Evening star., 1926-05-15

| for the trip down the river was q Dig
F-5-L. piloted by Lieut.. c. T. Simard.
and numbered 2. This was followed
by Lieut.. Curtain in a similar type.
and then came Lieut.. Davis. Boat :
swain Fitzpatrick was the last off in
the big ship classes. followed by
| Lieut.. Russell Pollard OF Hampton
| Roads in a UO-1, fitted with 220'
horsepower air-cooled motor. Lieut..
IC. c. Champion Of the Bureau OF
| Aeronautics. flying the big loggy SC-6,
and powered with a Packard 500.
| horsepower engine, roared and whlned
around the pylon, followed by Lieut..
| Conant In another UO-1.
The last to start were Lieut.. Jeter
and Lieut. Barner, whose marked in
crease in speed and beautiful 1S0 de-
gree turns at the pylon drew admira-
| ton from every one.
| The race had not progressed far
| before 1t was evident one OF the two
hawks, screaming and groaning under
the full throttles, would carry away
the honors, and while the interest cen
| tered about these two pilots, Lieut..
| Conant kept creeping up on the slower
| ships In relation to the order Of finish.
he won third place with an average
speed Of 1O4 .115 miles per hour. Lieut..
| Champion took fourth place with
speed OF 97.229 miles per hour, but did
not win out in his group. Lieut., Pol
lard was fifth with a speed of 92.7l
miles per hour; Boatswain Fitzpatrick
was sixth with 77.477 miles per hour;
Lieut. Curtain seventh with 74.3 miles
per hour. and Lieut. Simard was
eighth with 72085 miles per hour.
Lieut. Davis did not finish.
Kept Low Altitude.
At all times the planes never flew
over an altitude of 500 feet ana the
numbers on their sides and wings
could be seen plainly from the ground.
One of the most interesting features
was the manner in which Lieuts.
Letter and Barner made their turns
around the pylon. Lieut.. Jeter. roar
ing I'D the stretch, cooked over on the
| left wing and dived on the turn. losing
very little distance.
In a fash he was off down the river.
Lieut.. Barner, always In not pursuit,
began to dip over on the lett wing
about 500 yards before the pylon was
reached, and wrapped" his little
plane around the imaginary pole In
the air. The manner in which the olg
boat pilots took the turns with their
| trucks Of the air" was amazing and
commendable. :,
The winners in each group received
the concentrations of Secretary VIII
bur. Admiral Moffett and other ofn-
cials who witnessed the event from
the beach. All the pilots were smeared
with oil and slightly fatigued from
pushing the ships around the
course.
I'm mighty glad I won" declared
Lieut.. Jeter. because I've needed
watch for more than month"
Lieuts. Conant, Curtain and Boat
swain Fitzpatrick also were highly
pleased with the reward to be given
them for their efforts.
Carl F. Schory, secretary or the
contest committee Of the National Aer-
onautic Association, which sponsored
TO Mr.. Schory> goes the bulk OF the
credit for the success or the event.
Handicapped by time and encounter
ing many difficulties in the way OF op-
taining the necessary planes and per
sonnel, because OF meager facllltleS
here at the present time, Mr.. Schory
nevertheless paved the way for future
sporting contests OF the air In WASH
ington.
Stars Efforts Appreciated.
The Star was complimented by Ad-
miral Moffett for its interest in the
pioneer aircraft contest here. Il think
The Star has done a mighty hne
thing" declared the admiral, and
we ali appreciate it immensely"
Mr.. Schory, at whose suggestion the
.,rizes were donated by this news
paper, declared: THE offers made by
The Star are responsible for the In
tense competition that developed dur
ing the race. Had IT not peen ior TINS
inducement, the pilots Of the other
planes, with nothing to win and prob
ably forced landing or two to keep
in mind, would have had very little
interest in the outcome. AS 1t was,
however, they pushed their motors
wide open and attacked those pylons
with blood in their eyes"
During the exhibition, before the
race. Chief Rigger Alvin Starr OF
Iakehurst, n. j., who has made more
than 100 parachute jumps. won a
watch offered by A. Kahn, Inc, jew
elers, to the man coming closest to
a DESIGNATED mark in the field. He,
with six others, jumped from two
Marine Corps bombing planes. Five
De Haviland planes from Quantico
also gave formation drill in the air
and a Navy torpedo plane from
Hampton Roads laid smoke screen
down the river. While this curtain
was being put down, the six Marine
pursuit planes dived through it onto
the field
A loud.speaker devise, installed on
an automobile and developed by the
Bellevue Naval Labratory, informed
the spectators at the air station of
the progress of the race. 1t was
operated by Lieut.. c. D. Palmer,
,adio officer of the station.
The Marines who participated in
s>,e pursuit tactics were: Lieuts. ii.
j. Norton, leader of the first element
of three planes. w. l.. Mckittrick
and Master Sergt. Robert q. Fry;
Aaa&r L<A aaudeHe0uA leader es thsa