Viewing page 39 of 76
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
[[image]] 1936 By breaking the record Doolittle set in 1932 MICHAEL DETROYAT, "Falcon of France", took the Thompson Trophy overseas for the first and only time in its history. 100,000 Labor Day air enthusiasts at the Los Angeles Airport saw him streak his blue Caudron racer ten times around the 15-mile course at an average speed of 294.26 mph. Detroyat's shark-nosed racer dramatically demonstrated the advantages of streamlining and a 2-pitch position propeller for high-speed flight. Because of these advanced features he was able to better Doolittle's record with a relatively small 6-cylinder in-line engine of only 340 horsepower. [[image]] 1938 The colorful ROSCOE TURNER is the only 3-time winner of the Thompson Trophy race. In 1934 he averaged 248.12 mph ten times around the 8 1/3-mile course to finish first among eight entries. he flew his famous golden Wedell-Williams "57" Special. Over 200,000 saw him set the prewar Thompson speed record of 283.41 mph, average, at Cleveland Airport in 1938. He had changed to a big Tuner-Laird Special with a 1,200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine. his share of the $45,000 purse was $22,000. The race was 30 laps of a 10-mile course. A year later with the same plane he won his third Thompson Trophy race at an average speed a mile under his 1938 record. The picture shows the Turner-Laird Special. number of top-speed planes and skilled pilots. Surplus war planes were a boon for several years to piston engine pilots who sought the Thompson Trophy, prize money and fame as winners of the R-Division race. These pilots with converted military planes eclipsed the best average speeds of the fastest prewar Thompson race planes. But as air speeds went higher and higher the last Thompson contests of plane against plane were flown, in 1949. In 1951 the Thompson event of the National Air Races became the thrilling race of a single military jet against time, once around a 100-kilometer course, as it is today. Many innovations in high-speed plane and engine design were first proven in Thompson Trophy speed contests, later to become standard improvements. Thompson Trophy races have set important new records, publicizing American design and engineering achievements to the world. In the brief span of twenty-two years the closed-course speeds rose from 194 mph to 635 mph. These pages highlight the history of the Thompson Trophy race as it changed with the airplane. Thompson Products MANUFACTURERS OF AIRCRAFT, AUTOMOTIVE AND INDUSTRIAL PARTS GENERAL OFFICES CLEVELAND 17, OHIO PLANTS IN FOURTEEN CITIES [[2 images]] 1951 The traditional character of the Thompson Trophy event changed radically in 1951 when it became a race against time by a single jet plane circling a 100-kilometer (62-mile) closed course. This was during the National Air Races at Detroit-Wayne Major Airport in August, 1951. COL. FRED J. ASCANI, USAF, World War II air combat veteran, hurtled his North American F-86E Sabre fighter around the course to a new average speed of 635.68 mph. By doing this he brought to America a record that Great Britain had held since 1948. Col. Ascani's fighter, powered by General Electric J-47 jet engine, was a standard production model Sabre carrying the same armament, pilot protection and fuel tanks as the Sabres that fought over Korea with superior scores against the Russian-produced jet fighters. The picture shows F. C. Crawford, president of Thompson Products, Inc. presenting the Thompson Trophy to Col. Ascani after the new world's record was established.
