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

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company founded in 1924 and subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse since 2002. During various times in its existence, Bendix made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft ...

, 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, Inc. was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company, created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and The Signal Companies. It purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and adopted the Honeywell name and iden ...

, 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 goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

(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 automation, industrial automa ...

), 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 had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, 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 raid on Japan during World War II, known as the Doolittle Raid in his honor. He ma ...

, who won the first race, and several women.

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

and Ruth Rowland Nichols were the first women pilots to enter the Bendix, taking fifth and sixth places, respectively, in 1933. 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 bo ...

won the race. Laura Ingalls finished second. In 1938,

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

, arguably the greatest female aviator of all time, took home the trophy.

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was an American air racing and 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 Ma ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Postwar winners were frequently military veterans from the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

: 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 "Dick" Gordon Jr. (October 5, 1929 – November 6, 2017) was an American United States Navy, naval officer and United States Naval Aviator, aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and a American football, football executive. H ...

, 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 List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

''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 and Gordon Israel, who lat ...

), 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, who went on to become an engineer for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. ''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 Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the lion, Gilmore the L ...

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 The Thompson Trophy race was one of the National Air Races of the heyday of early airplane racing in the 1930s. Established in 1929, the last race was held in 1961. The race was long with pylons marking the turns, and emphasized low altitude fly ...

, 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 () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on the Navajo Nation in McKinley County, New Mexico. The population was 2,900 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 2,278 in 2010. It is located along the Trail o ...

; 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 Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' 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

Flight Safety Foundation The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals to help solve safety problem ...