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GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING ALL CLOSED CIRCUIT EVENTS, 1948 NATIONAL AIR RACES

A--GENERAL
  1. Complete authority over all events at the 1948 National Air Races is vested in the National Air Races Contest Committee, hereinafter referred to as "Race Contest Committee."  This Committee will consist of the following:
   Referee   Technical Committee Chief   Program Chief
   Chief of Operations   Chief Starter   Chief Judge
   Chief of Field Service   Chief Timer   Entry Chief
   Representative-Professional Race Pilots Association
   N. A. A. Contest Board Representative
  2. Included in the authority of the Race Contest Committee is the right to interpret all rules and regulations and make changes in the rules and regulations, when in their opinion, changes are necessary.
  3. Six members at any meeting shall constitute a quorum.
  4. Four Contest Directors shall act for the Contest Committee when it is not in session (Pilots may appeal from the decision of the Contest Directors to the Race Contest Committee).
  5. The four Contest Directors will consist of the following:
   N. A. A. Contest Board Representative    Chief of Operations
Technical Committee Chief     Referee
  6. In all cases these Directors will act in consultation with the Civil Aeronautics Administration Supervisor for the races.

B--AIRPLANE ELIGIBILITY--GENERAL
  1. Airplanes with any type of Civil Aeronautics Administration certificate shall be eligible for entry, provided they have been issued a race number by the National Aeronautic Association. The number may be obtained from the Contest Board, National Aeronautic Association, 1025 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D. C.
  2. Aircraft other than those manufactured in the United States must be certificated from an aircraft airworthiness point of view by their representative governments. Race numbers will be assigned to these aircraft by N. A. A. following their arrival at Cleveland.
  3. Airworthiness certificate cards or authorization must be prominently displayed in all airplanes in order to be eligible to start in any race.
  4. Aircraft entered in the Bendix Trophy Race will not be allowed to enter any closed circuit events. This does not apply to pilots.
  5. Aircraft or engines shall not be altered structurally, except for such minor repairs or alterations as obviously do not impair the airworthiness of the airplane, after their arrival at Cleveland, without the approval of the Race Technical Committee.
  6. The following maneuvers must be performed by all United States aircraft and pilots entered in the closed circuit races before they will be allowed to participate, unless of course, such maneuvers have been accomplished previously and no modifications to the aircraft have been made since that time.
   (a) Take off at full throttle without veering more than thirty feet to either side of a straight line marked on the ground directly into the wind.
   (b) Pull up from straight and level flight (shallow starting dive permitted) to a minimum of 6-G acceleration. Pullups to be done at 5,000 feet altitude and at 175 m. p. h. for Goodyear and Kendall Trophy Race entries and at 350 m. p. h. for Thompson and Sohio Handicap Trophy Race entries or the maximum speed of the aircraft, whichever is lower.
   (c) Make dive at 1.3 maximum speed of ship in level flight.
   (d) Make at least three tight turns of at least 120 degrees at 5,000 feet and at full speed, without any appreciable loss of altitude.
   (e) Make three laps of the established race course at normal racing altitude, making the turns at full speed as in a race.
  7. A general pilots meeting will be held near or in the AAF Hangar at the Cleveland Municipal Airport before each day's races. Any and all pilots who do not attend these meetings will be fined $25.00, which, if not paid will act as a bar to his or her participation in any race.
  8. The Race Contest Committee reserves the right to reject any entrant in a closed circuit race, whose airplane in the opinion of the Race Technical Committee, is not capable of taking off and flying with safety, with the amount of gasoline necessary to fly the entire distance which the race is scheduled to run.
  9. Aircraft entered in all closed circuit races must be approved by the National Air Races Technical Committee.
  10. All race courses will be established and pylons erected and marked at least three (3) days in advance of August 31, 1948 in order that interested and inexperienced race pilots can make their required familiarization and practice runs.

