Tag Archives: Bendix Trophy Race

4 September 1936

Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes are greeted by Vincent Bendix at Los Angeles, 4 September 1936. (Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum NASM-SI-83-2088)

4 September 1936: Louise Thaden was the first woman to win the Bendix Trophy Race when she and her co-pilot, Blanche Wilcox Noyes, flew a Beechcraft C17R “Staggerwing,” NR15835 (manufacturer’s serial number C17R-77), from Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York, to Mines Field, Los Angeles, California, in 14 hours, 55 minutes, 1.0 seconds. With one fuel stop at the Beech Aircraft Company factory in Wichita, Kansas, Thaden and Noyes had averaged 165.35 miles per hour (266.11 kilometers per hour), even though—against the advice of Walter Beech—they had maintained only 65% power for the entire race. They landed at 4:49.49 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (00:49, 5 September, UTC).

In addition to the trophy, Mrs. Thaden won a prize of $4,500 for first place, plus $2,500 for the fastest speed in the race set by a woman (unaccompanied by a man).

She was also awarded the Harmon Trophy.

Laura Ingalls, flying her Lockheed Orion 9D Special, NR14222, finished in second place, arriving 45 minutes after Thaden and Noyes, at 5:54.28 p.m.. William Warner finished in third place in a Vultee V-1A, and George Pomeroy was fourth flying a Douglas DC-2 transport. And in fifth place was Amelia Earhart and Helen Richey in Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10E Electra Special, NR16020.

Louise Thaden with the Bendix Trophy. (Tom Sande, AP)
Louise McPhetridge, 1926. (The Razorback)

Iris Louise McPhetridge was born 12 November 1905 at Bentonville, Arkansas. She was the first of three daughters of Roy Fry McPhetridge, owner of a foundry, and Edna Hobbs McPhetridge. She was educated at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, a member of the Class of 1927. She was president of the Delta Delta Delta (ΔΔΔ) Sorority, Delta Iota (ΔΙ) Chapter, head sports for basketball and president of The Panhellenic.

Louise McPhetridge had been employed by Walter Beech as a sales representative at Wichita, Kansas, and he included flying lessons with her employment. She received her pilot’s license from the National Aeronautic Association, signed by Orville Wright, 16 May 1928.

Mrs Thaden set an FAI World Record for Altitude of 6,178 meters (20,269 feet) over Oakland, California, 7 December 1928.¹  On 17 March 1929, she set an FAI record for duration of 22 hours, 3 minutes.²

In 1929, she was issued Transport Pilot License number 1943 by the Department of Commerce. Mrs. Thaden was the fourth woman to receive an Airline Transport Pilot rating.

Louise Thaden’s original pilot license, No. 6850, issued by the National Aeronautic Association and signed by Orville Wright. (The Central Arkansas Library System)

Miss McPhetridge married Mr. Herbert von Thaden at San Francisco, California, 21 July 1928. Thaden was a former military pilot and an engineer. They would have two children, William and Patricia.

Thaden had founded the Thaden Metal Aircraft Company, builder of the all-metal Thaden T-1, T-2, and T-4 Argonaut. Thaden went on to design molded plywood furniture for the Thaden-Jordan Furniture Corporation. His designs are considered to be works of art, and individual pieces sell for as much as $30,000 today.

Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden with her husband, Herbert von Thaden, in front of the Beech C17R Staggerwing, NR15385. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

Louise Thaden served as secretary of the National Aeronautic Association, and was a co-founder of The Ninety-Nines. She served as that organization’s vice president and treasurer. She set several world and national records and was awarded the national Harmon Trophy as Champion Aviatrix of the United States in 1936.

Louise Thaden stopped flying in 1938. She died at High Point, North Carolina, 9 November 1979.

Louise Thaden with her 1936 Vincent Bendix Trophy, circa 1975. (NASM)
Louise Thaden in the cockpit of Beechcraft C-17R NR15385 at the start of the Bendix Air Race. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
Louise Thaden in the cockpit of Beechcraft C17R NR15835 at the start of the Bendix Air Race. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

The Beechcraft C17R was single-engine, single-bay biplane operated by a single pilot and could carry up to four passengers in its enclosed cabin.The basic structure was a welded tubular steel frame with wood formers and stringers. The wings and tail surfaces were built of wood spars and ribs with the leading edges and wing tips covered with plywood. The airplane was covered with doped fabric, except the cabin and engine, which were covered in sheet metal. It was equipped with electrically-operated retractable landing gear and wing flaps.

