The 1939 National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio; the End of the Golden Age of Air Racing
Al Hansen
Frank Fuller, the 1939 Bendix Race, winner arrives at Floyd Bennett Field, N.Y., in his Seversky SEV-S2, resplendent in its new metallic green paint scheme. Fuller set a new Bendix coast-to-coast speed record. (UPI photo from the author’s collection)
The 1939 National Air
Races in Cleveland, Ohio; The End of the Golden Age of Air Racing
The start of practice for the National Air Races was on August 27, 1939. On September 1, Hitler’s army invaded Poland and WWII was about to begin. Anyone that followed the daily events in Europe could plainly see that it was only a matter of time before the U.S. would be fully involved. The fans could feel that great era of air racing was about to
die.
In spite of the war clouds looming on the horizon, the attendance for the races reached an all-time record with the 30,000 car parking lot being almost full. The total winning purse was down $17,000 from 1938, and no new racers would participate. The entrants were all planes that had previously competed, many of which had received modifications to improve their
performance.
Once again the speed requirements for the Greve Trophy Race were boosted. The new qualifying speed was 220 mph. The Thompson Trophy qualifying speed was raised to 240
mph. . . .
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