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The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation
Years before Charles Lindbergh’s flight from New York to Paris electrified the nation, a group of daredevil pilots, most of them veterans of World War I, brought aviation to the masses by competing in the sensational transcontinental air race of 1919. The contest awakened Americans to the practical possibilities of flight, yet despite its significance, it has until now been all but forgotten.
In The Great Air Race, journalist and amateur pilot John Lancaster finally reclaims this landmark event and the unheralded aviators who competed to be the fastest man in America. His thrilling chronicle opens with the race’s impresario, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, who believed the nation’s future was in the skies. Mitchell’s contest—critics called it a stunt—was a risky undertaking, given that the DH-4s and Fokkers the contestants flew were almost comically ill-suited for long-distance travel: engines caught fire in flight; crude flight instruments were of little help in clouds and fog; and the brakeless planes were prone to nosing over on landing.
Yet the aviators possessed an almost inhuman disregard for their own safety, braving blizzards and mechanical failure as they landed in remote cornfields or at the edges of cliffs. Among the most talented were Belvin “The Flying Parson” Maynard, whose dog, Trixie, shared the rear cockpit with his mechanic, and John Donaldson, a war hero who twice escaped German imprisonment. Jockeying reporters made much of their rivalries, and the crowds along the race’s route exploded, with everyday Americans eager to catch their first glimpse of airplanes and the mythic “birdmen” who flew them.
The race was a test of endurance that many pilots didn’t finish: some dropped out from sheer exhaustion, while others, betrayed by their engines or their instincts, perished. For all its tragedy, Lancaster argues, the race galvanized the nation to embrace the technology of flight. A thrilling tale of men and their machines, The Great Air Race offers a new origin point for commercial aviation in the United States, even as it greatly expands our pantheon of aviation heroes.
In The Great Air Race, journalist and amateur pilot John Lancaster finally reclaims this landmark event and the unheralded aviators who competed to be the fastest man in America. His thrilling chronicle opens with the race’s impresario, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, who believed the nation’s future was in the skies. Mitchell’s contest—critics called it a stunt—was a risky undertaking, given that the DH-4s and Fokkers the contestants flew were almost comically ill-suited for long-distance travel: engines caught fire in flight; crude flight instruments were of little help in clouds and fog; and the brakeless planes were prone to nosing over on landing.
Yet the aviators possessed an almost inhuman disregard for their own safety, braving blizzards and mechanical failure as they landed in remote cornfields or at the edges of cliffs. Among the most talented were Belvin “The Flying Parson” Maynard, whose dog, Trixie, shared the rear cockpit with his mechanic, and John Donaldson, a war hero who twice escaped German imprisonment. Jockeying reporters made much of their rivalries, and the crowds along the race’s route exploded, with everyday Americans eager to catch their first glimpse of airplanes and the mythic “birdmen” who flew them.
The race was a test of endurance that many pilots didn’t finish: some dropped out from sheer exhaustion, while others, betrayed by their engines or their instincts, perished. For all its tragedy, Lancaster argues, the race galvanized the nation to embrace the technology of flight. A thrilling tale of men and their machines, The Great Air Race offers a new origin point for commercial aviation in the United States, even as it greatly expands our pantheon of aviation heroes.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2022
About the author
John Lancaster
32 books5 followersJohn Lancaster is a veteran journalist who spent twenty years at the Washington Post, including eight years as a foreign correspondent based in Cairo and New Delhi. He left the Post in 2006 to write for magazines, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Slate, The New Republic, and The Surfer’s Journal. John is also an amateur pilot and longtime aviation buff whose interest in flying led him to the subject of his first book, The Great Air Race. As part of his research for the book, which tells the story of the 1919 transcontinental air race, John piloted a small two-seat plane along the route of the contest, from New York to San Francisco and back again. John grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Stanford University in 1980. He lives on Nantucket and in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Gail Walker, an attorney. They have two adult children.
