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Marvelous Adventure Story Recounts Forgotten 1919 Transcontinental Air Race
In 1903, America led the world in aviation. By 1919, the United States aviation industry lagged behind other nations. Europe began commercial airlines. In the much larger United States, aviation was seemingly limited to aerial entertainment. Americans appeared to be losing interest in it.
“The Great Air Race: Death, Glory, and the Dawn of American Aviation” by John Lancaster recounts an almost forgotten 1919 transcontinental air race. Hosted by the Army Air Service and limited to military pilots, it was billed as a demonstration of capability, not a race. It attempted to revive America’s aviation industry.
The 1919 Aircraft Reliability Race was the brainchild of Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell, then America’s foremost air power advocate. He was at the height of his influence. A war hero and Director of Military Aeronautics, Mitchell organized it as a readiness demonstration. Army pilots starting in New York City and San Francisco, would cross the continent to the other city and then fly back to their origin. Half would start in each city. It was not a “race,” although the competitive instincts of the participants made it one. The pilot completing the journey first would have bragging rights.
For Mitchell, the goal was to create a transportation infrastructure, inducing cities along the path to set up airfields to support the race. These, he hoped, would fuel commercial aviation. There were no municipal airports because there was almost no commercial aviation, and no commercial aviation because there were almost no airports to fly to. The airfields to support the race would provide destinations for commercial air services.
Against that background, Lancaster recounts what happened. The route was hurriedly developed with towns eagerly providing support. The pilots were just as eager, seizing an opportunity to test their skills. A broad range of Army aircraft were used, including multi-engine bombers. The public was captivated by the spectacle and aviation supporters in industry and government boosted it.
Aircraft and infrastructure was primitive. Lancaster shows the adventures and misadventures that befell the participating aircraft and flyers. Pilots, lacking navigational aids, were frequently lost. Forced landings were common. Crashes and fatalities followed. Most participants fell out of the race. Yet a few succeeded, becoming heroes.
“The Great Air Race” is a marvelous adventure story. Lancaster recaptures the feel of the era. He also shows how it revived American interest in aviation, creating the foundation for modern American aviation.
“The Great Air Race: Death, Glory, and the Dawn of American Aviation,” by John Lancaster, Liveright, 2022, 368 pages, $28.95 (Hardcover), $14.99 (Ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com. It appeared in a different form in American Essence magazine and Epoch Times.
Published in History
It took a while for navigation to improve.
In 1944, an Army pilot got lost and landed an L-4 Grasshopper (a Piper Cub painted olive green) in one of the fields at Grandpap’s farm. He walked into the barnyard, where he met Grandpap and my slightly bug-eyed ten-year-old dad. They got him oriented, gassed up, and they saw him off. The only navigation aids he would have had would have been charts and a compass.
Sounds interesting Seawriter. I enjoyed “American Road” about the 1919 Army trip across America (which included some guy named Eisenhower). It makes one appreciate that infrastructure doesn’t just happen despite all those ‘shovel-ready jobs’.
The US let its cross country road network deteriorate after the American Civil War because the railroad was a more efficient way to move goods than animal-drawn wagons. They did not start rebuilding it until the automobile and truck came along.
Washington D.C. to San Francisco. It only took 62 days.
Yes. Interestingly it was the Lincoln Highway that became the basis of a national highway movement.
At times one is amazed they made it at all.