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The Howard DGA-3 "Pete", a.k.a. "Damned Good Airplane – 3", "Baker Special", and "Little Audrey" was the third aircraft built by Ben Howard, and the first in a series of racing aircraft. Howard claimed that the aircraft was so fast from his use of "Go Grease".
*1930 Thompson Trophy race, third place.
*1931 National Air Races – three second, one fourth, and one sixth-place finish.
*1932 National Air Races – one second place at .
*1933 Chicago Air Race – pilot Joe Jacobson flew to Two second and one fifth-place finish.
*1933 International Air Race – one fourth, one fifth, and one sixth place with pilots Helen Lantz,
Design and development
The DGA-3 was started as a side project based on getting the best performing aircraft using aWright Gipsy
The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder Inline engine (aviation), in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an ...
engine Howard had available. The aircraft went from the drawing board to completion in eight months.
The fuselage was made of welded steel tubing with aircraft fabric covering
Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as ar ...
. The control surfaces were wood with plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
covering. The cockpit was sized to an absolute minimum. The axle between wheels was shaped like an airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
, producing some of the lift. In 1947, "Pete" was rebuilt as the "Baker Special" with a Continental engine for midget racing. The aircraft was rebuilt once again by the Experimental Aircraft Association founder Paul Poberezny as "Little Audey". The aircraft was mounted with Luscombe wings and a Continental A-75.
Operational history
*1930National Air Races
The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...
– Howard flew five firsts and two third-place finishes at 163 mph.
*1930 Thompson Trophy race, third place.
*1931 National Air Races – three second, one fourth, and one sixth-place finish.
*1932 National Air Races – one second place at .
*1933 Chicago Air Race – pilot Joe Jacobson flew to Two second and one fifth-place finish.
*1933 International Air Race – one fourth, one fifth, and one sixth place with pilots Helen Lantz, Gordon Israel
Gordon may refer to:
People
* Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters
* Gordon (surname), the surname
* Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War
* Clan Gordon, ...
, and Art Gross
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of ...
.
*1934 National Air Races – Joe Jacobson purchased and flew "Pete" to one fourth, and three fifth-place finishes at 159 mph.
*1935 National Air Races – One third and one fourth-place finish at 147 mph.
*1947 Goodyear races – As the "Baker Special" The aircraft was partially destroyed in a hangar fire after the races.
In 1953 "Pete" was rebuilt as a homebuilt sportsplane "Little Audrey". The aircraft flew until 1981. It was last owned and flown jointly by Victor Edwin Zinn and Walter Fritz who based the aircraft in Noblesville Indiana. After being slightly damaged in a runaway airplane incident Zinn and Fritz, both active EAA members elected to donate the aircraft to the EAA museum. It was once in the collection of the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. A restoration was performed and the aircraft was donated to the EAA Airventure Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh.
History
Oshkosh was ...
in 1991.
Specifications (Howard DGA-3)
See also
References
{{Howard aircraft Racing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft 1930s United States civil aircraft DGA-03 Mid-wing aircraft