Richard E. Byrd was an American naval officer that learned to fly during the First World War, and had helped plan the historic crossing of the Atlantic in 1919 by U.S. Navy flying boats. 

NC-4, the Curtiss flying boat which made the first Transatlantic crossing.

On May 9, 1926, Byrd along with Floyd Bennett, claimed to have been first to fly over the North Pole.  He did so in the Fokker F.VIIa/3m tri-motor Josephine Ford, named after Edsel Ford's daughter (Edsel and the Ford Motor Company had helped finance the expedition). 

Richard Byrd (Left) and the Josephine Ford.

The entire flight took almost 16 hours, including 13 minutes circling what was believed to be the North Pole.  Some doubt that Byrd actually made it to the true North Pole, nevertheless, he became a National Hero and he and Bennett were awarded the Medal of Honor. 

Close but no Cigar! Roald Amundsen and the "Norge" arrived at the North Pole 3 days after Byrd.

Not content with his North Pole adventure, Byrd would fly nonstop across the Atlantic in 1927. His Fokker C-2, America, had crashed during practice flights, and during the time to repair it, Charles Lindbergh was able to successfully complete his famous crossing.

The C-2 America which Byrd flew Nonstop across the Atlantic. 

Byrd also was the first to fly over the South Pole, which he did in November of 1929.  Byrd's copilot on this flight was Bernt Balchen.  The San Diego Air & Space Museum holds a collection of images related to Mr. Balchen.

The first airplane to fly over the South Pole was a Ford Trimotor, named the Floyd Bennett, after Byrd's copilot on the artic flight, who had recently died. 

The San Diego Air & Space Museum has Balchen's Transport Pilot's License in our collection.

Next page in this exhibit.