Page 22 - Volume 12 Number 4

Derby – an aerial trek of 5,541 statute miles within the engine from attaining maximum power. As a
the United States – to demonstrate the feasibility of long distance ying in small aircraft featuring engines of low horsepower. Cessna jumped at the chance to capture his share of a $25,000 purse after local pilot Stanley Stanton proposed that a special racer be built to compete in the event. Stanton’s employer, Carl B. Haun, forked over $3,500 for Cessna to construct the GC-1 (G: seventh Cessna design; C: Cirrus engine and 1: the rst ship of that type built).
Clyde’s son Eldon and a few company engineers still on the payroll worked feverishly to complete the all-red racer, which they delivered to Stanton on July 9. A four-cylinder Cirrus Ensign rated at 90 horsepower was installed, and featured a supercharger designed by famous race car driver, Ralph De Palma. He claimed it added 30 percent more power to the engine, but it was soon evident that the supercharger needed further development.
result, the Ensign powerplant ran rough, the intake manifold cracked, seals leaked oil and exhaust stacks broke and fell off the engine. Despite these problems, the GC-1 managed to nish in seventh place (and out of the money) with an average speed of only 72 mph. By contrast, Lee Gelbach and his Command Aire monoplane nished in rst place averaging more than 127 mph. After the Cirrus derby Cessna mechanics removed the troublesome supercharger and the airplane was entered in the 1930 NAR and took fourth place in a race for open cockpit aircraft with engines displacing 1,000 cubic inches.
Undaunted by the GC-1’s lackluster performance, Clyde Cessna built a second racer dubbed the GC-2 featuring a Warner Scarab radial engine that produced 110 horsepower. With its mid-wing design and wing span of 24 feet, the GC-2 was almost a carbon-copy of its predecessor. Earl Rowland took the ship aloft for its maiden ight on August 19. He was enthusiastic about the airplane’s maximum speed of about 170 mph, and after a few days spent working out some “bugs” in various systems, Rowland ew the GC-2 north to compete in the 1930 NAR in Chicago, Illinois. Clyde and Eldon also attended the races.
Early test ights of the GC-1 revealed a maximum
speed of 160 mph – a good pace if the engine/
supercharger combination worked properly and gave
Stanton an excellent chance of winning the race. In
mid-July Stanley ew the airplane to Detroit, joining
17 other competitors anxiously awaiting the drop
of the starter’s ag. The eet of small ships took off
across the vast expanse of America. Unfortunately,
bad weather plagued the race from the beginning,
and the GC-1’s unreliable supercharger prevented of that year’s NAR. Clyde’s son, Eldon, entered the
The last major air race of 1931 was the Trans­ continental Handicap Air Derby. The route was from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio, the site
The Cessna GC-2 was a duplicate of the GC-1 except for its seven-cylinder Warner Scarab radial engine rated at 110 horsepower. The racer was own by three different pilots at the 1930 National Air Races in Chicago. (TEXTRON AVIATION)
20 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
APRIL 2018
Local Wichita pilot Stanley Stanton posed for the camera with the Cessna GC-1 he ew in the Cirrus Derby race in July 1930.
A faulty supercharger plagued the red racer and it was not competitive. In 1932 the monoplane was destroyed in a hangar re. (TEXTRON AVIATION)