C--QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION SPEED TRIALS
  1. Qualifying trials will be held on Tuesday, August 31; Wednesday, September 1 and Thursday, September 2, 1948. Entries in all closed circuit races, with the possible exception of those entered in the Tinnerman International Trophy race and Kendall Trophy Race (ten (10) entries are allowed in Tinnerman International Trophy race and eight (8) in Kendall) must compete in qualifying trials in order to establish eligibility and starting position for the respective events.
  2. The time of initial arrival of entries at the Cleveland Municipal Airport will determine the order in which qualifying trials will be scheduled. If any pilot does not desire to qualify in this order, he will automatically be placed at the bottom of the established list at the time he indicates a willingness to qualify.
  3. Qualifying trials will be permitted ONLY between the ours of 8:30 A. M. and 12:30 P. M., and between 1:30 P. M. and 5:30 P. M. on August 31, September 1, and September 2, 1948.
  4. Pilots will be allowed one practice lap only of the proper speed course when attempting to qualify, following which they shall rock the aircraft's wings violently in front of the grandstand and cut off course behind the timing stand before starting their official qualifying runs.
  5. Two consecutive laps of the 15-mile course will determine official qualifying speeds for Thompson Trophy Race entries and for the Sohio Handicap Trophy Race.
  6. Kendall Trophy Race entries and Goodyear Race entries will be required to make one official lap only of the proper speed course in order to determine their eligibility from a speed point of view.
  7. To be eligible for the Thompson Trophy Race, which is for aircraft with engines of unlimited cylinder displacement, the airplane must make an average speed of 325 miles per hour in the qualifying trials of two laps over the regulation course.
  8. The ten (10) aircraft which establish the fastest qualifying speeds during the entire three days of the qualifying trials will be eligible for the Thompson Trophy Race. Starting positions for all Thompson entries will be determined from the times and days on which qualifying speeds were established, with the pole position given to the pilot who establishes the fastest speed on the OPENING day of the qualifying trials. Second and third positions, etc., will be awarded to those pilots who make the next fastest qualifying speeds on the OPENING day of qualifying, etc.

  9. Two qualifying trials will be permitted an entrant if necessary but all aircraft making the minimum qualifying speed on their first attempt will not be permitted the additional trial. If during an official qualifying run, the pilot develops engine or other trouble, he should not complete the official qualifying run--following which he shall be allowed another try. More than two attempts to qualify for any race will not be permitted.
  10. A cash purse of $100.00 each will be awarded the ten entries who qualify at the greatest speeds on August 31, 1948. This does not apply to Goodyear and Kendall entrants.
  11. A cash purse of $50.00 each will be awarded the ten unlimited displacement entries who qualify at the greatest speeds on September 1, 1948. This does not apply to Goodyear and Kendall entrants.
  12. All feminine Kendall entries, if more than eight (8), must qualify on Wednesday, September 1, 1948 ONLY.
  13. Qualifying speeds will be released by the official timers to the pilots and the press only twice a day--at 11:30 A. M. and 5:30 P. M. on August 31, September 1 and 2, 1948.
D--THOMPSON TROPHY RACE ENTRIES--Specific Regulations
  1. Open to any CAA certified aircraft, with any type engine or propeller. Water injection and any type fuel is permitted.
  2. Major changes to aircraft and engines will not be permitted after arrival at the Cleveland Municipal Airport. When aircraft arrive at the Cleveland Airport they will be impounded to the extent that seals may be placed on the mountings of major engine parts. Only minor repairs will be permitted after this action and these will be allowed only after permission has been granted by the Race Technical Committee. Aircraft must remain at the Cleveland Municipal Airport after their arrival.
  3. Constant surveillance of aircraft, and the work being done thereon, will be maintained following approval of these aircraft by the Race Technical Committee.
  4. Forced draft ventilation of cockpits for aircraft powered with engines mounted in the nose ahead of the pilot is required. 
  5. Minimum altitude for the Thompson Trophy Race is 200 feet; maximum altitude is 500 feet. 

