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| The Racing Age |
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| DESCRIPTION |
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| 16 x 11.5 Inch Collector Size Unframed Lithograph $40.00
From 1927 until the outbreak of WW II America was captivated by the sport of air racing. Daring young pilots flying the fastest machines in the world competed for prestige and prize money. In their all-out quest for speed the designers and builders of these racing aircraft pushed the envelope of aircraft science and were responsible for much of the progress in aviation design during this period. The Cleveland National Air Races were first held in late 1929 prior to the Great Stock Market Crash. This ten-day long event drew several 100000 attendees. One of the features of this show was a fifty-mile all-out free-for-all staged over a five-mile pylon course. This would prove to be the first Thompson Trophy Race and it was won by Doug Davis flying a TravelAir R monoplane. Davis bested a field of military entrants by a considerable margin. The success of this initial race caused the Thompson Products Co. to petition the NAA with a proposal to make the race a 100-mile event in 1930 with a purse of $10000 which was an enormous sum at that time. The 1932 Thompson Trophy Race is considered one of the classics in the series. Eight aircraft participated in that race which was ultimately won by Jimmy Doolittle flying the Gee Bee R-1 racer built by the Granville Brothers in Springfield Massachusetts. Roscoe Turner one of the great aviation showmen of the era flew a Gilmore Oil Co. sponsored Wedell-Turner racer. Robert Hall flew his newly designed Hall Bulldog. Jim Wedell participated in his Wedell 44 as did Jim Haizlip flying a Wedell-92. Other participants included Lee Gelbach flying the Gee Bee R-2 William Ong flying his new DGA-5 Ike and Ray Moore piloting an aluminum Rider R-1. The 1932 Thompson was the only race in which the infamous Gee Bee Model R participated. This aircraft was nasty to fly. Lowell Bayles had won the 1931 Thompson race flying a Gee Bee Z racer. However Bayles was killed in a flying accident prior to the 1932 competition and Bob Hall who was formerly the Granville Brothers chief designer left the organization to strike out on his own. Not to be left out of the 1932 race the Granvilles developed two race aircraft the R-1 and R-2. Although similar in appearance the R-2 was set-up for long distance racing whereas the R-1 was built for speed. The Granville's sold the R-1 to Russell Boardman who planned to pilot it in the 1932 race. Prior to the race Boardman was hospitalized. Jimmy Doolittle became available to fly the R-1 after he crash landed his Laird racer on the eve of the races. If anyone could tame the difficult-to-fly R-1 Doolittle was probably the man. When the race began at 5:20 PM Doolittle used half power to maintain control during takeoff. On the first lap Jimmy took the lead despite flying wide turns in order to maintain control. On the second lap the R-1 began to emit a stream of gray-black smoke due to too high rich a fuel mixture. Doolittle continued to pour it on attempting to lap the entire field for a little frosting on his victory. The 1932 Thompson would be Doolittle's last and it was the only Thompson in which the infamous R-1 would compete. |
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