Evening star., 1932-08-22
10000 SEE START
OF AIR DERBY HERE
28 Entrants in Atlantic Wing
of Cord Cup Race Leave
Hoover Airport.

In the warm haze Of a perfect Au.
gust afternoon. before a crowd of 10000
to $4,000 spectators. 2S starters in the
Atlantic wing of the Cord Cup race
took off without a hitch from Wash.
ngton-Hoover Airport yesterday after
noon to bring the Capitals greatest
aviation week to a close.
The planes were Handicapped on a
spNed basis and the last plane crossed
the starting line | hour IL minutes
ana 80 seconds after the first had start
ed. Every plane entered responded
instantly to the starters flag, without
so much as the cough of balky motor
to mar the proceedings
The derby take-offs followed a dav of
flying demonstrations. the high lights Of
which were acrobatics by Arthur Killips
and Betty Lund, sent here by the Ma
tloral Air Race Committee from Cleve-
land; parachute jumps by Jerry Weser-
ling and Roger Don Rae. tactical fiyinp
by Army Reserve officers from Boiling
Field. and an autogyro flight by James
G. Ray.
The brightly -colored derby planes
then were TAXED in a long column, led
by j. Earl Steinhauer, derby field
marshal. from the Hoover Field end of
the airport across Military road into
the airport proper and we're parked
under Steinhauer's direction, in the
order of take-off.
First Plane Takes OF.
The pilots received final instructions
from Clifford Henderson, managing di-
rector Of the National Air Races at
Cleveland, and the pilots Of the early
starters began warming up their motors.
Just before O'Clock J. H. Tuohy of
Olean, N. Y, flying the sloweSt plane
entered. TAXED up to the starter, opened
MS throttle at 10 seconds before 8
O'Clock, as the flag went up. kicked off
ms brakes as the flag dropped at pre-
cisely 3 o'clock and was off in a whirl-
pool of dust for the first control point
OF the 2.50o-mile derby route, Winston
Salem, N. c.
Inree minutes and seconds elapsed
oe1ore the second plane, a tiny Moth,
plloteo by Fred Dorset of Augusta. Ga.
got the flag and crossed the starting
line. Helen Mac Closkey Of Pittsburgh.
one OF the two girl pilots entered in The
| AtiGntlc wing. relied her tiny closed
| CABIN monoplane across the line at
5:O7:4 as the third starter. Joe Field,
Bradford. Pa, flying the Oldest plane
IN the race. 7-year-old Travelair, was
the fourth starter to get the flag.
crossing the starting line at 3:O8.56'
Tne second woman starter. Miss. Helen
Rlchey, daughter of the superintendent
OF schools Of McKeesport, Pa, pushed
her silver and blue open-cockpit biplane
across the starting line at 3:1308.
len minutes elapsed after Miss
Rlchey started and all five Of the first
starters were out Of sight over the blue
Virginia hills before the sixth starter
was given the flag. He was Edward
h Stitt, Roxboro place, first of two,
| entrants from the National Capital.
suit. flying Spartan biplane which
ne oought recently for S400, got away
"Chappy' Lenox New Haven, Conn.
in a Travelair. and p A. Sturetevant.
Elmhurst. Ill. in an Aristocrat, were
! away at 329.42 and 3:3l3O.
Leave 20 Seconds Apart.
The first real excitement of the derby
staff came when three planes were sent
away within an interval of 20 seconds,
They were lined up, side by side. and
got the starting flags SO fast the Spec
Ttators scarcely could tell what was hap
pening. First of the. trio, c. j.. Fenton.
Toledo, crossed the line in tiny Mono
coupe at 3:34:43, and was followed at
a distance of a few yards by S. C.
HUFFMAN, Cincinnati, in a Waco. at
IS :02. The third ship, the flying po-
ntlcal billboard" Of DR.. j. E. owen,
AsheWlle, N. c., was Off in the Slip
stream of Huffman's ship, at 3:35 :O6.
As DR.. Owen began to roll down the
neld, tali high, he crossed the wash Of
perilouSly low, sliding clean across from
ieIt TO right of the starting lane before
ne leveled off and cleared the ground.
The crowd then had 4 minutes To
regain its breath before the flag was
given to Melville Robinson, Mount
clemens, Mich, at 339:29 Robinson,
a last-minute entry, flew the Waco en-
tered by Lee Gehlbach of Mount Glenn
ems. Gehlbach was withdrawn from
M Ihe derby to go into training for the
thompson trophy race sensational
speed classic of the National Air Races.
Gehlbach will fly the 300-mile- -per-hour
Gee Bee, buES for Russell N. Board
man, world distance record holder. who
was injured in crash while training
Tor the Thompson last week
The flag then dropped for twins"
the handicap figures sending ]. Fl.
Hayes, Ponca City, Okla, and Cecil
gether at 3:40:30.
Twenty-Five seconds divided the take
I offs OF r. A. Moore, Dayton, Ohio, and
Dudley Reed, Fairmont, w. Va. Less
than minute later J. D. Crane, New
Haven, Conn, sped away in a Travelair.
with Harold Newman, Moline. III, 36
seconds behind him Art" Davis of
Lansing, Mich, and w. F. Cummings,
Donaldsonville, Ga, got away before
the crowds got their second big thrill
of the derby start.
Crash Narrowly Averted.
TWO monOcoupeS with identical han
dicap figures, were rolled to the line
with ]. E. Herdon Of Kansas City, and
G. L. Clabaugh, Glenview Ill, at the
controls. The flag dropped for them
at 3:54:l8 and they were off, wing-tip
to wing-tip. Half way down the field
they swerved toward each other until
a crash appeared inevitable. Each
slammed over the control stick at the
same instant and the little ships rolled
wildly way from each other, escaping
a collision by inches. They put a re-
spectacle stretch of air between be-
fore leveling off for the South.
That was the last excitement OF the
day. Harvey Hughes. Lansing, Mich,
got the flag at 3:57:13 and Raymond
Hill of Cleveland was off at 3:58:16.
The crowd gave the second Washing
ton entry a warm Send-of at 3:59:53
He was Henry c. Brown, operations
manager of the Ludington Air Line, fly
ing his own Travelair. "Browny" Just
bought the plane and has had hard
time getting it ready in time for the
derby
Brown was followed by Doug Davis,
Atsnta. Ga, only living winner of what
is now the Thompson Trophy race.
Davis won the event in 1929 The
two subsequent winners went to their
deaths in crashes. Davis was off at
I'm nd faI hxy Co Coz
of Cleveland at 400.
The starters flag dropped for the
last time at 4:l2:30. senoing away
Jack Morris OF Pittsburgh in the fast,
est of the derby planes. little Mono
coupe. which was timed at an average ..