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AMERICA'S CLASSIC OF THE AIR By Herbert E. Prentke After a six years' lapse during which the National Air Races were suspended due to the war, Cleveland again plays host to "America's Classic of the Air." Temporarily, and until such time as a permanent stadium can be built again, the facilities adjacent to the huge former bomber plant at the south end of the airport will be utilized for the staging of these annual events. Much has been accomplished in these former yearly gatherings since their inception 37 years ago when the first even was held in Rheims, France, before a small gathering chiefly inspired by curiosity. More must and will be done to make them ever more popular and immeasurably more useful, despite the fact that the National Air Races are recognized world-wide as the most distinguished of competitive aeronautical projects, designed for the advancement of aviation in all of its phases. A Proving Ground It has often been said that the Air Races are nothing more than air circuses or carnivals of flying. Call them what you will they are a great deal ore than glorified spectacles of speed and acrobatics. They provide a laboratory, a final proving ground for developments in design, construction and refinement. Here, by tradition, faster ships, more efficient and reliable motors, and safer transportation are given the world by fearless men who dare to prove or disprove the product of aeronautical engineering genius. Their accomplishments set about to prove the usefulness of aircraft as the ultimate factor in modern transportation and more deadly efficient military and naval planes for our National defense. Just as the annual five-hundred-mile races at Indianapolis have put the final acid test on many outstanding improvements in the automotive industry, so have the national Air Races brought to aviation invaluable contributions. Many factors leading directly to safer air travel, reliability, take-off, landing and speed with safety have been finally tested during race trials. Developments Some of the noticeable developments the National Air Races helped to prove practicable are the controllable pitch propeller; streamlined landing wheel pants; retractable landing gear; landing flaps; high octane fuels; engine supercharging and many other refinements of major and minor importance. Behind the scenes in the hangars mechanics and pilots groom the motors and planes before and after every race while aviation technicians make drastic studies and lend inspiration. They may add a little plastic wood to change the path of the rushing air along the fuselage. they may tighten a turnbuckle, change the angle of a tail surface ever so slightly, raise or lower the streamline engine cowling a quarter of an inch, alter the pitch of propeller blades a hundredth degree, pull apart a carburetor to adjust the jets, remove all spark plugs and measure the gaps to ten thousandths of an inch or any one of a hundred and one things, depending on the previous performance of the plane. Opportunities The National Air Races offer greater opportunities for observation than any other event in the nation. The men and women who strive for records and prizes do no supply all the show. The services - crack contingents from the Army Air Corps, the Navy and the Marines by tradition, attend these annual pageants of air progress to present their new ships and demonstrate the precision with which they fly them. This year you will be privileged to witness the greatest display of air might ever presented. Then too, famous flyers, dignitaries, socialites and the industry's personnel, who always find the National Air Races a pleasant and profitable rendezvous, add color and glamor. When it comes to aircraft, some of practically everything that flies can be seen in the air or parked some place on the airport to the extent that many people have gained from observation sufficient information to identify types and models today just as they identify automobiles. Of course, there is an element of danger just as there is in automobile racing, football, horse racing and other vital sports. The rapid technical developments in construction and the skill and experience of pilots are reducing that and fine management, government and N. A. A. regulations, and splendid airport regulations have eliminated public hazards. Aviation Progress The fustian statements of a few uninformed critics that National Air Races have no direct bearing on aviation progress are surely disintegrating under the white light of an intelligent consideration of facts. No one complains if, in the eyes of headline readers or of father, mother and the boys National Air Races are a supercircus, a world series in the air. It stimulates a broader interest in all types of air development in the minds of the public and greater use of its transportation facilities. This interest and use in turn will continue to inspire further development of the industry in all its branches. Let's Compare the Records A comparison of the 1946 program with the National Air Races of 1929 furnishes a clear picture of the changes that have taken place in aviation since that time. in 1929 there was a spot on the program for almost any ship that would fly. Thirty-five or forty events, including numerous air derbies, provided plenty of motion, but didn't prove anything. Today, to build a ship that can work its way up through the qualifying races into the Thompson Trophy Race requires a major investment. Fortunately, many of the pilots will fly the surplus Army and Navy fighter planes they purchased and groomed for the purpose. Previously, ten thousand dollars was the minimum one could invest in a plane that rated a chance as a main event winner. In the past few years, and particularly in 1946, the race program and the prize distribution have been altered to conform with this trend. In the five main events alone there is a total of $110,000 in prize money; $25,000 for the Bendix Trophy Race, free-for-all transcontinental speed dash; $40,000 for the Thompson Trophy Race, free-for-all closed course high speed classic including the Ludlum Allegheny Award; $25,000 for the Weatherhead Service Jet Speed Dashes; $15,000 for the Sohio Trophy Race, and $5,000 for the Halle Trophy Race. There is a direct relation between these increased prize awards for major events and the cost of building and entering racing planes. It means further stimulation of new design and the best and latest developments leading builders have to offer. The yearly changes in details of the main events indicate further revisions in the the future. While the so-called "air circus" features inspire and attract the public, it is the high speed racing, after all, that is the reason for these annual gatherings. And the little band of racing pilots and their flashy planes the industry and its personnel and the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Air forces make it possible. It is an absolute fact that transportation speeds, innovations and mechanical improvements have increased and been adopted in direct proportion to Air Race speeds and developments. The National Air Races, therefore, warrant the prestige that accrues to them since they are dedicated to aviation's advancement and designed to keep pace with its tempo. 1946 NATIONAL AIR RACES 19
