Bendix trophy
The
Bendix Trophy is an
aeronautical racing trophy. The transcontinental, point-to-point race, sponsored by industrialist
Vincent Bendix founder of
Bendix Corporation, began in 1931 as part of the
National Air Races. Initial prize money for the winners was
$15,000. The last Bendix Trophy Race was flown in 1962.
The trophy was brought back in 1998 by
AlliedSignal the then current owner of the Bendix
brand name (which later merged with
Honeywell) to "recognize contributions to aerospace safety by individuals or institutions through innovation in advanced safety equipment and equipment utilization."
The current awards of the
Honeywell Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety includes a scale reproduction of the original Bendix Trophy design and a citation.
The purpose was to interest engineers in building faster, more reliable, and durable aircraft. Bendix competitors flew from
Burbank, California, to
Cleveland, Ohio, except for two years when the contest began in New York and ended in Los Angeles.
Famous competitors for the trophy included
James Harold Doolittle, who won the first race, and several women.
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to enter the Bendix, taking fifth place in 1935. In 1936,
Louise Thaden and her copilot
Blanche Noyes won the race.
Laura Ingalls finished second. In 1938,
Jacqueline Cochran, arguably the greatest female aviator of all time, took home the trophy.
Paul Mantz was the only pilot to ever win the Bendix three consecutive years, from 1946 through 1948.
The race was not run during
World War II. Post war winners were frequently military veterans from the
United States Army Air Forces: the 1956 winner, Capt. Manuel Fernandez, Jr, was the third ranking WWII USAAF Ace. By the 1960s, American interest in air racing declined; this is likely due to an increased focus on
the space race during this time. Lt.
Richard F. Gordon, Jr., the 1961 winner, went on to become an
Astronaut with
NASA.
Mister Mulligan (
Howard DGA-6) was the only airplane ever designed for the specific purpose of winning the Bendix Trophy. Commissioned and flown by Ben Howard in the 1935 race. The plane was designed and developed by Ben Howard and
Gordon Israel, who went on the become an engineer for the
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation.
Mister Mulligan was designed to fly the entire length of the race nonstop and at high altitude. Neither had ever been done before. Howard and Israel, who co-piloted, won the trophy, changing how long distance airplanes were designed.
The second place plane in the 1935 race was actually a faster airplane, but had to make refuelling stops, which cost enough time to prevent
Roscoe Turner from winning the race. The time difference was only 23 seconds between first and second place.
Mister Mulligan not only won the Bendix but also the
Thompson Trophy when flown by Harold Neumann in 1935. Instead of a cross-country distance race, the Thompson was a closed-circuit race around pylons, a type of race for which it was not particularly well suited. Entered again in the Bendix in 1936, the
Mister Mulligan was completely destroyed when Ben Howard lost one of the propeller blades in a forced landing in New Mexico; this crash landing almost killed Howard and his co-pilot wife, Maxine.
| Propeller Class |
| Year | Start Location | End Location | Pilot | Plane | Speed
(MPH) | Time
(H:M:S) | Prize |
|---|
| 1931 | Burbank | Cleveland | Maj. James H. Doolittle | Super Solution | 223.06 | 09:10:21.0 | $ 7,500 |
|---|
| 1932 | Burbank | Cleveland | Capt. Jasper H. Haizlip | WW-44 | 245.00 | 08:19:45.0 | $ 8,750 |
|---|
| 1933 | New York | Los Angeles | Roscoe Turner | WW-44 | 214.78 | 11:30:00.0 | $ 4,050 |