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June 20, 2023
While the author may speak of this event as being "all but forgotten," I was actually aware that this race had taken place for a long time, probably courtesy of the copy of Martin Caidin's "Air Force" that I had as a kid. So, when I noticed this work in a book store late last year, it immediately went on the soon-to-read list.
Intertwined with this event, which turns out to have been quite the big deal at the time, is the legacy of General Billy Mitchell. When I first started reading about aviation Mitchell still enjoyed the aura of a martyr, as an apostle of Air Power cut down by his supposed truth-telling. However, recent scholarship (upon which this book is based) no longer overlooks the man's crass careerism. Be that as it may, there is also no denying that Mitchell was a man who got things done, and he had an ally in a senior U.S. Postal Service official, one Otto Praeger, who wanted to expand the nation's airmail system as fast as possible. If nothing else this race had the potential to expand the nation's aeronautical infrastructure rapidly.
That's the problem. In the process of trying to make political points before the Wilson Administration ended, it was decided that the race would take place in late October, with a route that traced major cities like New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and points west, until reaching San Francisco. Anyone who has lived in that tier of the U.S. can tell you that betting on nice weather in late autumn is like living in a state of denial, and bad weather was a major safety issue; contributing to the deaths of nine contestants, doing some damage to Mitchell's reputation, and that of his beloved Air Service.
Still, there is no denying that this event was epic, and probably did make a contribution towards accelerating the development of both civil and military aviation in the United States. That Lancaster is an aviation enthusiast himself is a virtue, and he is fair-minded in assessing the costs and achievements of the race. To be fair to Mitchell, he didn't expect this to be a suicide mission, but, as soon as the event turned into a competitive exercise, all bets were off in terms of the chances that the pilots were prepared to take.
About the only thing that I'm marking this book down for is that Lancaster still ascribes a hostility to aviation in the United States Navy of the time that was mostly in the minds of the U.S. Army's aviators. The USN was all for aviation, so long they were controlling their own air arm!
Intertwined with this event, which turns out to have been quite the big deal at the time, is the legacy of General Billy Mitchell. When I first started reading about aviation Mitchell still enjoyed the aura of a martyr, as an apostle of Air Power cut down by his supposed truth-telling. However, recent scholarship (upon which this book is based) no longer overlooks the man's crass careerism. Be that as it may, there is also no denying that Mitchell was a man who got things done, and he had an ally in a senior U.S. Postal Service official, one Otto Praeger, who wanted to expand the nation's airmail system as fast as possible. If nothing else this race had the potential to expand the nation's aeronautical infrastructure rapidly.
That's the problem. In the process of trying to make political points before the Wilson Administration ended, it was decided that the race would take place in late October, with a route that traced major cities like New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and points west, until reaching San Francisco. Anyone who has lived in that tier of the U.S. can tell you that betting on nice weather in late autumn is like living in a state of denial, and bad weather was a major safety issue; contributing to the deaths of nine contestants, doing some damage to Mitchell's reputation, and that of his beloved Air Service.
Still, there is no denying that this event was epic, and probably did make a contribution towards accelerating the development of both civil and military aviation in the United States. That Lancaster is an aviation enthusiast himself is a virtue, and he is fair-minded in assessing the costs and achievements of the race. To be fair to Mitchell, he didn't expect this to be a suicide mission, but, as soon as the event turned into a competitive exercise, all bets were off in terms of the chances that the pilots were prepared to take.
About the only thing that I'm marking this book down for is that Lancaster still ascribes a hostility to aviation in the United States Navy of the time that was mostly in the minds of the U.S. Army's aviators. The USN was all for aviation, so long they were controlling their own air arm!
February 12, 2023
I really didn't have any interest in aviation before I read this book for my History Book Group. The story is about a little known 1919 coast to coast airplane race from Roosevelt Field (Long Island) to San Francisco. This is before the Lindbergh flight to Paris.
Transcontinental airflight was the dream of many fliers including the Postal Service who were determined early adopters to long haul airmail delivery (ultimately over the years they included passengers and eventually becoming well known commercial airline companies such as American Airlines.)
