1927
DOLE AIR RACE TO HAWAII
ALOHA
FLIGHT POSITION:
11, which was revised to 6.
PILOT:
The
pilot was Martin Jensen, age 26, who had flown a Ryan monoplane for Lewis
Hawaiian Tours.
NAVIGATOR:
Captain
Paul Schluter, of the United States Navy.
SPONSOR:
This airplane was purchased for the air race, for $15,000, by Martin Jensen,
with the help of the contributions that his wife, Marguerite Jensen, had
solicited in Honolulu, and some of the funds even came from school children.
Marguerite Jensen had married Martin Jensen in an airplane in 1925, while
over Yuma, Arizona, and had made wingwalks and parachute jumps from airplanes
during her husband's barnstorming tours.
AIRCRAFT:
Breese
5 monoplane. The airplane was christened by Ruby Smith, who was Miss Oakland
in the 1925 Miss America Contest. After
the air race, on February 14, 1928, the Aloha was sold to Edwin
H. Lewis, of Lewis Hawaiian Tours, for $5,000, and renamed the Air Express.
It was then sold to Compus Schoening, for $6,000, on May 15, 1928, and
on November 13, 1929, it was sold to Harold McMahon, for $2,000. It was
later used by the New York Daily News newspaper and was destroyed
in a hangar fire, at Roosevelt Field, in New York.
COLOR:
Yellow
with blue lettering and pink flowers around its engine. The State Seal
of Hawaii was on its sides, and a red and yellow Yin and Yang symbol was
painted on its wheel discs.
ENGINE:
220-horsepower Wright Whirlwind J-5 engine. Years later, on October 20,
1932, this engine was replaced with
a 300-horsepower Wright J-6 engine.
MAXIMUM
SPEED: 110 mph.
FUEL CAPACITY:
380
gallons.
WINGSPAN:
41 feet.
LENGTH:
27 feet.
REGISTRATION:
NX914.
RACE RESULTS:
This airplane took off at 12:34 p.m. and won the $10,000 Dole Air Race
second prize in 28 hours and 16 minutes, after arriving at Wheeler Field,
on Oahu, Hawaii, at 2:00 p.m., the next day. The airplane arrived with
about 4 gallons of fuel remaining, which was enough for about 20 minutes
of flight time, and had it not circled around for 2 hours and 30 minutes,
at one point in its flight, so that the navigator could get an accurate
sighting of their position, the Aloha might have arrived 30 minutes
ahead of the Woolaroc.
The Breese 5 Aloha in Oakland, California,
before the start of the air race.
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The Breese 5 Aloha in Oakland, California,
before the start of the air race.
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Captain
Paul Schluter, the navigator of the Aloha, Marguerite Jensen, and
Martin Jensen, the pilot of the Aloha, after the arrival of the
Aloha
in Hawaii. The second-place finish of the Aloha in the Dole Air
Race won its flyers $10,000
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The Aloha, in Hawaii, after the air
race and after it was modified for passenger service.
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Another shot of the Aloha, after the
air race, when it was used for passenger service. It carries registration
number 914.
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The Aloha, some time after the air
race, when it was used by the New York Daily News newspaper, which
had its name painted on the aircraft's fuselage.
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