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1946 Bendix Trophy Race Fact Sheet
page 2

Of the total purse of $25,000 provided by the Bendix Corp., $24,000 goes to the winners of the first seven places in the "R" division and $1,000 to the winner of the "J" division. There will be no competition between the two divisions.
The $24,000 purse for the free-for-all division will be divided among the winners as follows: First place, $10,000; second place, $5,500; third place, $3,000; fourth place, $2,500; fifth place, $1,500; sixth place, $1,000; seventh place, $500. In addition, $1,000 will be awarded to the woman pilot with the fastest time between Van Nuys and Cleveland. Fastest elapsed time between Van Nuys and Cleveland will determine the winner.
The famous Jimmie Doolittle, who led the Army Air Forces' heavy bombers over Europe during the war, won the first Bendix Trophy Race in 1931. He flew a Laird biplane from Los Angeles to Cleveland with an average speed of 223 miles per hour. From Cleveland he flew on to New York to set a new transcontinental speed record of 11 hours, 16 minutes, breaking the previous record by an hour.
Jimmie Haislip won the race in 1932, setting a new record of 245 m.p.h. which stood until 1937. Roscoe Turner won the race the next year and was beaten out in 1934 by Doug Davis. Turner, however, continued on to New York to set a new transcontinental record of 10 hours, 3 minutes.
The 1935 race was a neck and neck affair between Turner and Ben O. Howard who finished 23 seconds apart with Howard winning. The 1936 race was won by Louis Thaden and three of the other four prizes were won by women pilots.
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