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From: Carl Byoir & Associates, Inc.
10 E. 40th St., MU. 6-3200
New York 16, N.Y.

FOR: BENDIX AVIATION CORPORATION

For Immediate Release

JET ACE WINS BENDIX TROPHY;
NOSES RIVAL BY 4.8 SECONDS

DAYTON, O. -- Maj. William T. Whisner, Jr., Korean war jet ace, outraced nine other crack Air Force pilots and nosed out his nearest rival by only 4.8 seconds to win the 1953 Bendix Trophy race.

The 29-year-old Shreveport, La. pilot roared his F-86-F Sabrejet from Edwards Air Force base in California to the National Aircraft Show at Dayton Municipal Airport in 3 hours, 5 minutes, 45 seconds. His average speed for the 1,900-mile transcontinental speed dash was 603.547 mph -- a new record. 

Major Whisner, commander of the 3596th Flying Training Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., received the famous Bendix Trophy from Malcolm P. Ferguson, president of Bendix Aviation Corporation, which has sponsored the race since 1931 as a major contribution to aviation progress. In awarding the trophy, Ferguson pointed out that in those 22 years since "Jimmy" Doolittle became the first Bendix winner, aircraft speeds have virtually tripled and the race has become a proving ground for numerous technical advances and pilot proficiency. 

"It's a tremendous tribute to the Air Force and the wonderful pilots who completed this year that all of them finished the 1,900-mile course and only eight and a half minutes separated the first and last planes crossing the Bendix pylon," Ferguson said. All pilots flew Sabrejets in the event.

The huge Bendix trophy, which bears the names of such well-known pilots as Doolittle, Roscoe Turner, Jacqueline Cochran, Paul Mantz, Joe DeBona, Col. Keith K. Compton and many others, is by custom returned to Bendix by the winning pilot in time for it to be offered the following year in the next running of aviation's premier cross-country speed event. However, a gold miniature of the trophy also was presented to Whisner and silver and bronze miniatures were presented to the pilots