FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0805.PDF
DECEMBER I, 1921 THE SECOND ANNUAL PULITZER RACE AT OMAHA Won by Acosta on the Curtiss-Navy Racer Six machines were entered for the second Pulitzer Race heldat Omaha on November 3. These were : Make. Engine. Pilot. 435 Curtiss C.i 2 .. Coombs. 400 Curtiss C.D.12 Acosta. 400 Curtiss C.i2 .. Bertaud. 300 Wright .. MacReady.300 Wright . . Hartney. 225 S.P.A Curran. The Curtiss-Navy was built for the Navy as a racer, with the Pulitzer Race in view. As the Government decided to with- Curtiss-Cox.. Curtiss-Navy Ansaldo Balilla Thomas-Morse M.B.6 Thomas-Morse M.B.7 S.V.A. o weight empty is 1,735 !bs. The total weight is 2,165 lbs., giving a power loading of 5 • 24 lbs./h.p., and a wing loading of 12-5 lbs./sq. ft. The estimated high speed is 190 m.p.h., and the landing speed 70 m.p.h. The speed made in the race was 176-7 m.p.h., which is claimed as a world's record for a triangular course, the speed made by Kirsch in the Coupe Deutsch being 173 m.p.h. The Curtiss-Cox is the •'Tex is-Wildcat "' machine of last year's Gordon-Bennett race, fitted with triplane wings. It was built by the Curtiss Company to the order of Mr. Cox of Texas, whose memory still lives at Etampes and surrotinding country. In its new form, the machine has a span of 20 ft., The winner of the Pulitzer Race: The Curtiss-Navy Racer flown by Bert Acosta. m draw from participation in the competition, the Navy Depart- ment lent the machine to the Curtiss Company, and she was flown to victory in the race by Bert Acosta. As the accom- panying photograph (for which we are indebted to our New York contemporary Aviation) shows, the machine is a biplane, and looks somewhat like a cross between the racing Nieuports a length of 19 ft. 3 ins., an area of 175 sq. ft., and a grossweight of 2,406 lbs. The wing loading is 13-75 lbs./sq. ft., and the'power loading 5-53 lbs./h.p. The indicated speedat ground level is 196 m.p.h., landing speed 70 m,p.h. Although actually the faster machine, the " Cactus Kitten "averaged 170-26 m.p.h. " only " in the race, owing probably m m The Cur- tis s - Cox (" Cactus Kitten") Racer on which Coombs finished second in the Pulitzer Race. m- and the Gloucestershire " Mars I." The fuselage is of mono- coque construction, with the pilot's cockpit placed well aft. There is a single pair of N-struts on each side, and the straight wings, which have a span of 22 ft. 8 ins., have their tips rounded off. Lamblin radiators are fitted between the chassis Vees. The length o.a. of the machine is 21 ft., and the to Clarence Coombs not talcing his turns so sharply as did Acosta on the Curtiss-Navy racer. On the straight Coombs' machine appeared to gain. Colonel Hartney, who was flying a Thomas-Morse " M.B.7 '' semi-cantilever monoplane with 300 h.p. Wright-Hispano engine, had to make a forced landing, and was severely injured. 805
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
