 Operation <unk> : To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Naval aviation ( L is the Roman numeral for 50 and ANA stood for Anniversary of Naval Aviation ) on 24 May 1961 , Phantoms flew across the continental United States in under three hours and included several tanker refuelings . The fastest of the aircraft averaged 869 @.@ 74 mph ( 1 @,@ 400 @.@ 28 km / h ) and completed the trip in 2 hours 47 minutes , earning the pilot ( and future NASA Astronaut ) , Lieutenant Richard Gordon , USN and RIO , Lieutenant Bobbie Young , USN , the 1961 Bendix trophy . 
