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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1054.PDF
200FLIGHT, 3 August1956 (Above) Art Chester's famous "Swee' Pea," with butterfly tail and airscrew-spinner air intake. (Right, reading downwards) The Hurlburt Hurricane, Curtiss XP-40Q-3 and LeVier "Little Minnow." All these aircraft competed in 1947, and in 1948 "Fish" Salmon won the Good- year with the last-named. AIR RACING IN THE U.S.A. . . . Cleveland was selected once more for the 1948 Nationalsfrom September 4 to 6. The usual events were listed, and good support came for the Goodyear midgets class with 24entries, out of which nine won through to the final. An unfor- tunate occurrence was the Gee-Bee crash which killed Paul A.de Blois during its tests. The miniature racer had been built by the son of the late Zantford D. Granville, designer of the earlierGee-Bees. Paul Mantz brought off his third consecutive Bendix win but ata lower speed. The Navy's VF-51 squadron competed for the jet division of the long-distance classic from Long Beach, Cal., inFJ-1 Furies. The same unit flew for the Indianapolis to Cleve- land Allison Trophy. Ten finalists started for the Thompson and only three finished,the rest gradually retiring as the laps mounted. Another year passed and Cleveland was the home for the 1949National Air Races from September 3 to 5. Service participa- tion was still strong and the U.S.A.F. was able to show its newThunderjets and Sabres to the crowds. The Bendix entrants were given a racehorse start, the first arrival being the winner,which turned out to be Joe DeBona's Mustang. The Thompson "J" proved a great strain on the aircraft over a closed course andwas considered unsuitable for further open competition. The Thompson course was shortened to 225 miles in place of 300miles and, at the start of the "R" division, the spectators were shocked to see Bill Odom's fatal crash in his Mustang fittedwith wing-tip radiators. The National Guard were newly equipped with Shooting Stars and flew them from Indianapolisto Cleveland for the Allison Trophy. The midget racers, for the third and final year of Goodyearsponsorship, were well to the fore in numbers. Thirty-nine entries were received and, out of 25 starters, ten finalists wereleft after the heats and the semi-finals. The 1947 winner, William Brennand, repeated his success with Buster.1950 was the first year, apart from the war period, when the Nationals were not held. The fatal crashes of the past fewmeetings had raised doubts about the advisability of continuing to race with modern high speed aircraft. This was especiallytrue of closed-course events with their dangers of low-altitude pylon turns. The Continental Motors Corporation had agreed to take overthe sponsorship of the midgets for a three-year term and their challenge trophy was competed for at the Detroit InternationalAir Fair. John Paul Jones was the winner at 187.78 m.p.h. in Little Toni over the finals' course of twelve laps of two miles.An unfortunate incident was the fatal crash of J. Vosyka during the third elimination heat. The Professional Race Pilots Associa- tion sponsored the Art Chester Memorial Trophy Race and thiswas won by Robert Downey at 187.990 m.p.h. Air Foundation and the Aero Club of Michigan brought theNationals to life again at Detroit in 1951 at the National Air Show from August 17 to 19. The Bendix Trophy was awarded for a straight speed dashby jets from Edwards Air Force Base, Muroc, Cal., to Detroit, a distance of 1,919 miles, and the Allison for jets flying to Indiana-polis and back again to Detroit. The Thompson Trophy was given to Col. Fred Ascani for his 100-km world record attempt at628.69 m.p.h. and he also received the Allegheny Ludlum award. As pylon racing was banned except for the midgets the normalThompson race could not be held, so the trophy was presented for the record attempt, for which special permission had beengiven. The fourth race, which the U.S.A.F. flew, was the speed dash from Chicago to Detroit over 257 miles. The sole civilian event consisted of the Continental MotorsTrophy Race for the midgets, and John Paul Jones in Shoestring won for the second consecutive year, with an increase of 10 m.p.h.in his speed. The year 1952 was a bleak one for American air racing. AirFoundation was not tempted to organize the Nationals but the midget race took place for the Continental Motors Trophy. Thefinals were held at Detroit during the fifth International Air Fair Two 1949 entrants, the clipped-wing Bell P-63C-5 (Thompson Race) and Martin B-26C (Bendix Race).
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