The Beechcraft Staggerwing got its name because its lower wing was placed ahead of the upper wing (negative stagger). While most biplanes had staggered wings, the Staggerwing was unusual in having negative stagger. This not only increased the pilot’s field of vision, but improved the airplane’s stability in a stall. The Staggerwing was a fast airplane for its time and set several speed and altitude records.

The Beech C17R was 24 feet, 5 inches (7.442 meters) long with a wingspan of 32 feet, 0 inches (9.754 meters) and overall height of 8 feet, 2 inches (2.489 meters). According to the Bureau of Air Commerce license certificate dated 9 October 1936, C17R-81 had an empty weight of 2,393 pounds (1,085 kilograms), and its maximum gross weight was 3,900 pounds (1,769 kilograms).

This photograph of Beechcraft Model 17s under construction at Wichita, Kansas, reveals the structure of the airplane. (Beech Aircraft Corporation)

While most biplanes had staggered wings, the Staggerwing was unusual in having negative stagger. This not only increased the pilot’s field of vision, but improved the airplane’s stability in a stall. The leading edge of the Model C17 upper wing was 2 feet, 1 inches (0.635 meters) aft of the lower wing. The leading edges had 0° sweep. Both wings had an angle of incidence of 3°. The upper wing had no dihedral, but the lower wing had +1°. The mean vertical gap between the wings was 5 feet (1.524 meters), and the chord of both wings was 5 feet, 0 inches (1.524 meters). The total wing area was 273 square feet (25.4 square meters). The horizontal stabilizer had 0° incidence, while the vertical fin was offset 0° 43′ to the left of the airplane’s centerline.

Beech Aircraft Corporation Model 17 “Staggerwings” under construction. (Beech B-111/U.S. Air Force)

The Staggerwing was offered with a selection of engines of different displacements and horsepower ratings. The C17R was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 971.930-cubic-inch-displacement (15.927 liter) Wright Whirlwind 440 (R-975E3), a 9-cylinder direct-drive radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.3:1. The R-975E3 was rated at 420 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m., and 440 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m. for takeoff, burning 92-octane gasoline. The engine was 43.00 inches (1.092 meters) long and 45.25 inches (1.149 meters) in diameter. It weighed 700 pounds (318 kilograms). The serial number of the engine installed in C17R-81 was 12885. It drove a two-bladed adjustable pitch Hamilton Standard propeller with a diameter of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.591 meters), serial number 18560.

This engine gave the C17R Staggerwing a cruise speed of 195 miles per hour (314 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), 202 miles per hour (325 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and maximum speed of 211 miles per hour (340 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 21,500 feet (6,553 meters) and its range with standard fuel capacity, 98 gallons (371 liters) was 800 miles (1,288 kilometers).

Beechcraft C17R NC15835 (s/n C17R-77) at the finish of the Bendix Trophy Race, Mines Field, Los Angeles, 4 September 1936. (National Air and Space Museum, Archives Division)

The Beechcraft C17R flown by Louise Thaden to win the Bendix Trophy, serial number C17R-77, had already been sold to the government of the Republic of Honduras, but Walter Beech let Thaden use it for the race before delivering to the owner. It was painted in Sherwin Williams Consolidated Blue with white stripes. The rear passenger seats were removed and a 56 gallon (212 liter) auxiliary fuel tank installed in their place.

After the race, the Staggerwing overhauled, repainted Insignia Blue with silver wings, and was flown to Central America by Paul E. Zimmerman. It was assigned to the  Escuela Militar de Aviacion.

Three C17R Staggerwings have been registered as N15835, including serial numbers C17R-74; C-17R-77, the Bendix race winner; and C17R-81, which was owned by Thaden. Current FAA records indicate that the first, C17R-74, is currently registered N15835.

Beechcraft produced thirteen of the C17R variant.

