The World's Greatest Air Race ( 1934)
Recently while vacationing in Holland, I stumbled across an intriguing aeronautical memento at a weekly downtown garage sale in my father's hometown of Delft; it was a brass commemorative plaque about the size of a postard with a depiction of a Douglas DC-2 heralding the accomplishment of the completion of a famous air race in 1934, that saw competitors from around the world race from Britain all the way to Australia in a no-holds barred air race whose victor would get bragging rights as the preeminent aviator in the world, and claim a prize fund of $75,000 (which was a significant pot at the time). The money for the race was contributed by Sir MacPherson Robertson who was the owner of a large Australian confectionary maker and was accordingly named after him. Intrigued by the brass plaque, I bought it, and set out to learn more about the greatest air race of all time.
The 1930's were the Golden Age of air racing and this race was the Grand Prix of them all. Although more than 60 aircraft entered the competition, when race day arrived only 20 aircraft of all styles, sizes and shapes were ready to participate. The aircraft ranged from a tiny three seater DeHavilland Puss Moth to the latest American airliner competitors, the Boeing 247, piloted by the famous pilot racer Roscoe Turner, to the Douglas DC-2 whose later version, the DC-3 would later become the most ubiquitous aircraft in aviation history. The Americans also entered a Gee Bee QED racer- a plane which would have the unfortunate record of never finishing an air race in it's entire racing career. For all intents and purposes, the race was not unlike the space race 30 years later, between the US and Russia to see who would reach the moon first; in this case, it was primarily about a race between Britain and the US for the same bragging rights over aeronautical dominance. Of 20 entrants, 9 were British, 3 American, 3 Australian, 2 Dutch, 2 New Zealand, and one from Denmark. Eleven aircraft completed the race. It was a race which would be categorized in what would be called an "Unlimited Category"- no limit to the size or power of the aircraft and no limit to crew size but you could not replace crew upon starting. a number of compulsory stops were set up along the route but competitors could choose their route provided they made the mandatory ones.
In 1934, the British were still the preeminent masters of aviation having most recently won the prestigious Schneider Trophy in 1931. The problem they faced with the MacPherson Robertson race was that all of their previous designs had been built for speed records over a short distance, rather than over a long haul, and as such, they did not have a suitable entry. The answer was simple: Britain's dominant airplane builder, DeHavilland designed a new plane (using newly discovered high strength synthetic bonding resins in a radical wing construction) specifically for the long distance race. Three of the aircraft type were entered in the race, one of which, the Grosvenor House, ultimately would win the long dash to Australia in some 71 hours. While the aircraft did not garner enough interest from the British government to make a bomber out of the design as DeHavilland hoped, aircraft enthusiasts will immediately notice the parallels between the DH.88 and the later famous Mosquito fighter which is a direct descendant of this winning design.
The Dutch entry was the Douglas DC-2, christened "Uiver", and after getting lost in a thunderstorm in the home stretch, it ultimately won second place in the handicap section, narrowly beating out the Boeing 247 captained by America's best racing pilot, Roscoe Turner. Even despite coming in 3rd, the Americans arguably could claim an equally important win for their nascent airline industry, because both entries were essentially off-the-shelf production models of their newest passenger planes. As Malcolm Gladwell will tell you, sometimes it's better to be small fish in a big pond then the other way around; having proven their reliability over a long and arduous distance with stock aircraft, Boeing and Douglas were assured that their designs would gain public confidence and a big piece of the airline passenger industry which would soon take off (pardon the pun)..and help build two aviation empires
Poster at left shows the winning DH88 in front, followed by the Uiver, and then the Boeing 247 piloted by Roscoe Turner-obviously printed after the race.
Poster at left shows the winning DH88 in front, followed by the Uiver, and then the Boeing 247 piloted by Roscoe Turner-obviously printed after the race.
THE OTHER AIRCRAFT TYPES RACING TO AUSTRALIA.....
The Dutch DC-2 had a harrowing encounter with thunderstorms in Australia, becoming hopelessly lost and risking running out of fuel, villagers in the town of Albury all turned out at the local racetrack where the lights of their cars were used to light up a strectch of the racetrack long enough for the pilots to safely land. Of course, being a dirt racetrack, the plane got hopelessly stuck in the mud and a good number of the local population all pitched in to latch a rope on the stuck plane and pull it out of the quagmire. Once the thunderstorm passed, the determined pilots climbed back in and took off for the last stretch.