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 Gee Bee R-1 Super Sportster set a 252 mph Thompson Trophy record in 1932 - and the one man who flew it to its limit immediately retired from racing.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times - a record never matched - by combining theatrical showmanship with genuine pylon racing skill.
TaildraggerThe Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster was the fastest piston aircraft in America in 1932 - and arguably the most dangerous machine ever to win the Thompson Trophy.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times, flew with a lion, and made aviation something every American felt belonged to them.
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 Gee Bee Super Sportster was the fastest propeller-driven aircraft in America in the early 1930s - and its extreme design left fingerprints on every WWII fighter that followed.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner won the Thompson Trophy three times between 1934 and 1939, setting a record no pilot ever broke - in an era that was simply too dangerous to last.
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 Gee Bee Super Sportster won the 1932 Thompson Trophy at 252 mph in Jimmy Doolittle's hands - and killed nearly everyone else who tried to fly it.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner's three Thompson Trophy wins remain unmatched after 80 years, making him the definitive figure of golden age American air racing.
TaildraggerThe Granville Brothers built the fastest - and most dangerous - racing aircraft of the 1930s, winning the 1932 Thompson Trophy at 252 mph.
TaildraggerThe Gee Bee R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy at 252 mph, outpacing military fighters by nearly a decade - and claimed the lives of nearly everyone who flew it.
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 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.
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.
TaildraggerHow Benny Howard's Mister Mulligan became the only airplane to win both the Bendix and Thompson trophies in 1935 - and what it cost him.
TaildraggerHow Roscoe Turner, the showman with a lion co-pilot, became the only pilot to win the Thompson Trophy three times.
TaildraggerHow Benny Howard's homebuilt cabin racer Mister Mulligan won both the 1935 Bendix and Thompson trophies - a feat never repeated.
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