George Otto Noville

George Otto Noville (April 24, 1890 – January 3, 1963) also known as "Noville" and "Rex" was a pioneer in polar and trans-Atlantic aviation in the 1920s, and winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross. He served with Commander Richard E. Byrd on the historic (but controversial) 1926 flight to the North Pole, as third in command. He was flight engineer on the America (the third plane to fly non stop over the Atlantic Ocean), and was executive officer of Byrd’s Second Antarctic Exploration 1933-35. Mount Noville and Noville Peninsula in Antarctica are named after him.

George Noville was born on April 24, 1890 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the son of Otto J. Noville (1870–1936), a rich and well-known hat manufacturer. He was an officer in the United States Naval Reserve and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander on December 17, 1927.

In 1927, in a trimotor Fokker C-2 monoplane, named America he flew with Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen, and Bert Acosta on their record setting transatlantic flight.

In 1927, Byrd decided to partner with Floyd Bennett (his co-pilot on the North Pole flight), and attempt to win the Orteig Prize which offered a $25,000 reward for the first non-stop flight from New York City to Paris. The plane chosen for this flight was a Fokker C-2 monoplane named America. George O. Noville was selected as the flight and fuel engineer. On April 20, 1927, during a test flight in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, the plane somersaulted when landing, breaking Byrd’s arm and knocking him unconscious. The crash also injured Bennett and Noville required surgery for internal injuries. A fourth person on America, aircraft designer Anthony Fokker, was not injured.

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