The Dallas Spirit.
FLIGHT POSITION: 5, which was revised to 8.
PILOT:
Captain William P. Erwin, age 31. Constance Ohl Erwin, the wife of William
Erwin, was to be a crewmember, but she was disqualified, since she was
under 21 years old. Captain Erwin had shot down eight German airplanes
during World War I and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on May
26, 1919.
NAVIGATOR:
Alvin Eichwaldt, age 27.
SPONSOR:
Ted Dealey, of the Dallas News and Journal newspaper, and Frank
Phillips, the founder of the Phillips 66 oil company, who provided its
aviation fuel.
AIRCRAFT:
Swallow
Monoplane. It was built by Jake Moellendick and christened by Texas Governor
Dan Moody. It was the last airplane to qualify for the air race.
COLOR:Green
fuselage with a silver wing and tail.
ENGINE:
225-horsepower Wright Whirlwind J-5 engine.
MAXIMUM
SPEED: 126 mph.
FUEL CAPACITY:
460 gallons.
WINGSPAN:
48 feet.
LENGTH:
30 feet 6 inches.
REGISTRATION:
NX941.
RACE RESULTS: This airplane took off at 12:37 p.m. and aborted its flight, due to a damaged fuselage, and returned, but was lost at sea three days later, after it resumed its flight to Hawaii, on Friday, August 19th, at 2:05 p.m., which was part of an attempted around-the-world flight. It took off with the radio from the Pabco Pacific Flyer and intended to look for the missing Miss Doran and Golden Eagle, as it made its way to Hawaii. It has been speculated that the airplane crashed at 9:02 p.m., after going into a spin, as Morse Code contact was broken with it, eleven minutes after its navigator reported that the airplane had just recovered from a spin.
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The Dallas Spirit. |
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