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Saturday, September 4, 1948

BENDIX TROPHY RACE

International Free-for-all Transcontinental Speed Dash

Open to Any Type Aircraft with Any Type Reciprocating Engines

Men and Women Pilots

TOTAL PURSE $25,000.00 and the BENDIX TROPHY

Sponsored by Bendix Aviation Corporation

The Bendix Aviation Corporation is sponsoring the BENDIX TROPHY RACE . . . a free-for-all transcontinental speed dash, starting at Van Nuys, California and finishing at Cleveland Municipal Airport, Cleveland, Ohio and will award the Bendix Trophy to the winner.

1. $24,000 of the above total purse will be awarded to the winners of the first seven places on the following basis:

1st Place — $10,000.00 and Trophy

2nd Place — $5,500.00
3rd Place — 3,000.00
4th Place — 2,500.00

5th Place — $1,500.00
6th Place — 1,000.00
7th Place — 500.00

2. $1,000.00 of the above total purse will be awarded to the first women pilot making the fastest elapsed time between the starting point at Van Nuys, California and the finishing point at the National Air Races, Cleveland, Ohio.

3. The contest may be flown either non-stop without refuel or with refueling in flight or with refuel landings, at the pilot's option. The shortest elapsed time from the starting point at Van Nuys, California, to the finishing point at Cleveland, Ohio, will be the basis for declaring the winner.

4. Aircraft or engines manufactured by any Nation are eligible, providing they carry an aircraft airworthiness certificate issued by the government of which the entrant is a citizen and approval of F. A. I.

5. Aircraft may be flown by United States pilots, as well as pilots from other Nations. However, aircraft entered must have been flown by their respective pilots a minimum of 10 hours by the pilot who will fly the aircraft in the race.

6. No pilot will be permitted to start in the Bendix Trophy Race unless an official entry blank has been filed with the Race Contest Committee at Cleveland before August 23, 1948. No airplane will be permitted to start which arrives at the starting point less than 24 hours before the start of the race. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THESE RULES.

7. All airplanes entered in the Bendix Trophy Race will be impounded at 12 o'clock noon, PST, Friday, September 3, 1948, by the Chairman of the West Coast Contest Committee for the Bendix Trophy Race. No airplane will be allowed to start that is not impounded at that time. After an airplane has been impounded at 12 o'clock noon, no one will be allowed to work on the airplane during the time it is impounded.

8. The last pilot's meeting for the Bendix Trophy Race, at which all contestants must be present, will be held at the starting point at 6:00 P. M., Friday, September 3, 1948. At this meeting the Bendix Committee will determine the pairings and the starting position for all entries. The starts will be made in pairs, each pair having the same takeoff time. An entry must arrive at the finish point at Cleveland between 12:00 noon and 6:00 P. M. on September 4, 1948, to be eligible for the prize money. The Contest Committee for the Bendix Trophy Race shall have the right to change predetermined starting time.

9. Airplanes entered in the Bendix Trophy Race must be equipped for instrument flight; pilots must hold an instrument rating, fly solo, wear crash helmets and parachutes and airplanes must be equipped with two-way radio.

10. Race horse starts will be used for each pair takeoff. Pairings will be established by the Bendix Trophy Race Committee on a safe and as fair as possible basis at the pilots' meeting at 6:00 P. M., PST, on September 4, 1948. The engine or engines may be turning over. Starting time for each group will be taken from the starter's flag.

11. The finish will be timed in flight at the crossing of the Finish Line. In order that the timers can properly observe the finish of the race, the airplane must cross the Finish Line which will be a white line extending at right angles to the grandstand on the flying field at an altitude of not exceed 1000 feet and at a distance of not over 1000 feet from the grandstands. If a race or programmed event is in progress at the time the airplane arrives, making it dangerous for the airplane to cross the Finish Line in front of the grandstand, an Alternate Finish Line will be used which will be an imaginary extension of the Finish Line to the rear of the grandstands. Airplanes finding it necessary to use this Alternate Finish Line must fly at an altitude of not to exceed 500 feet and at a distance of not exceed 500 feet and at a distance of not to exceed 1000 feet from the rear of the grandstands. Airplanes should endeavor to contact the Cleveland Municipal Airport by radio, asking the operator to advise the timers of their anticipated time of arrival. 

12. The right to exclude any entry in this event is vested in the Race Contest Committee and will be exercised at the starting point of the race. The West Coast Contest Committee for the Bendix Trophy Race will act for the Race Contest Committee in the exercise of this authority.

13. The West Coast Contest Committee for the Bendix Trophy Race shall consist of a Referee Chairman and a minimum of five members, one of whom shall be a representative for the pilots entered in the Race and elected by them.

14. The owner of the winning airplane or an Aero Club he may designate, will be given possession of the Bendix Trophy for ten months from the date of the Race. The pilot of the winning airplane will be awarded, for permanent possession, a gold replica of the Trophy; the pilot of the airplane winning second place will be awarded, for permanent possession, a silver replica of the Trophy and the pilot of the airplane winning third place will be awarded, for permanent possession, a bronze replica of the Trophy.