1954: Col. David Burchinal remains aloft while piloting a Boeing B-47 Stratojet for 47 hours and 35 minutes. This endurance record was the result of extremely poor weather over England and France. Burchinal refueled nine times while waiting for the weather to improve enough to land. (USAF Image)
Burchinal later revealed that he had planned to set an endurance record on that flight without official authorization, but at the time, did not admit to it when questioned by a wing inspector. The curious details may be found in his personal interview at the link below.
https://archive.org/details/afhra-k-wg-43-su-re/AFHRA%20K239.0512-837%2C%20oral%20history%20interview%201975/page/n13/mode/2up