May 24, 2022 Airpark Life

The Liberty Gazette

May 24, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

When Kimberly Ewing left home in Connecticut to start college in South Carolina, she didn’t have a plan. “I had a boyfriend,” she laughs, “but no plan.”

Fortunately, Aunt Jayne (Ewing) also lived in South Carolina and invited her to spend the summer with her at her glider operation. “She said I could learn the operation. She’d get me to solo in a glider and see if that might give me some direction.” 

Kimberly earned her private pilot certificate in gliders, then added powered aircraft. “Aunt Jayne asked me what I was going to do with it. I wasn’t sure.”

That’s when Aunt Jayne explained the vast horizon. She could be an airline pilot. “I had no idea I could do that,” Kimberly admits. 

Aunt Jayne suggested they visit Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University together, and it was there, in Daytona Beach, when Kimberly understood what her aunt had been saying. Finally, she had a plan. “Flying for fun had been great, but I didn’t realize I could get paid for it. I transferred to Riddle and hit the ground running.” Not only that, but she met the dashing Nick Gill, a fellow student, and together, they would build their plan.

Kimberly began flight instructing, then she was hired by a regional air carrier. Nick went the route of corporate aviation. The couple settled in the Atlanta area, and Kimberly commuted to work. 

One day, Nick heard about a fly-in not far from their home. Kimberly wouldn’t be back from her trip in time to join in the fun, so Nick borrowed her 1965 Aeronca Champ, which they kept in a hangar about an hour from their apartment, and hopped over to the private grass strip to check it out. There, at Mallard’s Landing, Nick made many new friends. He couldn’t wait to show Kimberly. 

“We didn’t know there was such a thing, flying communities. We fell in love with the place and the people. When our realtor told us about a house at Mallard’s Landing coming on the market, we jumped on it.”

Kimberly and Nick with their de Havilland Beaver

Within a few years, Kimberly joined Delta, Nick was hired by NetJets, and their fleet was growing, adding a de Havilland Beaver and two project planes – an Extra 300S and a Schweizer 1-26 glider – because Nick is also an aircraft mechanic. 

Kimberly says airpark life suits them well. “I get home from work and think, what a nice day, I think I’ll take the Champ out. I taxi out, and there’s my neighbor Jeanel, also a Delta pilot. She’s on her deck with her dogs, and I wave as I taxi by. Then I see our friend Mike in his Stinson, and there’s Leigh in his Cessna 195. This community is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Sitting on the deck watching airplanes with a coffee is like, is this real? It’s been ten years, and it’s still like that. We are incredibly fortunate. I will never take flying or living here for granted. Airplanes are cool.”

So is Aunt Jayne.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

May 17, 2022 When Pigs Fly

The Liberty Gazette

May 17, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: She stood by the dusty dirt road, her tail wagging at every car that went by. I noticed her as I took the back way to the soaring club in Waller. I figured she belonged to a rancher nearby. After I made my flights at the club, I retraced my route to see if she was still there.

As I approached the place where I’d seen her, a floppy-eared head popped up from the grass. I slowed, and this pup trotted over to my car, tail still wagging, as if expecting me. When I stepped out, she dropped and rolled around at my feet. She had some Pit in her, but I couldn’t figure out what else. 

A couple in a truck stopped. “Do you know her?” I asked. “No, never seen that dog before. She might belong at that house a half-mile up the road.” I opened my door, and she climbed in with her short legs and made herself at home in my front passenger seat. I knocked on doors. Each person said she wasn’t theirs. It was Saturday afternoon, and no animal shelters were answering, so temporarily, she came home with me.

We’d lost our beautiful Hilda (Linda’s canine soulmate), a 100-pound German Shepherd, just six weeks prior. Twelve days later, we lost our sweet Abby, a flat-coat Retriever. We had decided no more pets – “when pigs fly,” as they say. We needed to find this dog’s owner.

We had a local vet check her and discovered she was microchipped. From that information we contacted the tracking company who attempted to contact the owner. No response. We prodded. Finally, they made contact. The owner said she would call us. No calls. 

We talked with the Houston SPCA who adopted her out to this owner just two months prior. To dump her where I found her, that owner had to drive over 30 miles through three towns and across two highways. Why? The SPCA has a no-questions-asked return policy. Our only answer is she tested positive for heartworms and hookworms. We started treatment. 

