The Mackay Trophy was donated in 1911 by Clarence H. Mackay who was then head of the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company and the Commercial Cable Company. The award is administered by the United States National Aeronautic Association and is awarded yearly by the United States Air Force for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization.
| Year | Awardee | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Henry H. Arnold | |
| 1913 | Joseph E. Carberry Fred Seydel | |
| 1914 | Townsend F. Dodd S. W. Fitzgerald | |
| 1915 | B.Q. Jones | Duration record |
| 1916-1917 | no award | |
| 1918 | Eddie Rickenbacker | highest scoring ace of WWI |
| 1919 | Lowell Smith et al | circumnavigation of the globe |
| 1920 | St. Clair Streett et al | |
| 1921 | John A. Macready | altitude record |
| 1922 | John A. Macready Oakley G. Kelly | duration record |
| 1923 | John A. Macready Oakley G. Kelly | non-stop transcontinental flight |
| 1924 | Lowell H. Smith Leslie P. Arnold Leigh Wade Eric H. Nelson Henry H. Ogden | first round-the-world flight |
| 1925 | James H. Doolittle Cyrus K. Bettis | For winning the Schneider and Pulitzer Races |
| 1926 | Herbert A. Dargue Ira C. Eaker Arthur B. McDaniel C. F. Woolsey J. W. Benton Charles McRobinson Muir S. Fairchild Bernard S. Thompson Leonard D. Weddingon Ennis C. Whitehead | Pan-American Good Will Flyers |
| 1927 | Albert F. Hegenberger Lester J. Maitland | Hawaiian flight |
| 1928 | Harry A. Sutton | spin testing aircraft |
| 1929 | A. W. Steven | long range aerial photography |
| 1930 | Ralph Royce | Test flights in extreme cold |
| 1931 | Benjamin D. Foulois | commanded unit which suffered no loss of life in 40,000 hours of flying time |
| 1932 | 11th Bombardment Squadron, March Field | relief missions to snowbound Navajo and Hopi |
| 1933 | Capt. Westside T. Larson | For his pioneering flights in connection with the development of methods and procedure of Aerial Frontier Defense |
| 1934 | Brig. Gen. Henry H. Arnold | Commanding officer of flight of 10 Martin B-10s from Bolling Air Force Base to Fairbanks, Alaska. |
| 1935 | A. W. Stevens O. A. Anderson | Flew balloon to 72,395--a then-record. |
| 1936 | Capt. Richard E. Nugent 1st Lt. Joseph A. Miller 1st Lt. Edwin G. Simenson 2nd Lt. William P. Ragsdale, Jr. 2nd Lt. Burton W. Armstrong 2nd Lt. Herbert Morgan, Jr. Tech Sgt. Gilbert W. Olson Staff Sgt. Howard M. Miller Cpl. Air Mechanic 2/c Frank B. Connor | For demonstration of expert instrument flying and navigation, and the will to overcome obstacles to accomplish their mission under exceptionally adverse weather conditions during a flight of three B-10 s from Langley Air Force Base to Allegan, MI. |
| 1937 | Capt. Carl J. Crane George V. Holloman | For successful development and demonstration of an automatic landing system. |
| 1938 | 2nd Bombardment Group Lt Col Robert Olds | For good will flight to Buenos Aires and return |
| 1939 | Maj Caleb V. Haynes Maj William D. Old Capt John A. Samford 1st Lt. Richard S. Freeman 1st Lt. Torgils G. Wold Tech Sgt. William J. Heldt Tech Sgt Henry L. Hines Tech Sgt David L. Spicer Staff Sgt Russell E. Junior Staff Sgt James E. Sands M/Sgt Adolph Cattarius | For flight of Boeing XB-15 from Langley Air Force Base to Chile on relief mission after 1939 Chillán earthquake |
| 1947 | Capt. Chuck Yeager | First to break the sound barrier |
| 1948 | Lt. Col Emil Beadry | For the rescue of twelve marooned airmen from the Greenland ice sheet |
| 1949 | Capt. James G. Gallagher | First non-stop aerial circumnavigation. |
| 1950 | 27th Fighter Wing | For moving 180 fighter jets across the Atlantic Ocean. |
| 1951 | Col Fred Ascani | For breaking the speed record at 635.686 mph |
| 1952 | Maj Louis H. Carrington, Jr. Maj Frederick W. Shook Capt. Wallace D. Yancey | First non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean in a B-45 Tornado. |
| 1953 | 40th Air Division | For flying 25 F-84 Thunderjets non-stop from the United States to Europe and North Africa under adverse conditions. |
| 1954 | 308th Bombardment Wing | For successfully completing a leap from intercontinental maneuver, a milestone in expanding and proving the combined operational capabilities of the B-47 Stratojet and in determining fatigue limits of combat crews. |
| 1955 | Col Horace A. Hanes | Breaking the flight airspeed record at 822.1 mph in an F-100 Super Sabre |
| 1956 | Capt. Iven C. Kincheloe | Breaking the flight altitude record in a Bell X-2 |
| 1957 | 93rd Bombardment Wing | For non-stop circumnavigation by three B-52 Stratofortresses |
| 1958 | Tactical Air Command's Air Strike Force, X-Ray Tango | For its rapid and effective deployment to the troubled Far East during the fall of 1958. |
