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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0981.PDF
20 July 1956 127 On the right, reading down, are the Wittman "Chief Oshkosh" of 1935; the Howard DGA-6 "Mr. Mulligan," winner of the 1935 Bendix Race; and the Rider-Clark R-3, a Bendix entry in 1935. Travel Air. The indomitable "Casey" Jones was once more amongthe prize-winners in his faithful but now ageing Oriole; and the Mitchell Trophy went to the Army's R-l, with Lt. L. G. Elliottin the cockpit. Curtiss Jennies still formed the equipment of the Reserve, andeleven National Guard pilots from Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania units heroically raced their ancient mounts for thecrowds for the last time. Ultra-light enthusiasts received plenty of opportunity to display their talents in three special events, andregular contests of previous years made up the rest of the attractions, interspersed with specialities. In 1927 the Nationals moved West, so that the thrills of airracing could be brought to a new audience. The show was at Felts Field, Spokane, Washington, on September 23-24. The programmewas planned by the Air Derby Association of Spokane and the N.A.A. to demonstrate improved aircraft performance, and itbrought in new rules. The old "on to" races were abolished and high speed cross-country "Derbies" substituted, with separate classes. Starting on September 19, "A" and "B" National Air Derbies were fromRoosevelt Field, New York, and from Mills Field, Santa Anna, Cal. To make the best use of the horsepower available, most ofthe events were divided into engine classifications instead of aircraft types. Interest in the lightplanes was disappointing, E. B.Heath's Parasol being the sole entry in both sections. Greater Service participation was seen, six out of the twelve events, apartfrom the Derbies, being for military aircraft. For the first time, a non-stop transcontinental Derby from NewYork to Spokane was scheduled. Three entries were received but only two succeeded in getting airborne with their heavy fuel loads.These were Eddie Stinson and Fred Koehler, in a Stinson Detroiter —they retired at Missoula, Montana—and C. A. ("Duke") Schillerand Edward Bonn in the Royal Windsor of the same type; they had to land at Billings, Montana. The Air King biplane madetwo false starts and gave up at die Roosevelt Field starting point. A Douglas transport disgorged nine parachutists in 18 secondsas a supporting item at the Spokane meeting—which, incidentally, was the first of the series to make a profit. Aircraft design trendsstill showed the biplane to be predominating. The National Guard, their Jennies gone, were at last able to show new equipmentin their Douglas O-2s. The West Coast retained the Nationals for the second yearrunning, when they were held over nine days from September 8 to 16 at Mines Field concurrently with the 1928 Los AngelesAeronautical Exposition. In keeping with the growth of com- mercial flying in the country the programme was the mostambitious to date and the Services grasped the opportunity to display their new aircraft in eleven out of the eighteen closed-course events. The Navy contingent was particularly strong; their Seahawks aerobatted alongside the Army's Three Musketeers,while all three Services showed their bombing and attack squadrons.Six Derbies were run, from New York, San Francisco and Oakland, with an international class from Windsor, Ont. Thenon-stop transcontinental event from New York was a failure for the second time, bad weather bringing down the two entrantsbefore the finish. The Mitchell trophy was again included, after a year's absence,but the Army withdrew from the Liberty Engine Builders' contest, leaving the field free for the Navy. Something new in lightplaneswas the Heath Baby Bullet, the first home-built racing special to appear. The races and supporting programme were watched by400,000 spectators. Public enthusiasm for flying was high; but it was noticed,nevertheless, that for some months afterwards people seemed to lose confidence in air travel, and then regained it. This was despitecareful planning by the N.A.A., and such propaganda items as a parade of nine Ford Trimotors and fifteen Ryan Broughams.One reaction among the competitors was that the Derbies should be confined to stock commercial aircraft, with a separate sectionfor experimental racing specials. In 1929 it was the turn of the East; Cleveland, Ohio, was thehome of the Nationals from August 24 to September 2. The programme showed a decline in Service events, only six out ofthe total of twenty-six closed-course contests being thus restricted, while four of the remainder were confined to women, who alsohad their own Derby from Santa Monica. Women's flying licences now totalled more than one hundred.The races were planned to present the best possible show to the public while also enabling manufacturers to enter various designclasses in which they could assess the performance of their products in competition with other makes. A new kind of eliminationrace, the Australian Pursuit Handicap, was also introduced, in which an aircraft had to retire as soon as it was passed.The 1929 Nationals were notable in several other ways. For the first time, the non-stop Coast-to-Coast from Los Angeles wassuccessful as a race, being won by Henry J. Brown in his Hornet- powered Lockheed Air Express at 156.2 m.p.h. Seven otherDerbies, run from widely separated points, included the inter- national event from Toronto. The year 1929 was also rememberedfor the donation by Thompson Products, Cleveland, of a trophy for a free-for-all civilian race over 50 miles—and for the fact thatthe Travel Air Mystery S flown by Douglas Davis won it at 194 m.p.h., thus becoming the first civilian machine to exceedthe speed of military aircraft at the races. The Cierva 19 Mk 2 gave the first public Autogiro demonstration seen in the U.S.A. In spite of the general feeling that 26 field events and numerousDerbies were more than were necessary, the programme for 1930 emerged with no fewer than 40 closed-course contests and sixDerbies. The mammoth spectacle was spread over nine days from August 23 to September 1, the Middle West acting as hostat Curtiss-Reynolds Airport, Chicago. Service participation was still further reduced, with only five events. The race for the Thompson Trophy, now an annual event, wasof note as the only event won by a biplane, C. W. Holman's oddly named Laird Solution (built during the three weeks before therace and test-flown for ten minutes!). It was also the first closed- course civilian race to be won at an average speed of over 200 m.p.h.and the only Thompson in which a Service aircraft took part; this was the Curtiss XF6C-6 Navy Racer, which killed its pilot, Capt.Arthur Page. Spectators were given a better view of the proceedings by theprovision of racing pits before the stands, where they were able to note such refinements of design as the use of N.A.C.A. andTownend cowlings. Wiley Post beat three other Lockheed Vegas to win the non-stoptranscontinental Derby from Los Angeles in Winnie Mae. Many of the best pilots from abroad displayed their talents. Balloonbursting, aerobatics, gliders, parachuting and other diversions filled the rest of the bill. Next year, 1931, the races returned to Cleveland and were stagedfrom August 29 until September 7. A new prize was added by Vincent Bendix, who presented his annual trophy for long-distancecross-country racing, stops being allowed. The first recipient was Jimmy Doolittle in the Laird Super Solution, starting from LosAngeles. He continued to Newark, N.J., to break the West-to-East record. The Thompson went to Lowell Bayles in the Gee-Bee Z,which won with an increase in speed of 35 m.p.h. over that of the 1930 winner. Transcontinental Derbies were still popular, but it was noticeablethat in the Bendix nearly all the entries were large commercial aircraft with the necessary range; an exception was the winningLaird, which—alone among them—was a biplane. Design showed a cleaning-up, with the use of increased power, retractableundercarriages and the deletion of struts and wires. At the 1931 meeting the airship Akron put in an appearance, and 36 Armyand 36 Navy aircraft included 12 flying-boats. Racing pits were again a feature. The races stayed at Cleveland for 1932 and were held from
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