The SPCA had originally taken her in after someone found her with a bullet in her leg. They had named her Iggy, and she answered to it. She was barely eight months old when I found her, and now, she’s 48 pounds of muscular Corgi-Pit. 

We’ve tried to find her a forever home but figured as long as she’s with us, we might as well see if she likes to fly. Our other dogs didn’t like flying, and Hilda, though she loved car rides, was too large and frail to lift into the plane.

IggyPiggy, as we now call her, donned a harness and settled in the back seat. With the prop spinning, we left the canopy open until take-off for maximum mutt enjoyment. She curiously peered out the windows. The wind made it bumpy that day, so we made it a short flight. Here’s hoping IggyPiggy will fly again.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

May 10, 2022 Give Him a Hand!

The Liberty Gazette

May 10, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

We had a good dose of relaxation and fun at our favorite fly-in, the semi-annual “Critters Lodge – An Aviation Preserve,” in Centerville, Texas. A little warmer than we like for tent camping, the low was about 65 on Friday night, and maybe 60 or so Saturday night after a good thunderstorm blew through. 

Wendall and Beverly (and a handful of friends who volunteer to work until their heal spurs kick up) make everyone feel welcome at their home grass strip, serving meals Friday through Sunday with no expectations – nothing but a donation jar. 

A couple of regulars, Don Lymbery and his wife, Ginger, hopped over from Lufkin. Seated at one of several cafeteria tables in the palatial hangar with a commercial kitchen (and room left over for a Beechcraft Baron), Ginger ratted Don out about a recent poker run when she nodded toward him and said, “Mr. Can’t-Miss-The-Fun over here.” 

“I got an email about a poker run someone was organizing a couple of weeks ago,” Don explained with a grin. “I’m always up for a fun flight, so I hopped in my RV-6A and went to the first stop, Cherokee County, Jacksonville. I picked up one of the sealed envelopes from the stack and climbed back in the plane to the next stop, Gladewater. I didn’t see anyone else, but it was kind of windy that day.” 

How windy? 18-24 knots, with 30-knot gusts. 

Let’s analyze this. If the wind is blowing at 20 knots from the north, and the runway you want to land on runs east-west, you’re going to deal with a crosswind trying to blow you off the runway. Of course, a smart pilot will know her or his own personal limitations as well as the limitations of the aircraft. You handle the airplane and fly it on down, maybe at a crabbed angle, but you get it on the runway and make it look effortless. 

Don left his home strip, Acorn Acres Ranch, and flew to five airports to collect one card at each: Jacksonville-Gladewater-Mineola-Palestine-Aero Estates, and then back to Acorn Acres Ranch.

“Gladewater and Aero Estates were the most challenging, with 24-30 knot crosswinds. Flying the leg from Mineola to Palestine took the longest because it was straight into the wind. At 7,500 feet (to get over the clouds), the headwind was 40 to 50 knots on that leg.”

Landing for the fifth card in the hand, Don was surprised to see people, since he hadn’t seen any at the other airports. It turns out, Don admits, that he missed the email that canceled the poker run the night before–due to winds. “Everyone was shocked to see me fight the winds at Aero Estates. They were there for their monthly ‘End of the Runway’ gumbo lunch. After a good laugh, they guaranteed me the first poker hand at the next poker run (the cards were in sealed envelopes, so I never saw my hand). I can’t wait. Man, I love to fly!”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

May 3, 2022 Every Dog Has Its Day

The Liberty Gazette

May 3, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

These days, there’s a “Day” for everything and everyone. Whether you follow the National Day Calendar, as do about 20,000 media outlets, or a lesser-known competitor, you can find a reason to celebrate every day. 

Last week in this space, we applauded the progress taking place on improvements for the Liberty Municipal Airport. While it wasn’t exactly “Airport Day,” it was International Pilots Day. So, let’s celebrate!

For starters, there’s still a gigantic pilot shortage. The airline industry predicts hiring 140,000 pilots between now and 2030, about 17,500 a year. There’s also a push to extend the airline pilot retirement age from 65 to 67. Eventually, that could go up to age 70. The U.S. is ahead of Europe on that. They’re still forced to retire at age 60, or younger in some countries. As long as a pilot is in good health and can pass the annual FAA medical exam, there’s no logical reason to keep her or him out of the flight deck. 

