This historic silent movie shows the flight of Roscoe Turner from Detroit to New York in 1934, when he set a speed record flying in an airplane powered by a supercharged 800-h.p. Hornet motor. Turner made the flight from Detroit to New York (550 mi.) in 1 hr.. 47 min.. 21 sec., averaging 308.4 m.p.h. or more than five miles a minute. Unofficially broken was the official world's land-plane speed record (304.98 m.p.h.) held by James R. Wedell, who built Turner's plane. A huge dust storm over the Alleghenies cut Turner's speed from a maximum of 340 m.p.h.
Starting at 3:49 is coverage of Turner's flight from New York to Los Angeles in 1933, when he set a new speed record.
More about Turner: Roscoe Turner’s major contribution to aviation was speed. And while he is known for his showmanship and speed records in the 1930s, the race years brought considerable pressure and gave him terrible nightmares. The press would dub him “superman” and “immortal” on one page while the obituary writers were putting him in the ground on another. In 1935 one newspaper printed his obituary in advance and delivered it to his hotel room the night before the Cleveland race. “No matter how many newspapers turn you into a superman, an immortal, you’re still a man inside, you don’t quite feel like dying, and you’re generally scared as hell,” Turner said.
In 1929, he set a speed record between Los Angeles and New York while carrying a passenger. He broke the transcontinental record more times than any other person. During his barnstorming days, he sported a wax mustache and a pseudo-military uniform and often flew with his pet lion “Gilmore.” In 1933, Turner won the Bendix Transcontinental race. Turner was the only person to win the Thompson Trophy Races in 1934, 1938, and 1939. Turner and Jimmy Doolittle are the only pilots to win both the Thompson and Bendix trophies. In 1934, Turner was the sponsor and commander of the only American team to finish the McRobertson International Air Race from London, England to Melbourne, Australia, taking second place in the speed division. During World War II, Turner established an institute to train pilots. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1952 by an Act of Congress, for his contributions to aviation development and pioneering in speed flying. It was the first to be awarded in over 20 years by an Act of Congress and only one of six to be awarded by Congress.
Turner was a consultant to the House Science and Astronautics Committee, serving the 86th, 87th and 89th U.S. Congress.
The Wedell-Williams Model 44 is a racing aircraft, four examples of which were built in the United States in the early 1930s by the Wedell-Williams Air Service Corporation. It began as a rebuilding of the partnership's successful We-Will 1929 racer, but soon turned into a completely new racing monoplane aircraft, powered by a large radial engine. Model 44s became the dominant racers of the 1930s, setting innumerable records including setting a new world speed record in 1933.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
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