Lester J. Maitland - Between Wars

Between Wars

Following World War I, Maitland was assigned to McCook Field in Ohio from November 1918 to April 1919 as a pilot with the Testing Squadron. Maitland was transferred to Luke Field, Hawaii, and assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron on May 13, 1919. He petitioned to remain in the Army, passed the required examinations, and received a regular commission as a 1st lieutenant in the Air Service on July 1, 1920, the date that the service was recognized by law as an organizational part of the Army. Leaving Hawaii in May 1921, Maitland became an aide to General Billy Mitchell in July and was selected as one of the pilots to take part in the sinking of the battleship Ostfriesland, a military experiment set up by Mitchell to prove the effectiveness of air power against ships. In September and October 1925 he acted as an aide to Mitchell during the Morrow Board hearings.

During the 1920s, Maitland competed for the Air Service and its Air Corps successor in air races and pioneering flights as part of the service's program of generating favorable publicity. While Operations Officer for Col. Augustine Warner Robins at the Fairfield Air Intermediate Depot (FAID) in October 1922, he was part of the Army team at the National Air Races held that year at Selfridge Field, Michigan. On October 14, he reputedly became the first U.S. pilot to fly faster than 200 mph (320 kmh) and received a letter of congratulations from Orville Wright. Flying a Curtiss R-6 racer over a 50-kilometer (31 miles) course, Maitland finished second in the Pulitzer Trophy race, behind Army test pilot Lt. Russell Maughan but ahead of four Navy and eight Army racers, averaging 198.8 mph (319 kmh) and reporting brief blackouts during the tight pylon turns. On March 29, 1923, he set a world's absolute speed record of 236.58 mph (380.75 kmh) over one kilometer in the R-6, but the record was disqualified because he failed to maintain level flight. However he broke his own record in October when he flew at a recorded speed of 244.94 mph (394.19 kmh), also in the R-6.

On March 17, 1925, Maitland was assigned command of the new 18th Headquarters Squadron (redesignated from the 18th Observation Squadron) at Bolling Field, a position he held until June 4, 1925, when he returned to FAID. In November 1926 he began a three-year tour as Assistant Executive Officer to Assistant Secretary of War for Air F. Trubee Davison.