|---|
| 1934 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Doug Davis | WW-44 | 216.24 | 09:26:41.0 | $ 4,500 |
|---|
| 1935 | New York | Los Angeles | Ben Howard | DGA-6 | 238.70 | 08:33:16.3 | $ 4,500 |
|---|
| 1936 | New York | Los Angeles | Louise Thaden
Blanche Noyes | C-17R | 165.35 | 14:55:01.0 | $ 4,500 |
|---|
| 1937 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Frank W. Fuller Jr. | P-35 | 258.20 | 07:54:26.3 | $ 9,000 |
|---|
| 1938 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Jacqueline Cochran | P-35 | 249.11 | 08:10:31.4 | $ 9.000 |
|---|
| 1939 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Frank W. Fuller, Jr. | P-35 | 282.10 | 07:14:19.0 | $ 9,000 |
|---|
| 1940 | No races during this period due to World War II |
|---|
| 1941 |
|---|
| 1942 |
|---|
| 1943 |
|---|
| 1944 |
|---|
| 1945 |
|---|
| 1946 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Paul Mantz | P-51 | 435.50 | 04:43:14.0 | $ 10,000 |
|---|
| 1947 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Paul Mantz | P-51 | 460.42 | 04:26:57.4 | $ 10,000 |
|---|
| 1948 | Los Angeles | Cleveland | Paul Mantz | P-51 | 447.98 | 04:33:48.7 | $ 10,000 |
|---|
| 1949 | Rosamond Dry Lake | Cleveland | Joe C. DeBona | F-51 | 470.14 | 04:16:17.5 | $ 10,000 |
|---|
| |
| Jet Class |
| Year | Start Location | End Location | Pilot | Plane | Speed
(MPH) | Time
(H:M:S) | Prize |
|---|
| 1946 | Van Nuys | Cleveland | Leon W. Gray | F/P-80A | 494.78 | 04:08:00.0 | |
|---|
| 1947 | Cleveland | Leon W. Gray | F/P-80A | 507.26 | 04:02:00.0 |
|---|
| 1948 | Cleveland | Ens. F. E. Brown | FJ-1 | 489.53 | 04:11:00.0 |
|---|
| 1949 | Cleveland | Vernon A. Ford | F-84E | 529.61 | 03:45:51.0 |
|---|
| 1950 | No race this year due to Korean War |
|---|
| 1951 | Muroc Field | Detroit | Col. Keith Compton | F-86A | 553.76 | 03:27:00.0 | |
|---|
| 1952 | No race this year due to Korean War |
|---|
| 1953 | Muroc Field | | Maj. William Whisner, Jr. | F-86F | 603.55 | 03:05:25.0 | |
|---|
| 1954 | | | Capt. Edward D. Kenny | F-84F | 616.21 | 03:01:56.0 | |
|---|
| 1955 | Victorville | Philadelphia | Col. Carlos M. Talbott | F-100C | 610.726 | | |
|---|
| 1956 | George Air Force Base | Tinker Air Force Base | Capt. Manuel Fernandez, Jr. | F-100C | 666.66 | | |
|---|
| 1957 | Chicago | Andrews Air Force Base | Capt. Kenneth Chandler | F-102A | 679.00 | 00:54:45.0 | |
|---|
| 1958 | No award these years |
|---|
| 1959 |
|---|
| 1960 |
|---|
| 1961 | Los Angeles | New York | Lt. Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
Lt. Bobbie Long | F-4H | 869.74 | 02:47:00.0 | |
|---|
| 1962 | Los Angeles | New York | Capt. Robert G. Sowers
Capt. Robert MacDonald
Capt. John T. Walton | B-58A | 1,214.17 | 02:00:56.8 | |
|---|
|
*
"The Major Trophy Races of the Golden Age of Air Racing" by David H. Onkst,
US Centennial of Flight Commission, retrieved January 6, 2006
*
"The Bendix Trophy",
Air Racing History, retreived January 6, 2006
*
"The Quest for Speed Bendix Air Races 1931 to 1949" From Air Trails, September 1950
*
Artifacts - Bendix Trophy Smithsonian Institution Online Exhibit
*
1954 USAF Serial Numbers entry number 2096*
Astronaut Bio: Richard F. Gordon, Jr., (Captain, USN, Ret.)*
United States Air Force Aviation AeroWeb History*
Howard DGA-6 Mister Mulligan at the Arkansas Air Museum
*
Service History of the Shooting Star*
Up From Kitty Hawk 1944-1953*
The National Air Races*
TIME Magazine Archive Article Sep. 14, 1953*
Seattle native Dick Gordon orbits the moon on November 18, 1969.*
The Honeywell Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety at
Flight Safety Foundation homepage
*
KENNY'S LONG SHOT about Kenny's 1954 Bendix Trophy run
