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Charles F. Blair, Jr. (July 19, 1909 – September 2, 1978) was a United States Air Force Brigadier General, United States Navy aviator Captain, a test pilot, an airline pilot, and airline owner. He died in a Grumman Goose seaplane crash in the Caribbean. ==Life and career== Blair was born in Buffalo, New York. He learned to fly in San Diego and made his first solo at the age of 19. In 1931, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont, and the following year was commissioned an Ensign as a naval aviator. He served with the Naval Reserves at the same time as flying for United Airlines for seven years. In 1940, Blair became a chief pilot at American Export Airlines, later renamed American Overseas Airlines, where he trained the pilots. In World War II Blair flew with the Naval Air Transport Service and the Air Transport Command as well as being a test pilot for Grumman Aircraft, testing the F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat, F8F Bearcat and the Martin Mars flying boat. Following the war, Blair commanded testing and the first scheduled flights of the Lockheed Constellation and Boeing Stratocruiser airliners of American Overseas Airlines as well as owning and operating Associated Air Transport, Inc. American Overseas Airlines merged with Pan American World Airways in 1950, with Blair becoming a Pan Am pilot. Blair had purchased the P-51 Mustang "Stormy Petrel" that Paul Mantz had flown to wins in the Bendix Trophy air races in 1946 and 1947. Rechristened "Excalibur III", Blair began setting records. On 31 January 1951 Blair flew non stop from New York to London to test the jet stream, traveling at an average speed of in seven hours and 48 minutes setting a record for a piston engine plane.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Charles F. Blair, Jr., Brigadier General, United States Air Force )〕 On 29 May of the same year he flew from Bardufoss, Norway to Fairbanks, Alaska flying 3260 non stop miles across the North Pole. Captain Blair was awarded the Harmon Trophy from President Truman and the Gold Medal of the Norwegian Aero Club. The Excalibur III is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Blair resigned his naval commission in 1952 and was later commissioned a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves while still flying for Pan Am. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1959. In the same year he led two F-100 Super Sabres in a nonstop flight from England to Alaska in the first jet fighter flight over the North Pole. Blair earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) for the flight. Brigadier General Blair became a consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1962. He retired from Pan Am in 1969, having founded Antilles Air Boats based in St Croix in 1963 with the idea of having a flying boat service from New York to and throughout the Caribbean. In 1974 Blair purchased two Sandringham flying boats from Ansett Airlines that had serviced the Sydney to Lord Howe Island route. In 1967 he also acquired the last Sikorsky VS-44 "Excambian" that Antilles operated until it was damaged in 1969. He co-wrote a novel with A.J Wallis in 1956, ''Thunder Above'', which was filmed as ''Beyond the Curtain'' in 1960 and wrote his autobiography ''Red Ball in the Sky'' in 1970. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles F. Blair, Jr.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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