E--GOODYEAR TROPHY RACE ENTRIES--Specific Regulations
  1. Motors-- must not exceed 190 cubic inches piston displacement. They must carry an Approved Type Certificate and may not be altered structurally or otherwise except as approved by the manufacturer. Ports may be polished but not enlarged. Newly A. T. C.'d engines mist be in sufficient quantity production to be available to all. Such engines must be A. T. C.'d an publicly announced by the manufacturer at least six (6) months previous to entry in a race. 
  2. Propellers-- must be fixed pitch in flight. Adjustable type (on the ground) is permitted. Any type of material may be used. 
  3. Wing Area-- minimum of 66 square feet of wing area must be used, including that area displaced by the fuselage but not including fillets and stall strips. Flaps are permitted, but wing area is to be figured with flaps retracted. 
  4. Weight-- the dry, empty weight must be at least 500 pounds. 
  5. Landing Gear-- must be of a non-retractable type. Wheels must be 5.00 x 5 or larger. Brakes are compulsory. At least two wheels of specified type and size must be used. Auxiliary or third wheel on tricycle type may be of any size but not retractable. When conventional type gear is used, the point of contact of the main wheels must be at least 15 degrees forward of the C. G. of the ship when in flying position.
  6. Vision-- a field of vision must be provided of 240 degrees in the horizontal plane (45 degrees to the rear from the pilot's eyes in both directions); 140 degrees from the top of the cowl upward and aft; 25 degrees from the pilot's eyes to top of leading edge of wing at the fuselage and 5 degrees to top of cowl. Obstructions in this field such as the top wing of a biplane or a high wing type monoplane, shall be approved by the National Air Races Technical Committee. Canopy must provide minimum of 6 inches from eye level to top of enclosure when in normal sitting position and must permit pilot to turn his head sufficiently to attain field of vision specified with crash helmet on. Normal sitting position will be considered that from which pilot has the required vision.
  7. Noseover Structure--substantial protection for pilot must be pro-vided either fore or aft of pilot cockpit. Structure must not obstruct forward visibility.
  8. Fuel Tanks--must have a minimum capacity of 15 gallons. Any type of fuel may be used.
  9. Parachutes, safety belts, shoulder straps and crash helmets are compulsory.
  10. Materials and Workmanship--must conform to aircraft standards or equivalent.
  11. Inspection--winners of the first three places in the heats of each series of race will be impounded immediately following the race and will be inspected by a committee of three, consisting of: Chairman of the National Air Races Technical Committee, Representative of the Professional Race Pilots Association and a Representative of the engine manufacturer. Ships with engines altered will be disqualified.
  12. Entries or ships from countries other than United States built by private enterprise and using a United States built engine, holding an A. T. C. are eligible.
  13. There is no minimum altitude requirement; however, the maximum altitude is 500 feet.
  14. Entries are subject to inspection and approval by the National Air Races Technical Committee following which owners become eligible for a construction compliance approval certificate issued by the Professional Race Pilots Association. This certificate will attest to compliance and airworthi-ness demonstrations and will be effective for the life of the aircraft or until airworthiness modifications have been made.
  15. Thirty-two (32) entries, based on the fastest qualifying speeds wil make up the field for the Goodyear Trophy Race. These 32 entries will be divided into four (4) heats of eight (8) planes each for races on the opening day. Selection of planes for heat races will be as follows:
    1st Heat -- Planes Qualifying in Positions 1-5-9-13-17-21-25-29.
    2nd Heat -- Planes Qualifying in Positions 2-6-10-14-18-22-26-30.
    3rd Heat -- Planes Qualifying in Positions 3-7-11-15-19-23-27-31.
    4th Heat -- Planes Qualifying in Positions 4-8-12-16-20-24-28-32.

F--PILOT ELIGBILITY--ALL RACES
  1. Pilots must be certificated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration and hold F. A. I. Certificate and Annual Sporting license issued by the Contest Board of the National Aeronautic Association, 1025 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D. C. 
  2. Pilots must have had at least 500 solo hours, unless they can show certified time of 10 hours in the ship they propose to race for every 100 hours short of the 500 hours, but in no case shall they have less than 200 solo hours, 10 of which must have been in the six months prior to the race in question. 
     All pilots must have had at least two (2) hours in the ship to be flown in the race or another s hip of identical design and have made at least 5 takeoffs and 5 landings, prior to qualification attempt but not earlier than 90