¹ FAI Record File Number 12221

² FAI Record File Number 12223

© 2024, Bryan R. Swopes

1 September 1938

Seversky AP-7 NX1384, seen from below. In this configuration, the landing gear folds rearward. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

1 September 1938: Jackie Cochran departed the Union Air Terminal, Burbank, California, at 3:00 a.m., flying her Seversky AP-7, NX1384, c/n 145. Her destination was Cleveland, Ohio, the finish line for the Bendix Trophy Race, 2,042 miles (3,286 kilometers) away.

“Major Alexander de Seversky poses with Jacqueline Cochran beside the Seversky in which she flew from Burbank, Cal., to Cleveland in 8 hrs. and 10 min. to win the Bendix Trophy.” (Contemporary newspaper photograph)

NX1384 was built by the Seversky Aircraft Corporation of Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, especially for Jackie Cochran. It had been flown from the factory to Burbank by Major Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky just two days earlier. His flight set an East-to-West Transcontinental Speed Record of 10 hours, 2 minutes, 55.7 seconds.

Seversky AP-7 NX1384 (c/n 145). (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

The AP-7 racer was an improved version of Major de Seversky’s P-35A fighter, which was the U.S. Army Air Corps’ first all-metal single-engine airplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear.

Seversky AP-7 NX1384 (c/n 145). (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

Cochran’s AP-7 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,829.39-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1B3-G (R-1830-11) two-row 14-cylinder radial engine rated at 850 horsepower at 2,450 r.p.m. at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 1,000 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. for take off. The engine turned a three-bladed Hamilton-Standard controllable-pitch propeller through a 3:2 gear reduction. The R-1830-11 was 4 feet, 8.66 inches (1.439 meters) long with a diameter of 4 feet, 0.00 inches (1.219 meters), and weighed 1,320 pounds (599 kilograms).

Seversky AP-7 NX1384, c/n 145. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

“Finally the P-35 arrived. I decided that I didn’t want to take it into the air for a test even if I could. The racing officials impounded it because it was a prototype and there was some kind of rule about untested planes. I would test it en route. . . Finally, I got to sit in the cockpit. I began to study all the instruments by the hour. I can almost see them still. 

Jackie Cochran paints her race number, 13, of the fuselage of her Seversky AP-7. (Unattributed)
Jackie Cochran paints her race number, 13, of the fuselage of her Seversky AP-7 at the Union Air Terminal, Burbank, California. The airplane’s passenger compartment hatch and window is behind Ms. Cochran. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

“There are about a hundred or more buttons, levers, and other gadgets to push, pull or twirl. . .  I close my eyes and reach for everything in the dark. And I keep at this until I can get to them blindfolded and with no false moves. . . 

“I finally see Cleveland. . . (a)nd am going so fast that I pass the airport and come in from the wrong side. . . Have I won? The crowds are cheering. It’s a standing ovation. . . I have won the Bendix.”

— Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography, by Jacqueline Cochran and Maryann Bucknum Brinley, Bantam Books, New York 1987, Pages 160–165.

Seversky AP-7 NX1384, c/n 145. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

“I often wonder what is meant exactly by a considered risk. . . In my case I never could ponder over the risks too much because I had to take a fast plane whenever it became available to me and make the best of it. I won the 1938 Bendix Race in a Seversky pursuit plane which I had never flown until that night, when, with a heavy overload of gas, I took off in the race. The plane was delivered from the factory to me just two days before the race and under the rules it had to be immediately impounded. It was a prototype that had not yest been tested. I tested it en route during the race. Its feature was that it had wings that were in effect integrated tanks so that most of the wings could be filled with fuel, thus adding range. It developed in flight that the fuel from the right wing would not properly feed the engine. By force on the stick I had to hold that wing much higher than the other from time to time in order to drain the fuel from that right wing into the left wing and from the left wing into the engine. When I got the plane back to the factory after the race a large wad of wrapping paper was discovered near the outlet of the right-wing tank. No wonder the drainage had been bad. How, for example, could that risk be properly considered i advance? The paper in the tank could have been sabotage. Some thought so at the time. More likely it was paper pasted on the inside of the wing during manufacture which had not been removed and which worked loose from the action of the gasoline and the vibration of the plane.”

The Stars at Noon, by Jacqueline Cochran. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1954, at Pages 65–66

Jackie Cochran was the third pilot to leave Burbank, but the first to arrive at Cleveland. Her elapsed time for the flight from California to Ohio was 8 hours, 10 minutes, 31.4 seconds, for an average speed of 249.774 miles per hour (401.895 kilometers per hour). For her first place finish, Ms. Cochran won a prize of $12,500.

