The Bendix Trophy is a U.S. aeronautical racing trophy. The transcontinental, point-to-point race, sponsored by industrialist

Vincent Bendix Vincent Hugo Bendix (August 12, 1881 – March 27, 1945) was an American inventor and industrialist. Vincent Bendix was a pioneer and leader in both the automotive and aviation industries during the 1920s and 1930s.''Vincent Bendix. Enshrine ...

founder of

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...

, began in 1931 as part of the

National 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 ...

. Initial prize money for the winners was $15,000. The last Bendix Trophy Race was flown in 1962. The trophy was brought back in 1998 by

AlliedSignal AlliedSignal was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and Signal Companies. It subsequently purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and thereafter adopted the Honeywell n ...

, the then-owner of the Bendix

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

(which later merged with

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

), to "recognize contributions to aerospace safety by individuals or institutions through innovation in advanced safety equipment and equipment utilization." The current awards of the ''Honeywell Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety'' includes a scale reproduction of the original Bendix Trophy design and a citation.

The race

The purpose was to interest engineers in building faster, more reliable, and durable aircraft. Bendix competitors flew from

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

, to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, except for two years when the contest began in New York and ended in Los Angeles. Famous competitors for the trophy included

Jimmy Doolittle James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his daring raid on Japan during World War II. He also made early coast-to-coast flights ...

, who won the first race, and several women.

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many ot ...

was the first woman to enter the Bendix, taking fifth place in 1935. In 1936,

Louise Thaden Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden (born Louise McPhetridge; November 12, 1905 – November 9, 1979) was an American aviation pioneer, holder of numerous aviation records, and the first woman to win the Bendix trophy, alongside Blanche Noyes. She was ...

and her copilot

Blanche Noyes Blanche Noyes (June 23, 1900 – October 6, 1981) was an American pioneering female aviator who was among the first ten women to receive a transport pilot's license. In 1929, she became Ohio's first licensed female pilot. Biography She was b ...

won the race. Laura Ingalls finished second. In 1938, Jacqueline Cochran, arguably the greatest female aviator of all time, took home the trophy.

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Man ...

was the only pilot to ever win the Bendix three consecutive years, from 1946 through 1948. The race was not run during World War II. Postwar winners were frequently military veterans from the United States Army Air Forces: the 1956 winner, Capt. Manuel Fernandez Jr., was the third-ranking Korean War USAF ace. By the 1960s, American interest in air racing declined. This was probably due to an increased focus on the space race during this time. Lt.

Richard F. Gordon Jr. Richard Francis Gordon Jr. (October 5, 1929 – November 6, 2017) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and an American football executive. He was one of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, as the co ...

, the winner in 1961, went on to become an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally ...

with NASA.

''Mister Mulligan''

''Mister Mulligan'' (

Howard DGA-6 The Howard DGA-6 was a pioneer racing plane, nicknamed "Mister Mulligan". It was the only airplane ever designed for the specific purpose of winning the Bendix Trophy. The plane was designed and developed by Ben Howard (aviator), Ben Howard and G ...

), commissioned and flown by Ben Howard in the 1935 race, was the only airplane ever designed for the specific purpose of winning the Bendix Trophy. The plane was designed and developed by Ben Howard and

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, ...

, who went on to become an engineer for the

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

. ''Mister Mulligan'' was designed to fly the entire length of the race nonstop and at high altitude. Neither had ever been done before. Howard and Israel, who co-piloted, won the trophy. Their victory changed how long-distance airplanes were designed. The second-place plane in the 1935 race was actually a faster airplane but had to make refueling stops, which cost enough time to prevent Roscoe Turner from winning the race. The time difference was only 23.5 seconds between first and second place. The winning difference in speed, over the total distance was less than . ''Mister Mulligan'' achieved , compared to Roscoe Turner's . ''Mister Mulligan'' not only won the Bendix Trophy but also the Thompson Trophy, when flown by Harold Neumann in 1935. Instead of a cross-country distance race, the Thompson was a closed-circuit race around pylons, a type of race for which it was not particularly well suited. Entered again in the Bendix in 1936, the ''Mister Mulligan'' was completely destroyed when the craft lost one of the propeller blades, resulting in a forced landing, north of

Crownpoint, New Mexico Crownpoint ( nv, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Navajo Nation in McKinley County, New Mexico. The population was 2,500 at the time of the 2010 census. It is located along the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New ...

; this crash landing almost killed Howard and his co-pilot wife, Maxine.

Winners

Honeywell Bendix trophy for Aviation Safety recipients

References

"The Major Trophy Races of the Golden Age of Air Racing"
by David H. Onkst, ''US Centennial of Flight Commission'', retrieved January 6, 2006

''Air Racing History'', retrieved January 6, 2006

From Air Trails, September 1950
Artifacts – Bendix Trophy
Smithsonian Institution Online Exhibit

Howard DGA-6 ''Mister Mulligan''
at the Arkansas Air Museum

Up From Kitty Hawk 1944-1953

'' Time'' magazine
Seattle native Dick Gordon orbits the moon on November 18, 1969.
* Matthews, Birch J., ''Wet Wings & Drop Tanks: Recollections of American Transcontinental Air Racing 1928-1970.'' Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Company, 1993. .

External links