| 1959 | U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds | For goodwill tour of the Far East. |
| 1960 | 6593rd Test Squadron | For its first aerial recovery of an object from space orbit. |
| 1961 | Lt Col William R. Payne Maj William L. Polthemus Maj Raymond R. Wagener | For their nonstop flight from Carswell Air Force Base to Paris, which culminated in the establishment of two international speed records. |
| 1962 | Maj Robert G. Sowers Capt Robert MacDonald Capt John T. Walton | For flight as members of a B-58 Hustler crew which established three transcontinental speed records. |
| 1963 | Capt. Warren P. Tomsett Capt John R. Ordemann Capt Donald R. Mack Tech Sgt Edson P. Inlow Staff Sgt Jack E. Morgan Staff Sgt Frank C. Barrett | For the evacuation of wounded troops in Vietnam at night under enemy fire with a C-47 Skytrain. |
| 1964 | 464th Troop Carrier Wing | For its participation in the humanitarian airlift of some 1,500 hostages and refugees from rebel held territory in the Republic of the Congo during November 1964. |
| 1965 | Col Robert L. Stephens Lt Col Daniel Andre Lt Col Walter F. Daniel Maj Noel T. Warner Maj James P. Cooney | For flight in the Lockheed YF-12, which culminated in the establishment of nine new world speed and altitude records. |
| 1966 | Lt. Col Albert R. Howarth | For his exemplary courage and airmanship as a pilot in a combat strike mission in southeast Asia under hazardous conditions of darkness and intense enemy fire. |
| 1967 | Maj John J. Casteel Capt Dean L. Hoar Capt Richard L. Trail MSgt Nathan C. Campbell | For performing the first multiple aerial refueling between a KC-135 Stratotanker and an A-3 Skywarrior which simultaneously refueled an F-8 Crusader under emergency fuel shortages and combat condition. |
| 1968 | Lt Col Daryl D. Cole | For gallantry as a C-130 Hercules pilot in the emergency evacuation of personnel in Vietnam. |
| 1969 | 49th Fighter Wing | For a flawless deployment of 72 F-4 Phantom IIs from Spangdahlem Air Base to Holloman Air Force Base without a single abort, completing 504 successful air-to-air refuelings on the 5,000 mile trip. |
| 1972 | Charles B. DeBellevue, Jeffrey S. Feinstein and R. Stephen Ritchie | For their extraordinary gallantry, superb airmanship, and intrepidity in the face of the enemy. (They were the three USAF "Aces" from the Vietnam War.) |
| 1991 | Crew of Moccasin-05 Capt Tom Trask Maj Mike Homan MSgt Timothy Hadrych TSgt Gregory Vanhyning TSgt James A. Peterson, Jr SSgt Craig Dock Sgt Thomas Bedard | For extraordinary heroism and self-sacrifice of the crew during the rescue of the pilot of Slate 46, a downed Navy F-14 Tomcat in Iraq during Operation DESERT STORM. |
| 1997 | Crew of Whisk-05 Lt Col Frank J. Kisner Maj (Dr.) Robert S. Michaelson Capt John C. Baker Capt Reed Foster Capt Mark J. Ramsey Capt Robert P. Toth MSgt Gordon H. Scott TSgt Tom L. Baker SSgt John D. Hensdill SSgt Jeffrey A. Hoyt | For overcoming hostile gunfire, three heavyweight air refuelings, and over 13 hours flying to their objective to insert a European survey and assessment team and extract 56 people from the escalating Republic of the Congo Civil War, achieving this goal while on the ground for less than 23 minutes. |
| Year | Awardee | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Crew of Vijay 10 Lt Col Shane Hershman, 7th AS Maj Bob Colvin, 8th AS 1Lt Matt Clausen, 4th AS MSgt Shawn Brumfield, 62nd OG MSgt Chris Dockery, 7th AS | Vijay 10 was the lead C-17A Globemaster III in a formation of C-17s from the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings, McChord AFB, WA. Vijay 10's crew led the largest combat airdrop since WW II. On March 26, 2003, Vijay 10 led an airdrop of 1,000 US Army soldiers over Bashur, Iraq which opened the northern front to combat operations. After the initial insertion, Vijay 10 crewmembers, along with active and reserve crews from Charleston and McChord AFBs flew four more night missions. |
| 2005 | Crew of Train 60 Maj Michael S. Frame Maj Brian Lewis MSgt Tommy Lee MSgt John "Mickey" Spillane TSgt Corey Turner | Train 60 crewmembers were C-130 instructors for the newly formed Iraqi Air Force. The crew's unprecedented mission was to act as the inaugural Iraqi "Air Force One" and take the Iraq Prime Minister from Baghdad to Al Sulaymania to meet with Kurdish leaders. During the mission, Train 60 crewmembers instructed Iraqi aircrew members on flight procedures in a combat environment, quickly improvised a low-level route through mountains to avoid low ceilings and landed on a taxi way at an uncontrolled and uncompleted Iraqi airfield that did not have an American security presence. Their efforts ensured the safety of the all Iraqi crew and the Iraqi head of state during this landmark airlift event. |
| 2006 | Capt Scott Markle | A-10 flight over Afghanistan |