1939 National Air Races
By Bill Meixner
Early arrivals at the hangar line on a race day.
!939 attendance broke all records, the 30,000 car parking lot was almost full,
even though the total prize money for the three day event was cut by
$17,000.
The only new design for the 1939 races was the Floyd-Bean special, but it was
damaged on landing in an early test flight and did not appear at the races.
Steve Wittman's "Chief Oshkosh" which crash landed in the 1938 Oakland race
was not rebuilt. Benny Howard's "Ike" & "Mike" now painted yellow by their
new
owner were prevented from racing by numerous mechanical problems.
The Brown "Miss Los Angeles" which had it's wire braced wing and fixed landing
gear replaced by a cantilever wing with retractable landing gear was restored to
it's original wing and gear after the change was found to be ineffective. The
Keith
Rider R-6 "Eight Ball" returned with a new elliptical wing and no spinner on
it's
propeller. The "eight ball" graphic no longer appeared on the sides of the
fuselage.
The situation in Europe exploded into war, the Henderson brothers
decided to
retire from managing the National Air Races for other business interests.
It was obvious this would be the last air race for an unknown period of time.
Bendix Trophy Race
Seven aircraft were entered but Jacqueline Cochran decided
not to launch
into a heavy fog. One new pilot entry was Arlene Davis flying her new Spartan
Executive 7W, the other, William Maycock flying a Beechcraft D-17s.The
three
engine Bellanca was back, flown by Arthur Bussy. Frank Fuller
returned with
his Seversky , Paul Mantz in his Orion and Max Constant in a Beechcraft D-17.
Frank Fuller Seversky Arthur Bussy Bellanca
Paul Mantz Lockheed Orion Max Constant Beechcraft D-17
Arlene Davis Spartan Executive 7W William Maycock Beechcraft D-17S
| Place | Pilot | Race No | Aircraft | Speed |
| 1 | Frank Fuller | 77 | Seversky -S2 | 282.100 |
| 2 | Arthur Bussy | 39 | Bellanca 28-92 | 244.486 |
| 3 | Paul Mantz | 23 | Lockheed Orion 9-c | 234.875 |
| 4 | Max Constant | 31 | Beechcraft D-17w | 231.570 |
| 5 | Arlene Davis | 51 | Spartan Executive 7w | 196.842 |
| 6 | William Maycock | 66 | Beechcraft D-17s | 187.186 |
| DNS | Jacqueline Cochran | 13 | Seversky AP-7 | ----------- |
Greve Trophy Race
The Cleveland Pneumatic
Tool Company was once again the sponsor of
the LOUIS W.
GREVE TROPHY RACE.
20 laps on a 10 mile course.
George Byars in the Keith Ryder "Eight Ball" was unable to start due to
engine problems. Lee William's, flying the Brown B-2 "Miss Los Angeles"
experienced an engine failure while turning into the scatter pylon,
stalled and
crashed fatally. Art Chester in the brand new Chester "Goon" was off first
and
well into the lead with the aid of the French Ratier two position propeller.
Tony LeVier in the Schoenfeld "Firecracker" passed Chester on lap six and
lead the race till lap 11 but had to retire due to a magneto problem.
Harry Crosby was unable to retract his landing gear and officials flagged
him off the course starting lap 11. Art Chester, with no competition opened
the throttle of the Menasco C-6S4 winning the race, setting a new record.
| Place | Pilot | Race No | Aircraft | Speed |
| 1 | Art Chester | 5 | Chester "Goon" | 263.390 |
| DNF | Tony LeVier | 70 | "Firecracker" | 2 |
| DNF | Harry Crosby | 52 | Crosby Cr-4 | 3 |
| DNS | George Byars | 18 | "Eight Ball" | 4 |
| DNF | Lee Williams | 33 | "Miss Los Angeles" | 5 |
2 Out lap 11
3 Out lap 12
4 Not able to start
5 Crashed fatally
Chester "Goon"
"Firecracker"
Crosby CR-4
Thompson Trophy Race
The race course remanded the same 30 laps for 300 miles.
There were no new racers entered for this year. Earl Ortman had installed
a new three
blade constant speed propeller hoping to beat Turner who had
recorded a
lap
at 299 mph. Tony LeVier's "Firecracker's" engine had been
soup up
to over 500 hp, estimated capable of 350 mph. Due to heavy rains
the races were postponed to Tuesday which kept attendance down. Seven
planes were off and headed to the scatter pylon, Turner was fourth off
and
Tony LeVier moved into the lead by lap five, followed by Art Chester
in the
"Goon". Earl Ortman was next in his Marcoux-Bromberg. Turner had a
slow
take-off and was in fourth place. Steve Wittman cut the scatter pylon and was
penalized a full lap. Turner came up from forth to take the lead from LeVier in
the ninth lap. Art Chester who was in third place developed engine trouble in
the eighteenth lap and retired. Earl Ortman took over third place and
Harry
Crosby finished forth with Steve Wittman only able to take fifth place after a
great effort to get back in the money. Joe Mackey flying Turner's old
Wedell
William's finished last. Days before the Thompson was run, Hitler
marched
into Poland and World War II was beginning. Also
the Thompson Trophy
deed of gift had expired and here was no more prize money or
plaques.
Turner Laird #29
LeVier Firecracker
Earl Ortman's Marcoux-Bromberg
Harry Crosby CR-4
Wittman Bonzo
Joe Mackey
Chester Goon
| Place | Pilot | Race No | Aircraft | Speed |
| 1 | Turner | 29 | Laird-Turner | 282.536 |
| 2 | Tony LeVier | 70 | Schoenfeldt | 272.538 |
| 3 | Earl Ortman | 3 | Marcoux | 254.435 |
| 4 | Harry Crosby | 52 | Crosby CR-4 | 244.522 |
| 5 | Steve Wittman | 4 | Wittman Bonzo | 241.361 |
| 6 | Joe Mackey | 25 | Wedell-Williams | 232.926 |
| DNF | Art Chester | 5 | Chester Goon | 1. |
1. out 18th lap
Photo's are from the Likovetz and Hansen collection unless otherwise noted.
Updated
Saturday, December 15, 2007