This Day In Aviation History

(General Dynamics/San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

On this day in 1961, the crew of The Firefly, a Convair B-58 Hustler, won the Blériot Trophy when they flew over 2,000 kilometers an hour for 30 minutes.

Established in 1930 by aviation pioneer Louis Charles Joseph Blériot, the trophy was awarded to the crew of three, capping more than 30 years of aircraft experimentation and refinement.

Later in 1961, the same plane set a speed record en route from New York to the Paris Air Show, traveling between the two cities in just under 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Crew of The Firefly, 1st Lieutenant David F. Dickerson, Major Elmer E. Murphy, and Major Eugene Moses, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 10 May 1961. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

The black and white marble trophy, below, is on permanent display at the McDermott Library of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The trophy was presented to the B-58 crew by Alice Védères Blériot, widow of Louis Blériot.

(University of North Texas Libraries)

Read the original New York Times article on the trophy