In 1937, a transatlantic race was proposed to commemorate the tenth anniversary of
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
's pioneering solo flight from New York to Paris. The race had twenty-two entrants. There was resistance to participating in the race from the United States because any accidents might create a bad impression of nascent transatlantic passenger services.
In June 1937, the
Aero-Club de France changed the race to
Istres
Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture.
Location
...
-
Damascus -
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, a course representing a similar distance to the original transatlantic flight. Competitors were expected to travel non-stop from Istres to Damascus (2971 km). On the return leg, they had the option of stopping at any point. The aircraft and crew completing the 6190 km course in the least amount of time would win the race and a prize of 1.5 million
French Francs
The franc (, ; currency sign, sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount ...
awarded by the French Air Ministry.
Thirteen of the seventeen registered crews started the race on 20 August 1937. Among the competitors was Bruno Mussolini, the son of the Italian dictator. Take off times were staggered by nationality, with the French leaving first between 18:00 and 18:30; Britain (who had only one entrant) at 21:00; finally, the Italians took off between 22:00 and 22:30. Only nine crews completed the race. Lieutenant-Colonel Ranieri Cupini and Lieutenant-Colonel Amadeo Paradisi won the race, arriving at
Le Bourget airport after 17 hours 32 minutes and 43.2 seconds, aboard their
Savoia-Marchetti S-79. Italian crews also took the second and third places.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1937 Istres-Damascus-Paris Air Race
1937 in France
1937 in aviation