General Muir Stephen Fairchild (September 2, 1894 – March 17, 1950) was a United States Air Force officer and the service's second Vice Chief of Staff.

In 1916, he was deployed in the Washington National Guard with the rank of sergeant, and his unit joined in the search for Pancho Villa along the Mexican border, where he spent much time in a horse saddle in the desert heat.

The flight originated with five aircraft and crews taking off from Kelly Field, Texas on December 21, 1926, seeking to land in 23 Central and South American countries.

The aircraft used for the journey were new observation planes, the Loening OA-1A that could be used as both landplanes and seaplanes, with Liberty engines and a wood interior structure with an aluminum-covered fuselage and fabric-covered wings.

Clinton F. Woolsey, Lt. John Benton; Crew of the St. Louis: Lt. Bernard Thompson, Lt. Leonard Weddington The flight was marred by tragedy when the Detroit and New York accidentally collided mid-air and got locked together.

The Pan American Flyers were greeted by a cheering crowd including President Calvin Coolidge, Cabinet members, and diplomats from Central and Latin America when they returned to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., on May 2, 1927.

Fairchild and the rest of the surviving Pan American Flight crew, and Charles Lindbergh, were among the first nine aviators to receive the newly created award Distinguished Flying Cross.

Only one year and ten months later, General Fairchild died of a heart attack at his quarters at Fort Myer on March 17, 1950, while still on active duty as vice chief of staff at the Pentagon.