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THE THOMPSON TROPHY RACE has changed with the airplane

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1929 DOUG DAVIS of Atlanta, Ga. won the first Thompson Trophy  race during the National Air Races at Cleveland Airport in 1929. Davis' plane was a highly secret Travelair "Mystery Ship", powered by the Wright Whirlwind engine that Lindbergh made famous. Davis hopelessly our-distanced all other contestants in the short, 50-mile race. His average speed war remarkable for its day-194.90 mph. The performance of his red-and-black monoplane sounded the doom of the biplane for super-speed design. 

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1946 The 1946 Thompson Trophy race, following the war, was the first to be flown in two sections, one for jet and one for piston engine in planes. Six glistening Air Force P-80 shooting Starts 200,000 spectators the new thrill for jet speeds in closed-course competition. The winner, MAJOR GUS E. LUNDQUIST, averaged a sizzling 515,85 mph six times around the 30-mile circuit. He was awarded the new J-Division Thompson Trophy. ALVIN M. ("TEX") JOHNSTON, a test pilot, finished first for the duplicate R-Division Thompson Trophy and $19,00 prize money. His average speed was 373.90 mph. His converted P39 Airacobra surplus fighter was one of twelve military airplanes in the piston engine race. Pictured are Major Lundquist and his plane. 

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1932 JAMES H. DOOLITTLE set a new closed-course speed record in the 1932 Thompson race that was unbeaten for four years. The popular "Jimmie" piloted a stubby red-and-white Gee Bee "Supersportster" with an 800-horsepower Pratt and Whitney Wasp engine. Doolittle flew a brilliant race in an almost continuous bank around the 10-mile course. His average speed was 252.68 mph. The race was 100 miles and the prize purse $10,000. 


Since 1929, when it was first flown, the Thompson Trophy Race has fostered the development of higher air speeds combined with practical maneuverability. As an test of maneuverability at high speeds this annual event of the National Air Races has always been a closed-course demonstration. 

But the Thompson race has changed with the evolution of the airplane itself as engineers and designers built more speed, powers and streamlining into wing and motor. 

Until 1939 the race was entirely for piston engine planes. Then, in 1946, following the wartime lapse in air racing, it was flown for several years in two sections, one for piston engines and the other for Air Force turbo-jets. Both races were contests between a 

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1949 This year marked the last time that the Thompson Trophy event was to be flown by plane competing against plane. But both the J-Division and R-Division contests climaxed that era by setting new speed records. COOK CLELAND, World War II Navy ace, flying a clipped-wing F-2G Corsair exceeded by 114 mph the prewar record of Roscoe Turner. Cleland averaged a thrilling 397.07 mph and won $19,100 of the $40,000 prize purse. A two-time winner, he also bettered his 1947 average speed by a slight margin. CAPT. BRUCE CUNNINGHAM, USAF, likewise established a final climaxing record than Major Lundquist's 515.85 in the 1946 J-Division Thompson contest. The picture shows Cook Cleland's powerful Corsair.