new observation planes, the Loening OA-1A that could be used as both landplanes and seaplanes, with Liberty engines and a wood interior structure with an aluminum-covered fuselage and fabric-covered wings. Each plane was named for a U.S. city and crewed by two pilots, one of whom was an engineering officer, since there were very few airfields or repair facilities along the route, with the crew choosing the motto "No Work, No Ride." Crew of the New York: Maj. Herbert Dargue, Lt. Ennis Whitehead; Crew of the San Antonio: Capt. Arthur McDaniel, Lt. Charles Robinson; Crew of the San Francisco: Capt. Ira Eaker, Lt. Muir Fairchild; Crew of the Detroit: Capt. Clinton F. Woolsey, Lt. John Benton; Crew of the St. Louis: Lt. Bernard Thompson, Lt. Leonard Weddington The flight was marred by tragedy when the Detroit and New York accidentally collided mid-air and got locked together. The crew of the New York were able to parachute to safety but Capt. Woolsley and Lt. Benton were killed when the Detroit hit the ground. The Pan American Flyers were greeted by a cheering crowd including President Calvin Coolidge, Cabinet members, and diplomats from Central and Latin America when they returned to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., on May 2, 1927. Fairchild and the rest of the surviving Pan American Flight crew, and Charles Lindbergh, were among the first nine aviators to receive the newly created award Distinguished Flying Cross. The Pan Am Good Will Tour aviators were the first to be named to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, Lindbergh's being named came after the Pan Am Good Will Tour members, though Lindbergh actually received his medal first. Fairchild went on to complete the course in the Air Corps Engineer School at Wright Field in June 1929 and went to Santa Monica, California, as Air Corps representative to Douglas Aircraft Corporation. In June 1935 he graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School, along with strategic bombing advocates Haywood S. Hansell, Barney Giles, Vernon M. Guymon, Laurence S. Kuter, Lawson H. M. Sanderson and Hoyt S. Vandenberg, then became an Air Corps Tactical School instructor. He later attended the Army Industrial College, and the Army War College. He rose to director of air tactics and strategy in 1939. Second World War In 1940, Fairchild went to the Plans Division in Washington and in 1941 was named secretary of the newly formed Air Staff. Two months