Page 33 - Volume 10 Number 11

designed to win – Event Number 26. Scheduled for the last day of the NAR, the 50-mile race was sponsored by Thompson Products, Inc., and would earn the winner $750 and possession of a trophy known as the Thompson Cup. The competition would be tough: The Army Air Corps had entered a modified Curtiss Hawk designated the XP-3A, powered by a 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340 static, air-cooled radial engine and flown by Captain R.G. Breene. The Navy entered a Curtiss F6C-6 Hawk to be flown by Lt. J.J. Clark. The ship was powered by a 12-cylinder, upright V-type Curtiss Conqueror D-12 rated at 435 horsepower. In addition to the military machines, the flamboyant Colonel Roscoe Turner would fly his Lockheed Vega monoplane that boasted a 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior radial engine. Beech considered these three ships to be the Travel Air’s main competition – the remaining two stood little or no chance of winning. Walter, as well as other pilots at the NAR, believed that Event Number 26 would evolve into a duel between Davis and Captain Breene.
When race day finally came, Davis and the Type R taxied to up at the starting line along with the other five contestants. As Beech and Rawdon watched anxiously from the sidelines, the official dropped the flag. Breene was first to takeoff, followed in 10-second intervals by Davis, Clark, Turner and the others. The ground trembled
as engines reached full throttle, and propellers blew thick clouds of dirt and dust upward as each machine struggled to get airborne as quickly as possible. Crowds were on their feet, cheering enthusiastically while waving arms, hats, scarves in wild gestures. The race was on!
Breene had easily jumped into the lead, but as he rounded the first pylon both Clark and Davis already were closing in on the leader. As the laps unfolded, Davis first overtook the Navy biplane and then passed the Army ship as a stunned Breene watched in disbelief. He tried in vain to stay close to the Travel Air but could not hope to match its advantage of speed. Davis slowly opened the gap between his ship and Breene’s Hawk. With the end of the race rapidly approaching, Doug feared he had turned inside of a pylon – a violation that would have disqualified him. With his heart pounding like a jackhammer, he whipped the Type R into a high-G, 180-degree turn and flew back to circle the pylon. Meanwhile, Breene was fast approaching. In November, he recalled those tense moments during an interview with The Atlanta Journal: “Near the end of the race, I thought I had clipped a pylon too closely. I had a long lead over the field, so I figured it would be better to circle the marker again ... I pulled on the stick too quickly, and everything went black. By the time my head cleared, I was already past the pylon, so I circled back once more. This time I took a larger curve and made sure I was outside the pylon.
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NOVEMBER 2016 KING AIR MAGAZINE • 31