Page 20 - Volume 12 Number 4

Wichita’s Air Racing
Legacy PartTwo
Clyde V. Cessna once said, “Speed is the only reason for flying,” and from 1928- 1932 Wichita’s grand patriarch of aviation backed up that claim by competing in air races that propelled the Cessna Aircraft Company to new heights of success.
by Edward H. Phillips
On September 5, 1928, 47 pilots prepared to depart Long Island’s Roosevelt Field on the rst leg of the New York-to-Los Angeles Air Derby. By 4 a.m., the ight line was bustling with activity as pilots double-checked their aircraft, mechanics changed spark plugs and adjusted carburetors, and fuel trucks darted from ship-to-ship topping off fuel and oil tanks.
A total of $57,500 in prize money was up for grabs, and Clyde Cessna was determined to win his share of the bounty. It was still dark when the president of the Cessna Aircraft Company called a meeting of his pilots to discuss nal preparations for the race. Clyde had entered six monoplanes in the event – one Model AA own by Cessna and Curtiss Quick, a Model AW piloted by Earl Rowland, and four Model BW ships own by Cessna dealers and distributors. Clyde and his fellow aviators reviewed estimated fuel and oil consumption, the best power settings to use, and emphasized the necessity of accurate dead-reckoning navigation between the 16 control points that de ned the route westward.
Among the 35 pilots competing in the Class A segment, Rowland knew he and the Model AW would face tough competition from Robert Dake and his American Moth parasol monoplane. Both airplanes featured seven- cylinder static, air-cooled Warner Scarab radial engines. At precisely 5:43 a.m., the of cial starter dropped the red ag as the rst airplane took off for Los Angeles, 2,840 statute miles away.
Minutes later 26 other airplanes followed, including Earl Rowland and the Model AW. Cessna was con dent that Rowland would be victorious in the Class A division because of the monoplane’s speed and the fuel economy of its Warner powerplant. Rowland had been a pilot for the Stearman Aircraft Company in the summer of 1928 when he became interested in ying the Cessna Model AW in the Air Derby. Lloyd Stearman had no objection, and Clyde quickly assigned Earl to y the silver monoplane bearing race number 99.1
After ying for 10 hours, Rowland was 28 minutes ahead of arch rival Dake. Earl was ying a tough,
18 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
disciplined race, calculating every step and navigating with extreme precision between control points. When the silver Cessna landed at Fort Worth, Texas, it had amassed a lead of more than 30 minutes over the American Moth.
Air racing became increasingly popular in the late 1920s and into the early 1930s and evolved into a national pastime that rivaled major league baseball. One of the famous air racing pilots of that era was James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle, who posed for the camera with the Laird “Super Solution” biplane he raced during 1931. (JOAN LAIRD POST)
APRIL 2018