Floyd Bennett (October 25, 1890 – April 25, 1928) was a United States Naval Aviator who, along with then USN Commander Richard E. Byrd, made the first flight to the North Pole in May 1926.

He was an automobile mechanic before he enlisted in the Navy in 1917, during World War I. Bennett attended flight school, learned to fly and was rated as an Aviation Pilot.

[3] Although members of the European press were skeptical of their claim (because it seemed that the plane had been away from Spitzbergen too briefly to have reached the North Pole), Byrd and Bennett were lionized as heroes in America.

The subsequent discovery of Byrd's diary of the flight, with erased (but still legible) sextant readings, has been considered as evidence they might not have reached the North Pole.

After returning to the United States, Bennett flew the Josephine Ford on a goodwill tour of America, with Bernt Balchen as his co-pilot.

Byrd and his team had been leading candidates to win the large Orteig Prize in 1927, to be awarded for the first nonstop flight between France and the United States.

Following this failure by Bennett and Byrd, Charles Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize, flying from Long Island, New York, nonstop to Paris, France.

[9] Shortly after his return to the United States, Bennett was promoted from Chief Aviation Pilot to the warrant officer rank of Machinist.