Evening star., 1926-11-14

the Army. AS the winning Army
pilot crossed the finish line. the ad-
miral let a verbal contract to the
Curtiss Co. for two new racers, and
these the following year at st. Louis
put the Navy in first place in the
airplane racing category.
This afternoons race was not as
spectacular as those held In the past.
The course was SO mapped out that
the turn on the home pylon was
hardly g. turn at all, and the thrill OF
seeing these little racers wrap
around the pylonS was lacking. The
planes approached from the direction
of Newport News, made a 45-degree
bank at the judges stand and were
off for q point in Chesapeake Bay
marked by a boat, which neceSSitated
a 160degree turn.
Consequently, this, together with
the fact that the planes flew at altl-
tudes of from 200 to 500 feet, instead
of at about so feet, reduced the thrills
to q minimum. More excitement
came from the scoreboard and the an
nouncer whose cry of the progress
being made by Maj. de Bernardo sent
chills down the backs of the large
throng.
Bacula Off First.
Lieut.. Bacula was the first to take
off. He was followed five minutes
later by Lieut.. Tomlinson in his lum-
bering "hawk," and when Capt. Fer
rarin. next in line, was unable to get
away on time owing to some minor
engine adjustments, Lieut.. Cuddihy
took the air. Then followed Capt.
Ferrarin, and an interval of about 10
minutes occurred before Maj. De Ber-
nardi TAXED out. He was not salts
| fed with the performance of the en-
| CINE and therefore chose his own
| time for getting away. AS soon as
he pulled his brilliant red monoplane
| into the air Lieut.. Schilt got under
way.
BY this time Lieut. Bacula had fin
| ished the first lap and the official
scorer credited him with speed of
| 209 .5S4 miles per hour. Everybody
laughed at the absurd figure, which
| nevertheless was correct.
"Why, America had the race cinch-
| ed before the start if this is an ex-
ample of Premier Mussolini's latest
! move in the conquest of international
aeronautical prestige" some persons
were heard to remark.
And then Lieut.. Cuddihy roared
around the first lap at a figure of
232427 miles per hour. This gave
added confidence to the crowd.
Crowd Changes Tune.
But Capt. Ferrarin had not been ac-
counted for, and when his figure or
234631 went up on the board hearts
dropped. And after Maj. de Bernardo
| flashed by to the tune Of 239.443 miles
| for the first lap another tune was
| being whistled. However, there was
| optimism enough to indicate that the
| three Italians would never finish be-
| cause their engines were supposed to
| be too new for the grueling test.
| Strange as it may seem. there were
many expressed 'hopes" floating
about that Maj. de Bernardo would go
down and leave the way for George
Cuddihy. But fate turned the tables
and struck George down near New
port News When this news was an
| nounced, Maj. de Bernardo was con-
ceded the race before he was through
| with his last lap.
| However, as he approached the
| finish line, every hand went up in q
| hearty wave and new hero was born.
He was cheered and applauded again
when he maneuvered for q landing
and tonight he is being feted by per-
sons who never heard of the name
| before.
Sorrow for FerTarin.
Although Maj. De Bernardo was re-
garded as the best, Capt. Ferrarin was
| not to be scoffed at. When he was
| forced to turn back to the bay as he
began his fifth lap, owing to the
broken oil line, the crowd was truly
sorry. For Capt. Ferrarin, although
| unable to speak a word Of English,
was immensely popular.
With his crippled engine he went
far inland, glided over the hangers
and put the little plane down into the
| bay as gracefully as ever a seaplan ne
was landed. Later he was introduced
from the timers stand and applauded
vigorously. His reply was I'm
sorry"
| Maj. de Bernardo had his troubles
in the air, too. AT the beginning of
| the fifth lap the oil temperature rose
from 20 to 95 degrees centigrade
He had been expecting this as the
cooling system was not quite perfect
and as soon as the needle on his
gauge in the cockpit moved around
the pilot sought a little higher alti-
| tude to give him a better advantage
for a landing if the engine stopped
Arm Almost Paralyzed.
Then, too, Maj. de Bernardi's right
arm became almost paralyzed from
gripping the control stick. 1t was vlr-
tually limp tonight, but it is nothing
serious. Lieut.. Bacula was forced tC
employ two hands on the stick to hold
his speedy mount even though it was
not flying at full gun" A kink in
the control system made this neces-
sary.
Lieut.. Tomlinsons part in the race
| was that of sightseer. Il had the
best advantage" he said on landing
las / saw it all from the air and saw
| every step OF progress around the
| course"
| The little pilot played his part well
| keeping out Of the way of LieutS
| Cuddihy and Schilt and flying a
| straight course when the Italians
hove into sight. On one occasion, at
| the home pylon, he made a wide cir
| Gle off the airplane to allow Lieut..
| Cuddihy to pass him without losing
a foot of the regular track.
| Lieut. Cuddihy was towed into the
air station just at dark, under the
same conditions that marked his fin
ish in the Baltimore event last year
Friends Wait for Cuddihy.
A group of friends remained at the
station to welcome him hong after the
crowd began it's fight and traffic jams
to get into the city. He came into
the concrete wall standing on the
left pontoon and leaning on the pro
lpeller Then he was carried ashore or
the back of a sailor and came face tC
face with Admiral Moffett.
I'm sorry Lieut.. Cuddihy said
"but things just went wrong"
That's all right the admiral re
piled, patting him on the back. You
did all that was expected of you. No
body could have done better. We just
didn't have the equipment"
When Lieut.. Cuddihy returned Il
the quarters q - racing team hi