The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-07
u SPEED ACES
WILL RACE IN
SKY CLASSIC
DOoIittIe and BayIeS Are
FavoriteS in Contest
for Trophy.
THRILLS GIVEN THR0NG
New Parachute Record Is
Set; Filler Cheats Death
in Fire.
BY LEO RARON

ID LEU BAhON
United Press stan Correspondent
CLEVELAND, Sept. Twelve Of
the speediest Skycraft in America
were rolled to the starting line at
Cleveland airport today to await
the take off in the second most i'm
portant speed event in national
avition-the Thompson trophy race.
The climactic finale of the
eleventh annual National Air Races
will be furnished with the thrilling
burst of speed at 4:30 p. m. Indian-
apoliS Time), when a cannon shot
sends the dozen ships spinning away
on the 100-mile race. Fifteen
thousand dollars awaits the winners
at the finish line.
Trial flights indicate that speed
in excess of $50 miles an hour will
be displayed. In a special race Sum
day, Robert H. Hall of Springfield.
Mass, flashed five times around
the ten-mile course at an average
speed Of 222 miles an hour, twenty
one miles greater than that at
tanned by the late Charles (Speed)
Holman when he won the event last
year.
Twelve Qualify for Race
The entrants, whose planes have
qualified at ITS miles an hour or
better, are:
Major James H Doolittle, new
tranScontinental speed king. who
Spanned the continent last Friday
IN the Bendix trophy race in II
hours and Is minutes. Doolittle is
flying the same Laird Solution BIZ
plane, but which is equipped with
more powerful motor, that he
used in setting new coast-to-coast
record.
Lowell Bayles, Springfield. Mass.
riding the tiny Gee-Bee low-winged
sportSter monoplane that developed
top speed of 286 miles an hour
IN trial flight, unofficially setting
a new record for American land
planes.
Ray Moore, San Francisco. whose
Keith mystery ship" reputedlv
conceals power capable of develdo-
ing 300 miles an hour speed. This
ship is equipped with retractabIe
landing gear that folds under di-
mlnutive wings while in flight
Louis Reichers, New York. who
carries the crest of Bernarr Nc
F'adden in Lockheed Affair
Shows Great Snaad
Robert H. Hall of Springfield. fv-
ing the same type of plane &c
Bayles. Hall circled five ten-miIe
laps in race Sunday at 222 miles
an hour.
Harold S. Johnson. Chicago mail
pilot, flying the same Lockheed
Orion that brought him second
honors in the Bendix race
S. j. Whitman, Oshkosh, Wis.
plotting a Whitman racer. This
entry is a dark horse. REPORTS
however, repute its speed at about
300 miles an hour.
Robert Clampett, San Francisco.
flying another Keith mystery
ship"
Dale (Red) Jackson of endurance
flight fame, flying a Laird Solution
ship as a substitute for Lee Schoen-
hair, Cleveland.
James Weddell, Patterson. La.
flying a Williams Weddeu special
Captain Ira Eaker of the United
States army, Washington, flying a
Lockheed Affair.
DOoIittle and Bayes Favored
Two of the heaviest favorites TO
win are Doolittle and Bayles. The
two aces we're scheduled to take Off
this morning in joint attempt to
establish a new speed record over
a charted three-kilometer course.
Doolittle took practice run Sun
day night and his little green shin
flashed over the stands like a comet.
The Pacific coast entries, the
Keith mystery ships, also are ex-
pected to be decidedly lin the run
ming"
The Thompson trophy, donated
by Charles E. Thompson, president
Of Thompson Products COMPANY.
first was offered as a
major aeronautical prize last year.
Speed Holman, its winner, was
killed early this summer at the
Omaha speed races. In estimated
the race is ranked next
to the Schneider cup races. Only
pilots are eligible to enter. -
Sets New Record
Through temperatures of 80 de-
grees below zero that froze the con-
trolls Of his pilots ship. Captain
Bert White Sunday plunged five
miles under the billowing folds of a
parachute to establish a new worlds
record.
White unstrapped the oxygen
tanks that supplied him air during
the climb upward and stepped off
the wing of the plane as it stalled
n 900 or $4,000 feet up.
Spectators, sitting five miles be-
low, could not see the performance,
despite f1awless blue sky. The
pilot, Curtis Quick, San Francisco.
was nauseated by the rarified alp
and sub-zero temperatures, but
White, undaunted, slipped into
space. lost consciousness while he
plunged 1000 feet and then thawed
put as he floated the remaining
distance to ground. He landed
eleven miles from the airport.
Suffering from exposure, Quick