__NOTOC__ The Verville-Sperry R-3 Racer was a cantilever wing monoplane with a streamlined fuselage and the second aircraft with fully retractable landing gear, the first being the

Dayton-Wright RB-1 Racer The Dayton-Wright RB-1 (Rinehart Howard Max Rinehart, flight instructor and later, aeronautical engineer.Baumann Milton C. Baumann, a US Army officer who was an aeronautical engineer during WW1. model one), also known simply as the Dayton-Wright ...

. In 1961, the R-3 racer was identified as one of the "Twelve Most Significant Aircraft of all Time" by ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'' magazine. In 1924, an R-3 won the

Pulitzer Trophy 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 ...

in Dayton, OH.

Design and development

The R-3 was designed by Alfred Verville. Its first production was in 1922. The R-3 was developed by the McCook Field Engineering Division and manufactured by the

Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Burst Sperry (21 December 1892, Chicago, Illinois, United States – December 13, 1923, English Channel) was an aviation pioneer who invented the autopilot and the artificial horizon. Biography He was the third son of the gyrocompa ...

Aircraft Company of

Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. The population was 8,189 as of the 2010 Census. The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State Park and the rest of the ...

. Three aircraft were purchased. The airplanes used cylindrical, finned Lamblin radiators and a Wright H-3 engine. The R-3s bore Air Service serial numbers 22-326 to 22-328.

Operational history

At the 1922

race, all three R-3's started in the race, but only two finished. Lieutenant Eugene Barksdale finished fifth at around . Lieutenant Fonda B. Johnson finished seventh, his engine freezing after landing. And Lieutenant St. Clair Streett broke an oil line and had a forced landing, damaging his airplane. For the 1923 Pulitzer, a

Curtiss D-12 The Curtiss D-12, sometimes identified with the military designation Curtiss V-1150, was an aircraft engine of 18.8 liter displacement. It was a water-cooled V12, producing 443 hp (330 kW) and weighing 693 lb (314 kg). It wa ...

engine was installed in the plane which eliminated some vibration problems that the H-3 engine had. With the new engine the top speed now was approaching . That year a Curtiss biplane was the winner. With Orville Wright officially observing from the ground, Lieutenant Alexander Pearson, Jr. flying an R-3 set a 500 km World Speed Record of over a 10-lap course on March 31, 1923 at

Wilbur Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loc ...

. For the 1924 Pulitzer, the R-3, piloted by Lieutenant Harry H. Mills, won the race at a slow . The ranked entry–a Curtiss biplane–crashed along the course. After this race, the R-3 racers were sent to the McCook Field Museum.

Operators

; *

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

References

{{USAAS racing aircraft 1920s United States military utility aircraft Racing aircraft Verville aircraft Sperry aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1922

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

See also

References