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Winners Announced for the 16th Annual EAA AirVenture Cup
Race 91, Bruce Hammer, taking off in his Glasair I TD from Mount Vernon Airport on the morning of July 28. Mr. Hammer won 1st Place in the Formula FX Blue division. (Photo courtesy of Geoff Sobering).The winners have been announced for the 16th Annual EAA AirVenture Cup cross-country air race.
The race started at 9:30 a.m. July 28 departing from Mount Vernon, Ill. with two turn points before ending in Waupaca, Wis. for a total mileage of 460 nm. The fastest aircraft of the day was a Turbine Legend, flown by Marty Abbott who came in at a time of 1:17:55 and an average speed of 354.30 mph.
A total of 48 aircraft raced in the event, which included experimental and certified aircraft categories. Two of the aircraft, both Glasair I TDs, where flown by Steve and Bruce Hammer, who have been competing against each other in the race since 1998. Bruce beat his bother this year by just under six minutes.
Golden Age Race Winner with a Fine Irish Name
By Alan Smith
Benny Howard’s Mister Mulligan, 1935 winner of both Bendix amd Thompson trophies. (San Diego Air and 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.