National Air Races

The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that took place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew rapidly during this period; the National Air Races were both a proving ground and showcase for this.

In 1920 publisher Ralph Pulitzer sponsored the Pulitzer Trophy Race and the Pulitzer Speed Trophy for military airplanes at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, in an effort to publicize aviation and his newspaper. The races eventually moved to Cleveland and then they were known as the Cleveland National Air Races. They drew the best flyers of the time, including James Doolittle, Wiley Post, Tex Rankin, Frank Hawks, Jimmy Wedell, Roscoe Turner, and others from the pioneer age of aviation. These air races helped to inspire Donald Blakeslee as a young boy. Other races included in the U.S. National Air Races were the Mitchell Trophy Race, the Town & Country Club Race for civilians, the Kansas City Rotary Club Trophy "for all three military services," and the Glenn Curtiss Trophy Race for "biplanes with engines having less than 510 cu. in."

The races usually ran for up to 10 days starting in 1929, usually at the end of August to include Labor Day. Aviation promoter Cliff Henderson was managing director of the National Air Races from 1928 to 1939. During World War II the races were on hiatus.

The races included a variety of events, including cross-country races originating in Portland, Oakland, and Los Angeles, that ended in Cleveland. Also included were landing contests, glider demonstrations, airship flights, and parachute-jumping contests. The more popular events were the Thompson Trophy Race starting in 1929, a closed-course race where aviators raced their planes around pylons, and the Bendix Trophy Race across most of the USA starting in 1931.

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