But International Pilots Day is a day to celebrate all pilots, not just airline. While we share our special day with the likes of National Pretzel Day, National Richter Scale Day, and at least a dozen other party theme options, the day for cake with airplane frosting designs wasn’t chosen at random. In fact, it has its origins in Turkey. 

Mehmet Fesa Evrensev was an Ottoman Turk born in 1878 in Istanbul. At the age of 33, his military sent him to France to learn to fly. Upon his return, he was the first Turkish pilot, carrying certificate number 1. Evrensev flew for his country in the Balkan War, World War I, and the War of Independence. He taught military pilots to fly, and he managed Turkey’s first air transport company, which eventually became today’s Turkish Airlines, a very low-cost international carrier. He died in 1951. We may not have anything in common with him other than aviation, but he was a pretty big deal to the Turks. That’s why they chose to commemorate the date of his first flight, April 26, 1911, by proclaiming it International Pilots Day. 

Surprisingly, this recognition is fairly new. Last week was only the ninth year our special day was official, the result of efforts by the Turkish Airlines Pilots’ Association, joined by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations. So, while it has its beginnings honoring those who “fly the line,” the day of celebration includes private and recreational pilots, charter and corporate pilots, air show pilots, Grand Canyon tour pilots, balloon and glider pilots, and even cargo pilots, also known as “freight dogs.” For one day each year, with or without freight, we’re all dogs having our day. 

Once our feet are back on terra firma, and the airplane’s back in the hangar, we raise a toast to our fellow airheads around the globe, to those who share the incredible passion for flight. It’s certainly a better choice than today’s “National Lumpy Rug Day.”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

April 26, 2022 Airport Doings

The Liberty Gazette

April 26, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Some of my most interesting landing stories come from flying in Africa. Often, the best accommodations are dirt strips. Vocal music from a welcoming crowd is a beautiful sound, but we don’t get to hear that until we clear the runway. And I don’t mean when we taxi off the runway. I mean pre-landing clearing. A low fly-by is sometimes necessary for a couple of reasons. In some places, we look toward the trees along the sides of the runway for guerillas. The kind with machine guns. In other places, where nut jobs might not be a present danger, we may need to “scootch” the cows over. “Scootch” is a word I learned from Dr. Brother Jimmie Clemmons (who also happened to be my first passenger when I got my private pilot certificate). To be safe and effective, the pilot brings the plane down just low enough to encourage cows or other animals to move off the runway. It’s like asking nicely, please “moove.” 

All this to say that the Liberty Municipal Airport has been in operation a long time without a wildlife fence fully enclosing the airport, and it appears we will finally have that. That’s good for pilots, passengers, and wildlife. The engineering firm of Mead and Hunt completed their wildlife hazard site visit here earlier this month to assess the situation prior to completing installation of the fence. The Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division holds the purse strings for all federal and state funding for Texas airports, and they require this survey before the work is completed. Now that item can be checked off the list, thanks to the LCDC.

Meanwhile, trees that obstructed a safe approach to landing to the south (runway 16), have been cut down. The prevailing wind around here is from the south, so that’s the most-used runway. When the FAA creates instrument approaches, it’s for aircraft to be able to land in low visibility conditions. It’s critical that there be nothing encroaching on or obstructing an approach path. Take-offs are optional. Landings are not. So not only is this a safety factor, but also preservation of the airport as an operational facility, meeting the standards expected to stay in good standing with grant assurances. When an airport operator receives federal or state grants, they contractually agree to continue to operate the airport as an airport, safely and in the manner generally accepted for airport operations. 

TXDoT’s top two priorities for funding are safety and preservation. That is, projects needed to make the airport safe for aircraft operations, and projects to preserve the functional or structural integrity of the airport. 

