Evening star., 1947-08-30
Air Races
Continued From First Page.)

eek received permission from the
other pilots to depart during the
night. Her plane took of at 4:36:15
am. (PST). Il
Officials at Metropolitan Airport
reported favorable tail winds all the
way to Cleveland.
P-S0 Takes Of.
Maj. Clay Albright Of Ell Reno,
Okla, flying the first Of four Army
P-sO jet planes making the trip but
not in competition with the recipro-
cal engines, was of at 6:55 am.
William F. Eddy Of La Jolla, Calif.,
who finished fourth in last years
race, was away at 7:0I am.
william P. Lear, 18-year-old North
Hollywood pilot, whose gasoline was
furnished by Milton Reynolds, who
sponsored the 'round-the-world
fight of the A-26 Bombshell, was
off at TOT am. His plane bore the
legend Little Bombshell."
Bruce A. Gimbel OF Greenwich,
Conn, flying the Psi in which
Jacqueline Cochran finished second
a year ago, was off at 7:221a. without
incident. Miss Cochran, after de-
batting almost to the last minute
whether to fly the craft herself,
finally decided to turn the controls
over to Gimbel, already named as
her alternate.
Mantz Guns Plane.
Tommy Mayson of Van Nuys,
Mantz' partner and third finisher
a year ago, was off at 7:25h.
Mantz, stepped into his bright
red plane wearing brown slacks, a
brown sport coat and rainbow
hued tie-a thoroughly colorful
figure. Disdaining to save the 40
gallons maintenance experts est1-
mated it cost to taxi to the starting
line rather than be towed, Mantz
gunned his plane to the end OF the
runway. His wheels left the ground
at 1888 am.
All entries are converted war
planes, with the Psi the apparent
favorite of the speedsters. Six
MISUNDERSTANDING those of Mantz
and his hangarmate-were entered.
Three P-3S Lightnings, one Flu
Corsair and one each of the follow
ing, ABS, P-63 and PAT Thunder
bolt. made up the rest Of the fast
field.
Souped Up Planes.
All were cut down and souped up
in the battle against time for the
first prize of $4,000. Other purse
cuts will be $500 for second, $4,000
for third, $4,000 fourth, $500 fifth,
81 900 sixth and $500 for seventh.
Moreover, the first woman to finish
will receive $1,000.
William P. Odom, sclo round-the-
world flyers, who flew in yesterday
from Dallas, Tex, was confident his
P-47 Thunderbolt could take the
measure of the Nations swiftest.
Adding spice - but strictly for
comparative purposes - were the
four Army P-80 jet planes.
One of the Army pilots was Col
Leon w. Gray, Casa Grande, Afiz.
who turned the 1916 dash in a P-8o
in hours, s minutes, averaging
nearly 495 miles per hour.
| Col. Gray is attached to the
Tactical Air Command of the 18th
Air Force.
Other Army Pilots.
Other Army pilots are Capt. w. s
Patterson, Strategic Air Command
18th Air Force, and 1t. Eldon A.
Klapal, Sargent, Nebr., Tactical All
| Command. 9Th Air Force.
| Other scheduled starters included
! Joseph de Bona, Psi, Beverly
Hills, Calf; Fay E. Whitton, Cor
sair, Indianapolis, and Joseph Kim
kella, P-63, Kingman, Ariz.
Cleveland Ready for Races.
In Cleveland the worlds fastest
sporting planes lined up for the air
races with the prospect Of early
cloudiness giving way to clear skies
| About 80 planes, including Air
Force jet fighters which will COM
pete in special events, were at
Cleveland's big Municipal Airport
i Today's feature races, starting
some time after noon, include race
for hand-built midget lanes weigh
ing 500 pounds; 3 75-mile race, the
l.