine aircraft, an achievement that earned him the Harmon International Trophy, Thurlow Award, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Because of his Arctic solo, the Strategic Air Command invited Blair to help develop techniques for delivering thermonuclear weapons from long-range fighter aircraft. Blair worked as a special consultant to the Air Force during the week, and on weekends he continued to fly for Pan American. In 1956 Blair commanded Operation Sharkbait, a flight of jet fighters nonstop across the North Atlantic, and in 1959 he led Operation Julius Caesar, the first flight of jet fighters to cross the Arctic and the North Pole. After his retirement from the Air Force Reserves (as a Brigadier General) and Pan American, Blair operated Antilles Air Boats, a charter air service in the Caribbean. While piloting a regularly scheduled flight between St. Croix and St. Thomas, the aircraft crashed claiming Blair's life and those of three of his passengers.

General:

Note: Mr. Blair's converted P-51, Excalibur III, is in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum, and will be on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles, Virginia, USA.

NASMrev

Provenance:

Maureen O'Hara Blair, gift, 1999, 1999-0042, unknown

Restrictions:

No restrictions on access

Rights:

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Topic:

Aeronautics  Search this

Aeronautics, Military  Search this

Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States  Search this

Rohrbach Ro III Rotri Flying Boat  Search this

Harmon International Trophy  Search this

Periodicals  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence

Photographs

Identifier:

NASM.1999.0042

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg29307d2ef-6680-4759-b3f1-ba6c668cce43

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nasm-1999-0042