Vincent Bendix congratulates Jackie Cochran on her winning of the Bendix Trophy Race, 1 September 1938. (NASM)

After being congratulated on her win by Vincent Bendix and other race officials, Cochran had her Seversky monoplane refueled. She then got back in to its cockpit and took off for Floyd Bennett Field, new York. She landed there 10 hours, 12 minutes, 55 seconds after leaving Burbank. This was a new West-to East Transcontinental Speed Record.

Jackie Cochran’s Vincent Bendix Trophy in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

24 May 1961

Lieutenants Gordon and Young. (U.S. Navy)

24 May 1961: Lieutenant Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., United States Navy, with Radar Intercept Officer Lieutenant (j.g.) Bobbie R. Young, flew from Ontario International Airport, east of Los Angeles, California, to Floyd Bennett Field, New York, with their McDonnell F4H-1F Phantom II, Bu. No. 148270. The duration of their flight was 2 hours, 47 minutes, 0.01 seconds, for an average speed of 1,399.66 kilometers per hour (869.71 miles per hour). For their accomplishment, they won the Bendix Trophy.

The Associated Press reported:

NAVY PLANE SETS NEW U.S. SPEED MARK

Jet Crosses Country in Two Hours And 48 Minutes

     New York, May 24 (AP)—A Navy jet fighter plane flashed from coast to coast today in two hours 48 minutes, to eclipse a record that had stood since 1957.

     Said Lt. Richard F. Gordon, 31, of Seattle, who piloted the fastest plane across the nation at an average speed of 871.38 m.p.h.:

      “It was a wonderful trip. The weather was fine all along the route. I feel great, but I’m real tired.”

     As the three F4H-1 Phantoms zoomed down from 50,000 feet for a landing at Floyd Bennet Field [sic], shock waves exploded ahead of them with a thunder-like clap that startled metropolitan residents on the ground below.

Five Phantoms Start

     The transcontinental flight from Ontario at 7.59 A.M. (P.D.T.) on the 2,445.9 mile hop to New York in the twentieth renewal of the Bendix Trophy races. Tanker planes waited to refuel them over Albuquerque (N.M.), St. Louis, and between Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Douglas A3D-2 Skywarrior Bu. No. 142650, Heavy Attack Squadron NINE (VAH-9), refuels McDonnell F4H-1F Phantom II Bu. No. 148261 of VF-101 Detachment A during the 1961 Bendix Trophy Race. (NMNA # 1996.253.3678)

   One of the five planes encountered trouble over Albuquerque and dropped out of the race. A second was held up by refueling problems over Albuquerque and St. Louis and straggled into Floyd Bennet and [sic] hour and twenty minutes behind the pacesetters.

     Sharing the Bendix Trophy with Lieutenant was his radio-intercept officer, Lt. (J.G.) Bobbie R. Young, 34, of Modesto, Cal. Their average speed was the highest ever in the trophy races, that began in 1931 with James H. Doolittle setting an average mark of 223 m.p.h. between Los Angeles and Cleveland.

Time Certified

Lieutenants Gordon and Young with the Bendix Trophy. Both Naval Aviators are wearing B.F. Goodrich Mark IV full-pressure suits for protection at high altitude.

The two other craft that accompanied Lieutenant Gordon’s finished in the unofficial time of 2 hours and 57 minutes, and 3 hours and 3 minutes. Lieutenant Gordon’s time was certified as official by the Navy, subject to approval of international aviation authorities.

     Rear Admiral Frank A Brandley, assistant chief of naval operations for air, greeting the fliers here, pointed out that had Gordon flown in the opposite direction, he would have landed in California earlier than he took off from New York—because of the time differential.

     The supersonic Phantoms are carrier-based Navy fighter planes built by McDonnell Aircraft, of St. Louis.

     The Bendix races were organized to test pilot training, equipment and technical skills of American aviation. The last previous race was held in 1957, between Chicago and Washington. The 1957 record was not set in a Bendix race.

