Mister Mulligan: Golden Age Race Winner with a Fine Irish Name
By Alan Smith
Benny Howard’s Mister Mulligan, 1935 winner of both Bendix and Thompson trophies. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)As air racing’s Golden Age of the 1930s went on, the design of new racers continued to lead advancement in both military and civil aviation. In 1935, Benny Howard’s high wing monoplane Mister Mulligan was a classic example of this. With Gordon Israel as co-pilot, Howard won the cross country Bendix from the west coast to Cleveland and then with Harold Neumann as pilot, Mulligan went on to win the Thompson Trophy. The Bendix trophy was won partly because Howard and Israel used on-board oxygen for the first time and stayed above the weather. The oxygen system was another racing innovation passed on to other designers in the military and civil aviation world.
1935 was really Benny Howard’s year of triumph. Not only did Mulligan win both the Bendix and the Thompson, but Neumann also won the Greve Trophy in Howard’s little Mike racer.
Mister Mulligan was Howard’s model DGA-6 and evolved into a series of aircraft numbered up to DGA-15 that saw military use as personnel transports. It was used throughout the second world war and was built as a popular civilian aircraft well into the fifties. They are still around and have been used as bush planes in Canada and Alaska. Howard explained that DGA stood for Damn Good Airplanes. No one argued with that.
The 1936 Bendix was an east to west race and proved to be the end of Mr. Mulligan. The Nationals were in Los Angeles again because more upgrading of the Cleveland airport was in progress. With his wife Maxine as copilot, Howard left the east, made a refueling stop in Wichita and continued on.
Near Crown Point New Mexico, Mister Mulligan threw a blade off its propeller. The resulting vibration damaged the airplane, possibly tearing the engine awry in its mounts. Out of control, Mister Mulligan crashed on an Indian reservation. The engine smashed into the cockpit, trapping Benny and Maxine.
Hours passed before they were discovered, released from the wreck and hospitalized. They received expert medical attention and, after some surgical repairs, were on the road to a long recovery. Howard lost his right foot, but was able to return to aviation and continued to build Damn Good Airplanes.
This writer has flown two DGA-15s. They are very stable and have a powerful rate of climb after takeoff. One thing to watch is the long travel and rebound in the landing gear struts’ oleo shock absorbers. Crosswind landings on the upwind wheel could lead to some interesting bounces. The rebound in the upwind oleo landing gear strut could throw the airplane over onto the other strut. That oleo would also rebound and throw the airplane back again. A smooth touchdown helps, plus keeping the airplane nailed into a crosswind on roll-out.
