1930 National Air Races and Aeronautical Exposition
By
Bill Meixner
The 1930 National Air Races were moved to Chicago, IL. The site would be the
the Curtiss-Reynolds Airport, race dates August 23rd to September 1st. The first
Thompson Trophy Race would take place in Chicago.
1930 Poster
(Sid Bradd collection)
Aerial view of the Air Race site at Curtiss Field
Granville Bros. side by-side two seat
biplane on display at the Expo
(Sid Bradd Collection)
1930 Race official describing
the
current event to
the
crowd.
After the embarrassing defeat of the Nation's finest pursuit ships in
the 1929 races
at Cleveland, the
military was out for revenge. This time the Navy would attempt to put
the civilian
aircraft manufacturers in their place. This year was sure to be different!
The Navy had a plan; take the Curtiss Hawk Seaplane F6C-3 that won the 11th and final
Curtiss
Marine Trophy Race at Anacosta Navel Air Station on May 31st. and have Curtiss
modify it
to Navy Specifications.
The lower wing was removed and part of the upper wing was covered
with coolant radiators. Seaplane floats were replaced with a set of streamlined
landing gears with special wheel pants. The stock Curtiss D-12 engine was
replaced with a 700hp supercharged Curtiss Conqueror with a new
cowling.
The modified Hawk had a top speed potential of 250mph at it's
best altitude and a projected average speed of 220mph in the race.
The Travel Air R that won the Thompson Cup was now owned by Curtiss-Wright
and was on tour for the Company. Several more Travel Air R’s were produced; one
was purchased by the Shell Oil Co., the other by Texaco.
Jimmy Haizlip with the Shell Travel
Air entry
Lee Schoenair, chief pilot of the B.F.
Goodrich Company and
second place winner of the 1929 cross-country race called "Matty" Laird
president of the E. M. Laird Aircraft Company of Chicago and asked him
to build a racer for the 1st Thompson Trophy Race. There was a little over
three weeks time to complete the plane, but Laird agreed it could be done.
"Matty" Laird, "Speed" Holman and Lee Schoenair standing (L-R)
in front of the just completed racer. A last minute decision put "Speed"
Holman in the pilot' seat due to his Laird racing experience.
1930 Logo
(Sid Bradd Collection)
Capt. McReady crashed during one of the smaller
cubic inch races. Miraculously, he escaped with only
a broken nose.
(Sid Bradd collection)
U.S. Marine Corps fighters on display
(Bill Meixner collection)
(Sid Bradd collection)
Starting line-up for the Thompson Trophy Race
( Hubbell Print)
Wiley Post's Lockheed Vega would later become the Winnie Mae
The men's non-stop cross country derby ( Los Angeles to
Chicago)
attracted no less than four Lockheed Vega's and one air express.
1st place Wiley Post
2nd place Art Goebel
3rd place Lee Schoenair
4th place William Brock
5th place Roscoe Turner (Air Express)
The Women's Class A Pacific Derby from Long Beach CA to Chicago IL
1st place Gladys O'Donnell in a Waco
2nd place Mildred Morgan in a Travel Air
3rd place Jean La Rene in a American Eagle
The Women's class B Dixie Race from Washington DC to Chicago IL
1st place Phoebe Omlie in a Monocoupe
2nd place Marty Bowman in a Fleet
3rd place Laura Ingalls in a DH Moth
With 44 scheduled events, the first Thompson Trophy Race would be the
big
attraction
of the meet. As expected the revamped Curtiss Hawk flown by
Capt.
Arthur
Page of the United States Marine Corps. took an
early lead and after
several laps, passed or lapped the entire field. The race
now concentrated on
second place with Speed Holman and Jim Haizlip virtually side by side. As Page
approached
home pylon for lap seven, he suddenly pulled up and out of the race
and than slid off on the left wing and nosed down and into the ground and crashed.
Captain Page died of his injures later that day.
"Speed" Holman won by a very
narrow margin over Jim Haizlip. The Laird would be the only
biplane to win the
Thompson Trophy Race.
The Thompson Trophy Race entries
| Place | Pilot | Aircraft No. | License No. | Speed |
| 1 st | Speed Holman | 77 | NR10538 | 201.91 |
| 2nd | Jim Haizlip | 26 | NR482N | 199.8 |
| 3rd | Ben Howard | 37 | NR2Y | 162.8 |
| 4th | Paul Adams | 81 | 449W | 142.64 |
| DNF | Frank Hawks | 13 | NR1313 | Out 3rd lap |
| DNF | Errett Williams | 92 | NR536V | Out 8th lap |
| DNF | Capt. Page | 27 | A-7147 | Crashed |
The Laird "Solution" changed hands a
number of times and was modified to
attain greater speed. It never again became a challenger and was finally acquired
by the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks (Bradley Field) Connecticut
and was restored to it's original form where It is currently on display.
In 1930 the Cleveland Municipal Airport would be host to the Gordon Bennett
International Balloon Race and Aerial Carnival, August 31st and September 1st.
The Army sent a Pursuit, Bomber and an Observation Squadron. The Navy and
"Jimmie" Doolittle were scheduled to pay a visit.
(Sid Bradd collection)
The City of Cleveland balloon about to be launched
Photos are from the Wes Hansen collection except where noted.
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| Updated Saturday, December 15, 2007 |