It was nice to hear Kelly Stretcher explain to the LCDC (and City Council) the sad state of affairs in this city, the potential, and ideas on how to fix it. Kelly has a gentle demeanor, so people with sensitive feelings have an easier time hearing truth from him. Whatever it takes, kids. At least the airport is getting some love.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

April 19, 2022 Learning with Katalin

The Liberty Gazette

April 19, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Last week, we brought you Katalin Watkins’s journey to soloing a glider. The 14-year-old speaks of things she’s discovered about flying in a way that makes any listener envious. 

Katalin Watkins after first glider solo

EAL: How did you get started? 

KW: My first glider flight was in a Grob on my thirteenth birthday. We went up in thermals, which is when you find a column of air lifting, and you circle up in it. We were up about forty-five minutes, which is a quite a long time for a glider flight. So far, I’ve made forty-five flights. 

EAL: What’s your favorite maneuver? 

KW: Stalls are pretty fun because you just kind of come up, and everything’s quiet, and the wind noise goes down so much. The nose comes up, and then it starts to shudder, and you push the nose down. It’s like, whoshooo! It’s really fun. Like a small hill on a roller coaster. A little bit of exhilaration. The steep turns are also pretty cool. You’re steeply banked all the way around. Kinda freaky. 

EAL: What do you think about boxing the wake?

Katalin filling out her logbook after her first solo

KW: I’ve only boxed the wake a few times. It’s interesting how far the glider can go and it’s still fine. I don’t know how familiar you are with it, but when you’re boxing the wake, there’s a slot, which is when you’re looking ahead at the tow plane, its wheels are just below the horizon, but the wings are still above it. Once you’re in the slot, you don’t want to go above it. But it’s crazy how low you can go, and it’s fine. And you can go so far to the sides. Boxing the wake has helped me learn. I realized I didn’t need to be so pent up and nervous about this stuff because if you go really low, it’s almost always redeemable, and it’s nearly never an issue. You just say, hey, we’re too low, and it may take me a little bit to get up, or whatever, so don’t be concerned, we’re good. 

One thing I had a little bit of trouble with leading up to the solo was being stiff on the controls. On the tow, I needed to be a little easier and anticipate. Boxing the wake showed me that there isn’t an urgency to it. We have some time. 

EAL: Are you left-handed or right-handed? 

KW: I’m left-handed, but I’ll hold the stick with either hand. Sometimes, I put my arm on the side rest and lean to the side, and I’m like, ope! Sit up straight! Don’t lean! My instructor said right-handed people tend to lean to the right, and left-handed people tend to lean to the left, regardless which hand they’re using. I found that interesting. But during the tow, I was like, don’t lean! Straight up, c’mon! It was kind of funny. 

EAL: You sure grab the moment by the horns, Katalin. Thanks for sharing your learning experiences!

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

April 12, 2022 Flying with Katalin

The Liberty Gazette

April 12, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Katalin Watkins will never forget what she did to celebrate turning 14. The student pilot took to the skies alone in a Schweitzer 2-33 glider the moment she was legal to fly solo. Since her 13th birthday, Katalin put considerable effort into studying and practicing, flying with an instructor she trusts and admires. Finally, a year later, her hard work paid off. 

“In the days leading up to my first solo flight, I didn’t have any nerves, so I thought I’d be fine. The week before, three days before, I felt confident. But the night before I planned to rise early, to do this all
by myself, I started to wonder. What could go wrong? What am I not thinking of? My nerves got a little workout that night, but in the morning, when I climbed into the glider behind my tow pilot, Bob, I knew I was ready. I could do this. I had prepped constantly and flew often. I was excited, and I was confident.”

What’s it like to command a flying machine at 14? Katalin says, “The glider is so light without my instructor that it handles differently than when he is with me. I have to be lighter on the controls and remember that a little movement goes a long way. On the tow, the glider wants to go upward. That can be dangerous if I let it get higher than the tow plane, because while we are attached by the rope (just to get me to altitude), if I let my glider rise above the tow plane, I could pull its tail up, causing my tow pilot to lose control. You have to remember that while being towed, you’re not completely independent. Bob and I work well together. He is supportive and encouraging.”

One of the things Katalin loves most about flying gliders is the peace and quiet – “solitary and exhilarating.” She has flown in her mom’s Piper Cub and other powered aircraft many times, but for her, nothing beats a peaceful flight in a motorless aircraft. “Sometimes you see the birds flying around too. And it’s so interesting that you’re being held on air, with nothing below you, nothing holding you up. It’s incredible, the engineering, that you don’t just drop like a stone.”

Katalin has soared in the thermals of South Florida, been ridge soaring in Colorado, and a combination of ridges and thermals over Hawaii where “the color of the sea is amazing and viewing wave crests from above is incredible.” This summer, she’ll go to ballooning camp, where she hopes to experience hot air ballooning. Someday, she wants to have at least a private pilot certificate in airplanes and gliders.

Katalin’s advice to youths: “If you have interest, don’t get worried about what you have to learn, like air pressure differentials and stuff. Just try it and see if you like it. Get an instructor you can have a good rapport with and try it out. The experience is truly incredible.”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com 

Katalin with instructor, Tommy Augustsson, 
and tow pilot, Bob Youngblood

Katalin's solo shirt tail being cut off

Katalin with solo shirt tail

April 5, 2022 The Aviator of Tsingtao

The Liberty Gazette

April 5, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Tucked away in China’s port city Qingdao, the capital of Kiaochow, you’ll find German-style villas built in the aftermath of the “Juye incident.” This “incident” was the murder of two Catholic missionaries in 1897 believed to be carried out by a Chinese gang called “The Big Sword.” Germany saw an opportunity to convince the waning Qing Dynasty to give them Qingdao (then called Tsingtao), oust their own Chinese government officials, build the Germans three churches and seven fortified homes, and hand over a bunch of silver. 

Fast-forward 17 years to the little German village and a young Bavarian named Gunther Plüschow who arrived on orders of the Imperial German Navy. Gunther loved the area and described it in his memoir: 

…the loveliest weather, most radiant sunshine, and the bluest of skies. The bathing season was at its height. There were many charming ladies, mostly from the European and American settlements in China and Japan, visiting the “Ostend of the Far East” and enjoying the beauty of Kiaochow.

Amusement was the order of the day. Motor drives, riding-parties, polo, and tennis filled the free hours, and in the evenings, dancing held undisputed sway. There were many Englishwomen amongst the women, and our relations were most pleasant and cordial. We had challenged the English Polo Club at Shanghai to a match when, on the 30th of July — like a bolt from the blue — came the order warning us of “Danger of war!”

The siege of Tsingtao was the only battle fought in East Asia during World War I. The Japanese had four seaplanes they flew off a carrier, part of their superior Navy. And there was Gunther, alone, flying an obsolete monoplane, the Taube. It had no ailerons, only a system of pulleys and cables to pull the trailing edges of the wings, a movement called wing warping. A one-man air force, he staved off Japanese and British with only a pistol.

When their situation looked grim, the local German governor told Gunther to fly the Taube deeper into China (neutral at the time) and get back to Germany. He tried, but he ran out of fuel and crash-landed into a manure pile on a farm. Witnesses thought a dragon had landed. 

He continued on foot, then by boat bound for San Francisco. He crossed the U.S. to New York, and with his fake Swiss passport, boarded a ship for Italy. The British caught him at an unscheduled stop in Gibraltar and took him to a POW camp in Leicestershire. Two months later, he escaped, found a boat headed for Holland, then took a train home. The Kaiser awarded him the Iron Cross. He went back into service until the end of the war, but as Germany’s Fascism movement grew, Gunther wanted no part of it and moved to South America, where he would fly aerial surveys for Argentina and Chile until his untimely death from a crash. 

His memoir, “The Aviator of Tsingtao,” has been republished in English by Camphor Press.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

March 30, 2022 The Future of Fuel

The Liberty Gazette

March 30, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

It’s complicated. While we abhor the thought of the World Economic Forum and a one-world government, optional energy should be just that–optional. The aviation world is unfortunately infiltrated with WEF proponents, but to try to keep an eye on the positive, at least it’s interesting to see the developments in engine manufacturing. Hydrogen, hybrid-electric, and purely electric are new competitors for research dollars, as well as refining ideas about piston and jet engines.

Despite the fact that aviation accounts for a very small (single-digit) percentage of carbon dioxide emissions, the aircraft and engine manufacturing industries intend to become “climate-neutral” by 2050. This affects a lot of people. 

In what we call general aviation, which is everything other than the airline and military segments, innovation cycles are long. This is because development and government certification require hefty investments of both time and money and can take many years to recoup. The price the customer pays for new developments means that customer also should expect years before seeing a return on their investment. For instance, consider any large oil company or retailer, all of which have corporate flight departments, and the costs that factor into decisions whether to upgrade to aircraft flying on other than gas or kerosene.

But there’s another important factor, more critical–that of safety. The industry has achieved a high standard of safety. This is due in part to air traffic control, pilot training and other regulations, better access to meteorology, and new technology in aircraft and engines.

When it comes to new technology, we need to be able to rely on safety standards, that they don’t fall below current high standards no matter how happy it may make the control-glutton WEF. At least, that’s our hope. But after witnessing beatings in the name of public health in places like New York and Australia, who knows? 

We don’t think severe, mandated changes to aircraft power sources will happen overnight. The tried-and-true internal combustion engines will be around hopefully for the rest of our lives. But we are already seeing new ideas being introduced into the market. Will one come out on top? Maybe. It will be interesting to see. 

Another positive about this is cost. Lots of people are priced out of learning to fly. We expect to see the price tags of aircraft with new tech drop over time, and the operating costs even more so. 

Among the challenges, lots of work is still to be done to address the problem of range. The engines in use since the dawn of aviation have been so well developed that you can hop a flight to Europe, Southeast Asia, or even Australia with few to no stops for fuel. That’s not yet the case for these alternative fuels, such as electricity. You’d be lucky to get an hour’s flight time in a battery-operated airplane. 

Lots to think about for the future. Just get rid of that cancer, the WEF, and we’ll all get along fine. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

March 22, 2022 The Schneider Cup

The Liberty Gazette

March 22, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Among my favorite activities are flying seaplanes and air racing. There was a time, had I been in my prime a hundred years ago (and had I been male), I could have combined these two loves. Alas, not these days. The prestigious Schneider Cup Race of seaplanes shall remain an incredibly fascinating story in aviation history. 

To encourage development of seaplanes for commercial purposes, Frenchman Jacques P. Schneider thought it would be a great idea to dangle the race carrot for manufacturers in any country to compete for the title of best seaplane. Surely it would lead to inventions that would fuel his vision of the perfect type of commercial aircraft – one that could land on coasts, lakes, and rivers, with no need to spend money on airports. Incentives of money and national pride would fast-forward advancement.

Schneider Cup Trophy

They’d race against the clock (not against each other). The fastest average time would win. Schneider
promised cash and a trophy, and the country to win three consecutive races within five years would get to keep the trophy forever. 

The racecourse was a 31-mile triangle, which they had to fly around seven times. At first, Schneider made contestants fly 547 yards in contact with the sea before getting airborne. In later years, he made them park their planes in the water for six hours before the race, as a test of product integrity, and if a plane’s floats had any leaks, the unlucky pilot would have to fly with the water in it.

The first event was held April 16, 1913, in Monaco. While seven countries wanted to participate, only France had aircraft ready in time, and only one completed the full course. However, the pilot had water-taxied across the finish line rather than flying over it, disqualifying him. Schneider said either the second place (an American pilot) would be declared the winner, or the winning French pilot could re-fly that last lap, significantly slowing his average speed, but giving him the win. He took the offer, and the first Schneider trophy landed in France.

The following year, World War I started. Efforts that had gone into racing went instead into fighting. Britain’s Sopwith Camel was one of the Schneider racers converted to a wartime machine. After the war, the Brits and Italians were strong contenders until 1923, when the U.S. Army and Navy joined forces for the win in a Curtiss CR-3, average speed 177.279 mph. The Brits didn’t appreciate being beaten by state-sponsored racing.

The famous pilot and war hero Jimmy Doolittle won the race in a Curtiss R2C-2 (232.573 mph) in 1925. The following year, Mussolini declared Italy would win, at all costs. Mario de Bernardi was all too happy to deliver the news of his win. But Britain’s Supermarines settled it all with the fastest airplane in the world after three consecutive wins, 1927, 1929, and 1931. You can see the coveted trophy – clinched by an average speed of 340.08 mph – in person at the Science Museum in South Kensington, London. 

British Supermarine S.3B

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com