Roscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times - a record no pilot has matched - and defined an era of American air racing that shaped the fighter planes of World War II.
TaildraggerThe 1934 MacRobertson Air Race sent 20 aircraft on an 11,300-mile dash from England to Australia, producing the DH.88 Comet and proving commercial aviation's global future.
TaildraggerOrmer Locklear invented barnstorming in 1919, became one of America's most famous men, and died on a Hollywood film set on August 2, 1920, at age 28.
TaildraggerThe 1927 Dole Derby sent fifteen aircraft from Oakland to Honolulu for a $25,000 prize - and cost ten lives, reshaping American aviation regulation forever.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times - a record never matched - by combining theatrical showmanship with genuine pylon racing skill.
TaildraggerOn July 17, 1938, Douglas Corrigan filed a flight plan to Los Angeles, flew east for 28 hours, and landed in Dublin - then claimed he got turned around.
TaildraggerThe Gee Bee Model R won the 1932 Thompson Trophy at 252 mph and became the defining image of American air racing's golden age - and its deadliest lesson.
TaildraggerThe 1927 Dole Air Race sent 8 aircraft 2,400 miles across the open Pacific to Hawaii - only 2 arrived, and 7 crew members were never found.
TaildraggerWiley Post lost his eye in a 1926 oil field accident, used the settlement to buy an airplane, and went on to fly solo around the world and discover the jet stream.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times - in 1933, 1934, and 1938 - a record no pilot before or since has matched in American air racing history.
TaildraggerOn September 4, 1932, Jimmy Doolittle flew the Gee Bee Model R to a 252.6 mph Thompson Trophy victory - then retired from racing on the spot.
TaildraggerThe 1927 Dole Air Race sent eight planes from Oakland to Hawaii across 2,400 miles of open Pacific - only two finished, and seven people never came home.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner's three Thompson Trophy wins remain unmatched after 80 years, making him the definitive figure of golden age American air racing.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times between 1934 and 1939, making him the most decorated and most theatrical pilot of aviation's golden age.
TaildraggerThe 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia produced two legends: a purpose-built wooden racer that won, and a commercial airliner guided down by car headlights.
TaildraggerWiley Post's 1933 solo world flight broke a record and produced the first airborne evidence of the jet stream, shaping aviation to this day.
TaildraggerHow Douglas Corrigan spent 11 years chasing government approval to fly the Atlantic, then crossed it anyway on July 17, 1938 - and spent the rest of his life denying it.
TaildraggerThe barrel-shaped Gee Bee Model R-One hit 252 mph to win the 1932 Thompson Trophy - and killed nearly every pilot who flew it after Doolittle walked away.
TaildraggerOrmer Locklear invented wing-walking in 1919, became America's most famous aviator, and died on a Hollywood film set blinded by klieg lights during a night stunt.
TaildraggerThe Gee Bee R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy at 252.6 mph - and its story reveals how civilian air racing built the foundation for WWII combat aviation.
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