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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0637.PDF
THE CURTISS MARINE FLYING TROPHY RACE THE Curtiss Marine Flying Trophy Race, which was held at Detroit on October 8 last, provided several exciting thrills. Postponed from the previous day on account of unfavourable weather, the conditions under which it was flown were by no means ideal, and out of the eight starters (ten entered) only two completed the course. The latter comprised a closed circuit of 20 miles, which had to be covered eight times, making a total of 160 miles. The start and finish were opposite Memorial Park, facing Belle Island" in Detroit River, the course running along Belle Island and south of Peach Isle to a barge moored off the Canadian shore, thence across the mouth of the Detroit River and back along the northern bank. The first four laps had to be covered entirely in flight, but at the end of the fifth, sixth, and seventh laps the com petitors had to come down and taxi on the water for a distance of 400 yds. over a hairpin section marked out around the starting barge, then take off again and proceed on the next lap. This was quite ^.n original and interesting feature for a seaplane race, and one that helped considerably to liven up the proceedings. Excitement came with the fifth lap when the leading man, No. 15, came to taxi, which he did at rather high speed, in a cross wind, and narrowly missed the barge. No. 15 was more successful, going at less speed, but No. 4 more or less.repeated No. 5's performance. The others came along in the same order as before. No. 3 experienced difficulties in taxi-ing and came to a stop between the two barges, and whilst motor boats were towing the machine out of the way No. 15, flying high, and No. 4 close behind, low down, came along for the taxi list. The former overshot the commence ment of the taxi line, whilst the latter dived down close to the barge. Both managed to round the barge, but with great difficulty, and only fine piloting avoided a collision. A surprise marked the end of the sixth lap, for No. 10, previously last, came in third, Nos. 5 and 12 having dropped out—the former crashing (fortunately without hurt to the pilot) near the Edison Station, and the latter through engine trouble. There were now only three left in the race, Nos. 4, 15, and 10. The last lap had to be completed in full flight, and No. 4 (Lieut. Sanderson) was almost on the point of -:•••/•. •' .'•' \;-.:----":- •/•:"• :.' >-.V: .- ^^^•r"i:-^,V u THE CURTISS MODEL TS BIPLANE : This machine, which was built under special contract for the U.S. Navy, can be adapted for either land or sea work, the substitution of pontoons for land gear, as seen above, being easily accomplished. Note the petrol tank formed in lower centre section. The eight competitors were started off at intervals of one minute in the following order : (No. 5) Lieut. R. Irvine, Curtiss 18.T triplane, 375 h.p. Curtiss D.12 ; (No. 16) Lieut. D. Rittenhouse, Navy-Curtiss TR.3 biplane, 220 h.p. Wright E.3 ; (No. 12) Lieut. S. W. Calloway, Navy-Curtiss TS.i, 220 h.p. Lawrance J.i ; (No. 15) Lieut. A. W. Gorton, Navy-Curtiss TR.i, 220 h.p. Lawrance J.i ; (No. 3) Lieut. W. K. Patterson, Gallaudet D.4, 420 h.p. Liberty ; (No. 4) Lieut. L. H. Sanderson, Curtiss 18.T triplane 375 h.p. Curtiss D.12 ; (No. 10) Lieut. H. A. Elliott, Vought VE.7.H biplane, 220 h.p. Wright E.2 ; and (No. 11) Lieut. H. J. Brow, Navy-Curtiss, TS.2, 240 h.p. Aeromarine U.8.D. Lieut Gorton (No. 15) won the Trophy at an average speed of ii2'65 m.p.h., the only other to finish being Lieut. Elliott (No. 10), whose average was 109 m.p.h. We refer briefly to the machines later. At the end of the first lap No. 16 over took No. 5, and the others remained as before. In the second lap Nos. 16 and 5 were first and second respectively, but No. 15 obtained third place from No. 12, and No. 4 changed position with No. 3. In the third lap the only change was that No. 4 got ahead of No. 12. In the next lap two machines, Nos. 15 and 11, dropped out of the race, the former's propeller having worked loose, and the latter losing all his cooling water through a leak. victory when he ran out of petrol when half-way home, almost in sight of the finishing line. Thus, No. 15 (Lieut. Gorton) finished first, with No. 10 (Lieut. Elliott) not far behind. The winning machine, the Curtiss TR.i, and the TR.3, TS.i and TS.2 are all very much the same type of machine, differing only in the engines fitted and the wing sections employed. These machines were designed to give the smallest and most compact type giving the maximum facilities for erection and take-down on board ship. With this end in view all wires and turnbuckles in the wing bracing have been eliminated. The fuel tank is carried in the lower plane centre section, and is detachable so as to be dropped out of the machine at the will of the pilot. Another feature is the provision of interchangeable landing gear, enabling wheels to be fitted for land work or twin pontoons for water work as desired. The TS models have the U.S.A.27 wing section, and the Lawrence J.i 220 h.p. 9 cyl. radial air-cooled engine is fitted to the TS.i, whilst the TS.2 has an Aeromarine U.8.D 240 h.p. 8 cyl. water-cooled V engine. The TR models have modified R."A.F.i5 wing sections, and TR.i is fitted with the Lawrance J.i, and TR.3 the Wright E.3 220 h.p. 8 cyl. water-cooled V engine. 637
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