Evening Star Newspaper, November 29, 1931, Page 95

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., NO\'F‘.\IT‘,T-‘.R 29, 1391, T S O R A R TR ‘JINXED' BY THE FATAL Amazing Series of Misfor- tunes Suffered by Worl Flvers in Internation: Speed Duels for Perma nent Possession of the Schneider Cup—Will Hoodoo Haunt Efforts to Lift the New Air Tro- - phy Offered by Lady Houston? BY EDW 4ARD JEROME VOGELER. HFE Schneider Trophy, looked upon with covetous eyes by many nations, which are air-minded, has gone to its final resting place—the aviation archives of Great Britain. * With its passing aviators who are striving for speed marks far beyond anything yet accom- plished are hopsful that the jinx that accom- panied every contest for the Schneider Trophy will have gone where all jinxes are expected to go, for “13"” has figured prcminently in every contest for the famous award. To take the place of the Schneider Trophy and be a further incentive to speed-minded aerial experts, another cup has bcen offered— the Houston Trophy—as the classic of the in- ternational marine speed world. This new trophy has been offered by Lady Fannie Lucy Houston of England, who, in her own sphere, is just as prominent as M. Jacques Schneider, donor of the Schneider Cup. The Houston Trophy will cost more than the Schneider Cup, and as a further incentive for continuing efforts to gain greater speed in the air a prize of $5,000 is to go to the winning pilots until the cup becomes the permanent posses ion of one nation. T'hat the Schneider Trophy contssts have writ- ten a chapter in the history of aviation is denied by none. But many of the nations that originally participated for its possession in the hope of winning it permanently decided that the cost, both in money and lives, was too great, and they withdrew. But there is another theory about the Schneider Trophy—the curse of the jinx “13." Those who believe in signs and hoodoos point out that this unlucky number has appeared again and again during the running of the in- ternational marine air classic. They point to the fact that, from the time in 1913 when M. Schneider offered his famous trophy, 13 pilots were killed before the running of the 13th race, which was won by Great Britain (without a competitor) on Scptember 13, 1931. HIS conflict between disciples of logic, who scoff at jinxes of all varieties as sheer nonsense, and the jinxsters, who look with favor upon four-leaf clovers and the left hind fect of rabbits shot at midnight in graveyards by the pale light of the moon began in the Fall of 1925, when British Schneider Cup fiyers elect- ed to visit America with a crew of 13. It was the occasion of the ninth running of . the Schneider Cup, scheduled that year to be held at Bay Shore, on the Chesapeake, 15 miles from Baltimore, Md. Rules governing the contest permitted the winning naticn, or club representing a nation to hold the cup until defeated, the cup to become the permanent possession of th2 club winning three times in five consecutive years. The United Stales, wilh a victory at Cowes, England, in 1923, and Great Bri.ain, with a victory at Naples in 1922, each had one leg on the cup. Italy, which had won in 1919 and 1920, was off to a fresh start, as her earlier victories were voided by the five years without which had intervened. The keenest of rivalry was apparent as the accs of these three powers prepared for the contest, Britain had the inside track—was the odds- on favorite. Her heralded “mystery ship” (the first of supermarine monoplanes that later were to shatter 211 speed records) had been developed at an estimated engineering cost of £1,000,000. Gracefully poised on its sturdy pontoons, it ap- proached perfection in structural design, power and beauty. In trial flights, a few weeks before the race, it was credited by La Federation Aero- nautique Internationale with having flown more than 20 per cent faster than the previous record. Her pilots, Capts. H. C. Biard and Hubert Broad, of the Royal Air Force, and Bert Hinkler, a civilian aviator, were the cream of Britain's distinguished flyers. With these super-airmen, with three sturdy Gloster racers and their “ace:in-the-hole,” the far-famed “‘mystery plane,” it is easy to under- stand why John‘Bull had every expectation of victory in 1925. Perhaps overconfidence had some bearing on the decision to laugh in the teeth of the gods of ill fortune by sending to America the crew of 13. PPOSING the British were two famous Italian fiyers, Giovanni de Brigandi and H. Riccardo Morselli, and the cream of Ametica’s speed kings, George T. Cuddihy, Ralph A. Ofstic and Frank H. Conant, of the United States Navy; James H. Doolittle and -ing bosats, capable of speed hardly exc Lady British Fannie Lucy Houston, noblewoman, has offered another tro- phy s an i>ceniive for increasing apeed in the air. 4 cash prize goes iith it each year. Cyrus Bettis, of the United States Army. The Italians, however, had entered two Macchi fly- ding 200 :riles per hour, while the Americans enter- tained grave doubt that their Curtiss ra-ers would be able to compete with the flect cuper- marine SN-4. In fact, students of dope shecets and past performances conceded the race to th» British. But—students of omens of ill fortunc glanced askance at the crew of 13 and eagerly accepted the prevailing odds. As if in support of these devotees of the hoodoo number, there ensued almost imme- diately a series of mishaps and adversities per- haps unparalleled in the history of aviation, to be followed by disaster that appeared {5 en- shoud three of five of Amorica’s great pilots assembled at Bay Shore in 1025 n befere their arrival on American