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Paul Mantz, Lockheed-Orion Plane

Paul Mantz

Paul Mantz has entered his Lockheed-Orion in the Bendix Trophy Race. It is powered with a Wright Cyclone, 715 horsepower engine and is expected to cruise at more than 225 miles per hour.
Mantz operated a flying school in San Francisco until 1931 when he broke the world's outside loop record with 46 consecutive loops. He came to Burbank in 1931 and started operation at Union Air Terminal. He then became technical advisor of Amelia Earhart, accompanying her on a flight to Honolulu. Three years ago he entered the Bendix Trophy race with Miss Earhart, using a Lockheed Vega. They carried Al Menasco, prominent motor manufacturer, with them, and placed fifth in the race after maintaining the ship's cruising speed all the way. They did not attempt to force the Vega to top racing speed.
Mantz is one of California's native sons, having been born at Alameda, which is now the base for Pan-American's China Clipper.
He has a Link Trainer which he uses to teach pilots instrument flying, and after they become proficient at it, he graduates them to his hooded blind flying 'plane.
Mantz has long operated a "Honeymoon Express" between Burbank and Arizona or Nevada. It has been estimated that he has carried more movie stars and directors to their "Gretna Greens" than any other pilot. He has been technical advisor for many moving pictures which include: "Men With Wings," a complete history of aviation; "Test Pilot," starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy; "Night Flight"; "Air Mail"; and "The Dawn Patrol."

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Bob Perlick, Beechcraft Plane

Bob Perlick

When Bob Perlick, Glendale flyer, takes his Beechcraft racer off the runway at the Union Air Terminal in Burbank, he doesn't care a hoot whether or not he sees the ground again until he lands at Cleveland. The cabin of his airplane is filled with extra gas tanks that carry enough gas to take him through without a stop. He will fly at an altitude of 20,000 feet, almost four miles up, as that is the height at which his motor operates at its utmost efficiency. Blind flying instruments and two-way radio communications will aid him in keeping to his course. Dr. W. D. Lovelace of the Mayo Clinic lent him the necessary oxygen equipment for flying in the sub-stratosphere.
Perlick has spent a year planning and grooming his ship for the Bendix Trophy Race and believes that he has an excellent chance of finishing first. The regular 450 horsepower motor has been supplanted by an F-56 Cyclone which is capable of developing 775 horsepower. The tail of the Beechcraft has been lengthened eighteen inches and the nose has been set forward. With these improvements, Perlick expects to fly at well over 250 miles per hour.
Perlick learned to fly in Oregon in 1919. His training ship was one of the old Jennys. He barn-stormed in the states of Washington and Oregon for several years. More recently, he has been doing commercial sky-writing for the Pepsicola Company and for the S. S. Rex, using a Stearman and a J-5 Travel-air.
The Beechcraft Racer to be used by Perlick in the Bendix Trophy Race was originally built to be used in the London to Melbourne Air Race, but was not completed in time. Bob Fogg, who owned the ship at that time, sold it to Howard Hughes. Perlick purchased it from Hughes. The ship's log shows that only the three flyers above listed have ever flown it.