The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

Chapter Chapter 3 3 - - - The The Golden Golden Age: Age: 1919 1919 -1939
-1939
The original Gee Bee Racer was flown by one of America’s great aviation
pioneers, James “Jimmy” Doolittle. This replica, built and flown by Delmar
Benjamin, puts on a spectacular show at events like the EAA’s Annual Fly-
In at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. ( EAA)
Like the Pulitzer Trophy Race, this was
a pylon race, meaning that it was flown
around a circuit marked by towers (pylons).
The Thompson Trophy was awarded
annually until the outbreak of World War
II.
In 1931, the Bendix Trophy Race, a
transcontinental speed race, was added to
the National Air Races. Rather than fly
around a closed course, the Bendix Race
was flown from the West Coast to
Cleveland, Ohio. Jimmy Doolittle was a
winner of the Bendix Trophy. Both the
Bendix and Thompson Races were resumed
after World War II ended, but neither
regained the glory of the prewar years.
Cy Bellis in a Curtiss R3C-1 racer at
248 mph. Although the Pulitzer Trophy
Race was conducted for only 6 years,
American air racing improved. The
winning speed had increased by nearly
100 mph.
In 1930, Charles E. Thompson,
president of Thompson Products, Inc.,
established a trophy to encourage
faster land-based aircraft. The
Thompson Trophy Race was the
feature event of the National Air
Races. It was an open event with no
limit on fuel, or number or type of
engines. It was open to civilian and
military aircraft.
The Curtiss Army R3C-2 Racing Biplane
Another air race, although not a part of the National Air Races, was the Schneider Trophy Race.
Jacques Schneider, a French aviation enthusiast, started this race in 1913. Schneider felt that water
aircraft were not developing fast enough, so he offered a trophy for an annual race over open water by
seaplanes. The 1913 race had four entries and only one finished. The average speed was 45.8 mph.
By 1931, when the Schneider Trophy was retired, the speed had increased to over 340 mph. The
Schneider Trophy Races led to the development of seaplanes like the English Supermarine S.6B and
the Italian Macchi MC-72. Both of these aircraft were faster than any land aircraft of the l930s. In
October 1934, the MC-72 established a world record for seaplanes of 440.68 mph. This speed is still a
record for propeller-driven seaplanes and will probably never be beaten.
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