shores, misfortune in various guiszs began to intrude herself upon the crew of 13. Hinkler and Broad were taken violently ill with “mal d- RBiard, while romping with several members of the unlucky group, broke a bone in his fiving hand. This was the first real reverse to their hopes. At Baluimo:e thez injury was treated, but Biard was warned by several physicians at Johns Hopkins Hospital not to attempi to fiy the preojectile-like “ntystery” monoplane. Ignor- ing this advice. he insisted upon testing tne racer five days before the event. » moe AIRMEN'S LUCK FIRST Schneider Cup races flown in the year 1913. Competed for annually for an ensuring period of 13 years. Final races on September 13, 1931, won by Great Britain's representatives—Royal Air Force —spelled 1with 13 letters. Worst disasters suffered in the year 1925, when British contes- tants visited America with a crew of 13 men. And now, in place of the Schneider Cup, permanently in Great Britain’s possession, is of- fered the Houston Trophy—a new prize spelled with 13 letters. N October 21, 1925, a terrific storm swept Bay Shore, destroying 17 United States Navy aircraft assembled there for the race (a loss of nearly $500000) and irreparably damaging a Gloster Napier, one of the four British planes entered. g The following day, Bert Hinkler crashed with a second, leavig: only Hubert Broad and Capt. Biard to cargy on for the visitors. Stirred by these reverses Biard decided to give the “mys- tery plane” a final test the day before the race. He adjusted his goggles and tuned the motor. Then, grasping the stick with his in- jured left hand and waving to the crowd with his righkt, he skidded over the waves, zoomed to an altitude of 1,000 feet within a few seconds and, a minute later, has disappeared into the clouds. Miles at *sea the steady drone of the motor could be heard on the pier, while field glasses were the crack flyers of America, young, fear- the second pylon. Ardent eyes gazed heaven- The British “mystery plane” crashed into the sea off Bay Shore, near Baltimore, Md., during a trial flight just before the Schneider Trophy race in 1925. LY NUMBER ‘THIRTEEN’ ward as the superb seaplane sped toward the third and final pylon, when suddenly & gasp arose from th> gatheoring. As Capt. Biard at- tempted a steep bank, the ship was seen to sideslip-and fall in a half dive into Chesapeake Bay. A mile from shore, Biard, half drowned but otherwise little injured, was rescued. Meantime, Doolittle, Bettis, Cuddihy, Ofstie and Conant were standing by, ready, eager, keen to take advantage of the breaks. These were the crack flyers of America, young, fear- less, skillful, resourceful, trained and fervent as fighting cocks to defend the Schneider Cup, won by Rittenhcuse two years previously. Doo- little, Cuddihy and Ofstie were chosen to fly for America, while Bettis and Conant stood by as alternates for th: Army and Navy, respec- tively. In his trial flight, Lisut. Cuddihy, landing in the N-2-Z-2, snapped a pontoon brace wire and crippled the entry temporarily. In the actual 1ace both Cuddihy and Ofstie were forced down by engine trouble. Eight miles at sea they were rescued by the Italian flyers, Giovanni de Brigandi and H. Riccardo Morselli, in their Macchi 33 flying boat. With an averaze speed of 232.5 miles an hour—50 miles an hour faster than the second- best time—Lieut. Doolittle flashed past the final pylon the winner. The night of Cctober 24, 1925, he was guest of honor at a banquet tendered British, Italian and Awrerican Schneider Cup pilots. Sharing this disiinction was ‘Capt. H. C. Biard, the British pilot, who had executed a 1,000-foot dive into Chesapeake Bay and had lived to tell the tale. Except for the fact that his flying hand was now in a sling, there was no mark to cuonnzct him with the thrilling ad- venture of the day bzfore. Called upon for a speech, he arose gallantly to the occasion. “If the supermarine hadn't turned into a submarine,” he said, “we should have defeated you.” LEss than a year later Cyrus Bettis, alternate to Doolittl>, crashed with two companions into Jacks Mountain, near Bellefonte, Pa. Bettis died at Walter Reed Hospital. Two months after this tragedy, Frank H, Conant, alternate Navy pilot in the 1925 TAcs, was killed while flying a Schneider Cup racing plane over Winter Harbor, 30 miles north of Nerfolk. In landing at 100 miles an hour he struck a fish pole and the craft sank in shallow water. The accident occurred on October 30, 1926, a day after Conant had established two new world's speed records. Three years later, the third of America’s five racing pilots assembled on that fateful day at Bay Shore was Kkilled. George T. Cuddihy crashed in a 10,000-foot dive at Anacostia Naval " Air Station. The trophy, which was donated by M. Jacques Schneider in 1913, through the Aero Club of France, is valued at 25,000 francs. It has been estimated that at least $25,000,000 has been ex- pended by the various competing nations in the effort to capture it. It has been held five times by Great Britain, an equal number of times by Italy, twice by the United States and once (on the occasion of its inauguration) by France. Following American victories at Cowes in 1925 -nd at Bay Shore in 1925, the United St= bandoned as too costly the serious ef- fort . win the elusive trophy. The engineering cost ol constructing a racer capable of compet- ing with the advanced craft of Great Britain and Italy was huge. It was then that Lieut. Alford WilliaTs, speed ace of the United States Navy, interested private capital in the construec- tion of his famous “flying niotor,” which, how- ever, he was unable in nwwerous attempts to lift from the water. <