The Sun, Vol. 249, No. 8, Baltimore, Thursday, 25 May 1961, Page 9, Column 1

The following is the U.S. Navy’s official biography of Richard Gordon:

Department of the Navy
Office of Information

CAPTAIN RICHARD F. GORDON, JR., UNITED STATES NAVY

Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 5, 1929, son of Richard F. and Angela Frances (Sullivan) Gordon.  He attended North Kitsap High School, Poulsbo, Washington, and the University of Washington at Seattle, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1951.  He enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve, served as an Airman at the Naval Air Station, Sand Point, Washington.  Appointed Aviation Cadet in August 1951, he had flight training at the Naval Air Basic Training Command, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, and at the Naval Air Advanced Training Command, Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas.  Designated Naval Aviator and commissioned Ensign, U. S. Naval Reserve, on March 25, 1953, he subsequently advanced in rank to that of Captain, to date from December 11, 1969, having transferred to the Regular Navy on August 3, 1955.

After receiving his “Wings” in March 1953, he had instruction for two months at the naval School, All Weather Flight, Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, and for one month at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Kingsville, Texas.  In June of that year he joined Fighter Squadron ELEVEN to serve as Navigation Officer, Communications Officer and Naval Aviator until January 1957, when he reported for instruction at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland.  In August that year, he transferred to the Flight Test Division, Naval Air Test Center, where he had duty as a Project Pilot, Project Officer, and First Lieutenant until March 1960.

He next joined Fighter Squadron ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE, where served as Fleet Replacement Pilot, Fleet Air Detachment Duty Officer, and Flight Instructor.  In November 1961, he was assigned for a month to Fighter Squadron ONE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO as Operations Officer, then transferred to Fighter Squadron NINETY-SIX, for duty as Naval Aviator, Naval Aviation Training Operations Officer and Assistant Operations Officer.  While in that assignment he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “…extraordinary achievement in aerial flight on May 24, 1961, while participating in the Bendix Trophy Race as Pilot of an F4H Phantom Aircraft…” The citation continues…

“…Exercising outstanding airmanship and resourcefulness, (he) succeeded in winning the Bendix Trophy Race and in establishing a new transcontinental speed record for the jet aircraft from Los Angeles, California to New York, New York, with an elapsed time of two hours and forty-seven minutes, which is twenty-one minutes under the previous record time for this event…”

From July to December 1963 he had instruction at the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.  Selected as one of the third group of astronauts by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in October 1963, he began training at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, in December 1963.  He has served as backup pilot for the Gemini VII flight.

On September 12, 1966, he served as pilot for the 44 orbit Gemini XI mission.  He executed docking maneuvers with the previously launched Agena and performed two periods of extravehicular activity which involved attaching a tether to the Agena and retrieving a nuclear emulsion experiment package.  Other highlights of the flight included the successful completion of the first tethered station-keeping exercise, establishment of a new record-setting altitude of 850 miles, and the first closed-loop controlled reentry.  The flight was concluded on September 15, 1966, with the spacecraft landing in the Atlantic, two and one-half miles from the prime recovery ship USS Guam (LPH-9).  He was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of the Second Distinguished Flying Cross with the following citation:

“For heroism and extraordinary achievement…as an Astronaut with NASA from September 12 to 15, 1966 aboard Gemini XI.  While serving as Pilot, Commander (then Lieutenant Commander) Gordon completed a space flight of seventy-one hours and sixteen minutes.  A rendezvous in the first revolution, docking, two periods of extravehicular activity, an exercise in the dynamics of two spacecraft linked together by a one hundred-foot strap and full-automatic reentry highlighted the Gemini XI mission.  During this period, Commander Gordon carried out the re-docking maneuver, the first docking by a ‘right-seater.’  During the umbilical extravehicular activity, he left the spacecraft to retrieve the S-9 Nuclear Emulsion Experiment package from the Agena…”

In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross with Gold Star, Captain Gordon has received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the Navy Astronaut Wings.  He is also entitled to the Navy Occupation Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal with bronze star.

He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.  His hobbies include water skiing, sailing and golf.

He has logged more than 3,300 hours flying time, 2,800 hours in jet aircraft.

[END]

Published: Fri Mar 04 13:52:55 EST 2016

 

The Bendix Trophy-winning Phantom II, redesignated F-4A-4-MC in 1962, crashed near San Clemente Island, off the Pacific coast of southern California, 4 May 1964.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes