Evening star., 1925-10-22

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times in succession or three times
over period OF tive Years. Italy
captured the races in 1920 and 1921.
France, not entered this year, has won
the trophy once; Great Britain twice
lin 1914 and 1920 and the United
States once. Last year England was
scheduled to compete, hut its entry
crashed in England on preliminary
trials. No other entries were received
and the Navy, under the rules, could
have claimed the race Instead 1t
decided tha; no race should be held
and its two entries flew the course
n '.4!t.nI"rH TOr speed records, which
We're established.
'TLa, aCt OF SELF ahuesation on the
part OF the Americans" says the
Aeroplane. leading British publication
on aerouautiCs. is one nf the finest
examples Of true sportsrna nShip in the
history Of international competitions.
If the Americans had chosen TO claim
Walk-over. or ty-ovsr, they would
then have registered two successive
wins thaving won in England in 1929
and II they won again this year the
trophy would belong permanently to
the United States"
British Entry Impressive.
OF outstanding interest TO aeronaut.
iCal America Is the leading British
entry, the Supermarine- Napier S-4,
& monoplane which will be flown by
Henri Biard, who won the race in Italy
In 1922. 1t Is clothed with the secrets
act Of the air ministry and little OF its
performance IS publicly known. The
other British entry is the Gloster-
Napier III, resembling in construc-
tton the Army and Navy Curtiss
racers Of 1922. II. S. Broad. who, like
hIr. Biard. served with the British
fly ing forces III the war Will pilot
the second machine. The Italian en-
tries bring to America something new
in seaplanes. Ii is n boat-type and
mo1oplane. with an American engine,
Curtiss D-l2, mounted on struts high
above the top wing. They are known
as the Macchi and will be flown by
Sisnor De Briganu.. who won the
trophy race in 1921. and Ricardo
Marselli.
The American entries are brand new
having been built this Summer for the
Pulitzer race. staged at Mitchell Field,
New York. about two weeks ago. They
are improved Curtiss racers, with
VI, 400 motors of more than 600 horse
power. All have been converted into
seaplanes by the substitution OF pom
toons for wheels. The plane flown at
New York by Lieut.. Cyrus X. Bettis
and which won the Pulitzer race will
be piloted at Baltimore by Lieut..
James H. Doolittle of McCook Field,
Dayton, Ohio. The ship used in the
land plane race and which won second
place in command of Lieut.. A. ]. vii
liams will be flown by Lieut.. George
T. Cuddihy of the naval air station at
Anacostia. The dog ship" or the
third racer built this year, but which
was used as practice craft for both
Army and Navy pilots for the New
York event. will be in command of
Lieut.. Ralph A. Ofstie of the Planes
Division, Bureau of Aeronautics. Both
Lieut.. Cuddihy and Lieut.. Ofstie es-
tablished sea plane speed records over
the course at Bay Shore last year.
Army Has No Reserve.
The standby" plane of the Navy
the one which captured the Pulitzer
race in 1923 as a land plane, will be
flown by Lieut.. Frank H. Conant of
the Flight Division Of the Bureau of
Aeronautics in the event one or both
of the Navy entries are damaged in
preliminary trials. There is no re
serve for the Army. which has all its
and Lieut.. Doolittle.
The race is over a triangular course
measuring 26.98 nautical miles and
for a total distance of 1885 miles
All of the course, as provided by the
donor Of the cup. is over water, and
forced landings can be made without
difficulty in the event Of motor trouble.
Tomorrow the planes must be put
through navigability and seaworthi-
ness test. This consists Of having the
racers taxi over the starting line, fly
once over the course, land, taxi for
one-half nautical mile at a speed Of
II knots, take Off and taxi over the
finishing line. Immediately they must
be moored to a designated buoy and
left in the water for six hours. This
is to determine water-t tightness and
seaworthiness. No repairs will be
made, with the exception of changing
propellers If necessary If a ship is
damaged in the tests tomorrow. ii is
disqualified as an entry, and no re-
serve ship or pilot can fly in its
stead.
Estimates of Speed Made.
Due to the fact that the American
racers are weighted down with two
large 1ontoons, which produce a vast
amount OF drag" or resistance. air
men here do not anticipate a speed
for the race greater than 23O miles
per hour. They generally. concede
that the pontoons make a difference
of about 20 miles in speed. Lieut..
Belts land plane closed course time
was close to ESQ miles per hour.
The American entrants in the race
are more concerned about the super.
marine Sd than any other plane, be-
cause of rumors that have reached
America from England about its great
speed. 1t Is powered with a Napier
Lion motor said to develope $50 horse.
power. The motor Is a direct drive.
and the British figure that it will be
able to complete the course, although
admitting that after the race the
motor will be virtually useless. The
other entrant, the Gloster III. is not
attracting SO much attention, because
of its design, which. 1t is said, Is not
clean enough to produce as much
speed as the Immediately stream
lined S-4.
Details of British Plane.
There is not an external wire on the
entire supermarine machine. Radia-
tors are located in the wings and pro.
duce the minimum amount Of drag"
and beneath the fuselage Is a special
oil cooler Of novel design. There Is no
fabric in the machine, the wings and
body having been built of plywood and
metal, or both.
The undercarriage, attached to the
twin pontoons, is said to be q daring
departure from the standard for such