Richard E. Byrd the rank of captain. After a further summer of exploration, the expedition returned to North America on June 18, 1930. A 19-year-old American Boy Scout, Paul Allman Siple, was chosen to accompany the expedition. Unlike the 1926 flight, this expedition was honored with the gold medal of the American Geographical Society. This was also seen in the film "With Byrd at the South Pole" (1930) which covered his trip there. Byrd, by then an internationally recognized, pioneering American polar explorer and aviator, served for a time as Honorary National President (1931–1935) of Pi Gamma Mu, the international honor society in
Richard James (aviator) record stood till 1930, when it was broken by Frank Goldsborough. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana and flew an Travel Air 2000. Richard James (aviator) Richard James (1911–1989) set the junior transcontinental air speed record in 1928. He completed the flight on December 15, 1928, arriving in New York. He had left from San Francisco. The elapsed flying time was 48 hours, spread over one month. The contest was sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Aviation. Dick James, as he was known to friends and family, was also awarded the National Clifford B. Harmon Award for