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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0603.PDF
OCTOBER 19, 1922 THE 1922 PULITZER TROPHY RACE THIS year's Pulitzer Race, which was flown on October 14, was won by Lieut. R. L. Maugham, flying one of the Army- Curtiss Racers, who covered the 160 miles triangular course at a speed of 206 m.p.h. Lieut. Maitland, in a similar machine, was second. We give below some brief particulars and illustrations—for which we are indebted to our American contemporary, Avixtion—of some of the competing machines. The out standing feature of this year's race is the comparatively large number of new machines, specially built for this race, and entered by the U.S. Army and Navy Services. It is reported that there were 21 entries, made up as follows :—U.S. Army : Two Curtiss biplanes, two Loening monoplanes, two Thomas- Morse TM 22 monoplanes, three Verville-Sperry monoplanes, last year's Pulitzer race, but with certain modifications, and improvements. These two machines differ only in that one year's model is fitted with Lamblin radiators, mounted on the landing chassis, whilst the other is equipped with the wing type radiator. The fuselage, of Curtiss-ply construction, is carefully streamlined and of the minimum cross-sectional area. The wings are of multi-spar construction, with Curtiss-ply covering. The petrol tank is mounted between the top plane and the fuselage, and is streamlined. A Curtiss CD. 12, 12-cylinder engine is fitted, which develops 400 h.p. at 2,000 r.p.m. A simplified oiling system, reducing the number of tanks and parts to a minimum, is employed, in addition to an improved type of oil cooler, which maintains a constant oil temperature, low enough to permit the engine to deliver THE PULITZER TROPHY RACE :—One of the two Army-Curtiss Racers entered by the U.S. Army Air Service. These machines have wing radiators, and are fitted with 375 h.p. Curtiss D 12 engines. One of these machines, piloted by Lieut. R. L. Maugham, won the trophy at a speed of 206 m.p.h. one Verville-Packard biplane (type of 1920 Pulitzer winner), and six Thomas-Morse MB 3 pursuit biplanes. U.S. Navy : An improved Curtiss biplane, a Curtiss "Wild-cat" triplane, a Thomas-Morse MB 7 monoplane, one "Bee-Line" (Booth- Thurston) monoplane, and the Navy " Mystery " plane. The Curliss Machines.—The Curtiss fleet consisted of a Navy racer, biplane, and a racing triplane, entered by the U.S. Navy, and two Army racers, -entered by the U.S. Army. An outstanding feature with three of these machines may be said to consist of the employment of wing-radiators—radiators built into and following the contour of the wing itself—instead of the usual type of water-cooling radiators. We refer to this again later. The Navy racer is similar to the type which won its maximum horse-power at full throttle. Aluminium and duralumin have been made use of to the fullest possible extent, including in many instances piping, tanks, fittings, etc. The principal characteristics of the Navy Racer are as follows :— Span (overall), 22 ft. 8 ins. ; length, 21 ft. ; height, 8 ft. 11 ins. ; chord, 4 ft. ; gap, 4 ft. ; stagger, 1 ft. 3 ins. ; wing section, Sloan ; angle of incidence, o° ; dihedral (lower), 20 ; total wing area, 168 sq. ft. ; area of ailerons, 18 sq. ft. ; 2 sq. ft. ; tail plane, 12*6 sq. ft. ; fin, 4.8 sq. ft. ; sq. ft. ; weight empty, 1,735 lbs. ; weight laden, loading/sq. ft., 12-5 lbs.; loading/h.p., 5*24; speed range, 70-190 m.p.h. It is estimated that with the wing-radiators an increase in speed of 10 m.p.h. is obtained. elevators, 9 rudder, 4-8 2,165 lbs. ; THE PULITZER TROPHY RACE : The Navy-Curtiss Racer entered by the U.S. Navy. This machine has radiators embodied in the wings (the previous Navy-Curtiss Racer hav.ng Lamblin radiators), 400 h.p, Curtiss CD 12 engine. 603 D
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