Derby

Travelairs, Wacos, Cessnas, Moths, Thunderbirds, Lockheeds, Fairchilds, Stinsons, Challengers, Bellancas and a dozen other makes of planes set out last week from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, to fly to Los Angeles in the greatest transcontinental air derby ever staged. The power was furnished by Wright Whirlwind, Curtiss O X5, Warner Scarab, Pratt & Whitney, Wasp and many another motor. The pilots were stimulated by prizes totalling $57,500. In three classes, 62 planes hopped off. Stops for the night were made at Columbus, Ohio, Kansas City, Mo., Fort Worth, Tex., El Paso, Tex., Yuma, Ariz.*

At Los Angeles, where an aeronautical exposition was in full blast, the first to arrive in the class A event was Earl Rowland of Wichita, Kans., in a Cessna monoplane. Scarcely had the dust settled from his plane when Robert Drake of Pittsburgh landed to take second place. Soon thousands of eyes .searched the horizon for Class B and C fliers.

*A non-stop race from coast to coast was to begin on Sept. 12 with six planes entered.