Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-29

ward the superb seaplane sped toward the
third and final pylon, when suddenly q gasp
arose from the gathering. AS Capt. Biard at
tempted steep bank. the ship was seen to
sideslip and fall in half dive into Chesapeake
Bay.
A mile from shore, Bard half drowned but
otherwise little injured was rescued.
Meantime, Doolittle. Belts, Cuddihy, Ofstie
and Conant were standing by, ready, eager,
keen to take advantage of the breaks. These
were the crack flyers of America, young, fear
less. skillful resourceful, trained and fervent
as fighting cocks to defend the Schneider Cup,
won by Rittenhcuse two years previously. Doc
little, Cuddihy and Ofstie were chosen to fly
for America, while Belts and Conant stood by
as alternateS for the Army and Navy, respec-
lively.
In his trial flight. Lieut.. Cuddihy, landing in
the N-2-Z-2, snapped a pontoon brace wire and
crippled the entry temporarily.
In the actual race both Cuddihy and Ofstie
were forced down by engine trouble Eight
miles at sea they were rescued by the Italian
flyers, Giovanni de Brigandi and H. Riccardo
Morselli, in their Macchi 80 flying boat.
With an average speed of 1925 miles an
hour-50 miles an hour faster than the second
best time-Lieut. Doolittle flashed past the final
pylon the winner
The night of October "a, 1925, he was guest
OF honor at banquet rendered British, Italian
and American Schneider Cup pilots
Sharing this distinction was Capt H. c.
Bard, the British pilot who had executed a
l,OOO-toot dive into Chesapeake Bay and had
lived to tell the tale. Except for the fact that
ms hy1ng hand was now in sling, there was
no mark to connect him with the thrilling adj
venture Of the day before. Called upon for a
speech, he arose CALAMITY to the occasion
IL the supermarine hadn't turned into a
submarine" he said, 1--WE should have defeated
you"
ESS than year later Cyrus Belts, alternate
to Doolittle, crashed with two companions
lnto Jacks Mountain, near Bellefonte, Pa
Belts died at Walter Reed Hospital.
Two months after this tragedy, Frank H
Conant, alternate Navy pilot in the 1925 race.
was Killed while flying Schneider Cup racing
plane over Winter Harbor, 80 miles north of
Norfolk In landing at 100 miles an hour he
struck fish pole and the craft sank in shallow
water. The accident occurred on October 80
1926, day after Conant had established two
new worlds speed records.
Three years Later the third of Americas five
racing pilots assembled on that fateful day at
Bay Shore was killed George T. Cuddihy
crashed in 10000-foot dive at Anacostia Naval
Air Station
The trophy which was donated by M. Jacques
Schneider in 1913, through the Aero Club of
France, is valued at $4,000 francs It has been
estimated that at least $25, 600 900 has been ex-
pended by the various competing nations in the :
effort to capture it. 1t has been held five times
by Great Britain, an equal number of times bv
Italy twice by the United States and once ION
the occasion of its inauguration) by France.
Following American victories at Cowes in
1875 nd at Bay Shore in 1925, the United
Sta bandoned as too costly the serious eff
fort sin the elusive trophy. The engineering
cost OF constructing racer capable of compet-
ing with the advanced craft of Great Britain
and italy was huge. 1t was then that Lieut..
Afford Williams, speed ace of the United States
Navy, interested private capital in the construc-
ton of his famous flying motor" which how
ever, he was unable in numerous attempts to
lift from the water