After WWI, army officer, Billy Mitchell felt the US needed an independent branch of the military... an "Air Force" (which would only come true after his death in 1947). He thought that showing the safety of air travel might motivate the public and Congress to invest in aviation, and to much fanfare he created the "Great Air Race" in 1919. Given the final outcome of the race you might think the public would be turned off but not a chance. The public was enthralled with these pilots and their flying machines.
The often comic and tragic race started with over 60 planes and only a handful would finish with a total of 9 deaths. The stories of men flying in open cockpits exposed to the elements, little in the way of instrumentation, only using paper maps that could just fly out of the cockpit, and airfields that were just that, "farm fields", and no radio contact so if you crashed or got lost there is no way to call for help. It makes you wonder what motivates people to take on such daring. Some of these men, many were vets from WWI, would actually get out on their wing in flight to fix a part of the plane. One man in WWI actually would fly upside down just to confuse the German pilots into thinking "they" were upside down. Crazy, maybe, but brave for sure.
Since I live so close to Roosevelt Field, I became interested enough to go visit the Cradle of Aviation Museum which is right near the spot where the men took off here on Long Island. If you are interested in aviation or even in space flight and in NY this is a great place to visit.
https://www.cradleofaviation.org/hist...
I often feel it is worthwhile, as we complain about bad food the little leg room, to take a look back at history and appreciate what it took to get us to those far away destinations we so enjoy.
Transcontinental airflight was the dream of many fliers including the Postal Service who were determined early adopters to long haul airmail delivery (ultimately over the years they included passengers and eventually becoming well known commercial airline companies such as American Airlines.)
After WWI, army officer, Billy Mitchell felt the US needed an independent branch of the military... an "Air Force" (which would only come true after his death in 1947). He thought that showing the safety of air travel might motivate the public and Congress to invest in aviation, and to much fanfare he created the "Great Air Race" in 1919. Given the final outcome of the race you might think the public would be turned off but not a chance. The public was enthralled with these pilots and their flying machines.
The often comic and tragic race started with over 60 planes and only a handful would finish with a total of 9 deaths. The stories of men flying in open cockpits exposed to the elements, little in the way of instrumentation, only using paper maps that could just fly out of the cockpit, and airfields that were just that, "farm fields", and no radio contact so if you crashed or got lost there is no way to call for help. It makes you wonder what motivates people to take on such daring. Some of these men, many were vets from WWI, would actually get out on their wing in flight to fix a part of the plane. One man in WWI actually would fly upside down just to confuse the German pilots into thinking "they" were upside down. Crazy, maybe, but brave for sure.
Since I live so close to Roosevelt Field, I became interested enough to go visit the Cradle of Aviation Museum which is right near the spot where the men took off here on Long Island. If you are interested in aviation or even in space flight and in NY this is a great place to visit.
https://www.cradleofaviation.org/hist...
I often feel it is worthwhile, as we complain about bad food the little leg room, to take a look back at history and appreciate what it took to get us to those far away destinations we so enjoy.
March 23, 2023
an absolute showstopper!! so glad writers like lancaster are unearthing these amazing forgotten stories of early aviation and rendering them in such vivid & lucid prose.... although how we ever lost the transcontinental air race to the abyss of history is beyond me
February 26, 2024
Interesting read about the early years of aviation. The ability of these pilots to fly for 10-12 hours a day in fabric and wood airplanes across the entire country cannot be understated. Another aspect I found interesting was the US Mail Service and Air Services heavy involvement in preaching the benefits of air travel that then became privatized into what are now the major airlines that ferry us around in unimaginable comfort compared to the pilots in this book.
January 25, 2023
The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation is the story about a most remarkable event in U.S. aviation history that has largely been forgotten. The event was a transcontinental air race in October 1919 in which some of the U.S. Army Air Service's most skilled pilots, flying an array of airplanes, were split into 2 groups. One group of airmen would be tasked to fly from east to west (from Roosevelt Field in Mineola, NY to San Francisco), and then fly back East, subject to certain time constraints. The other group of pilots would proceed from San Francisco to Roosevelt Field, and back west again, following a line of control stops set up by the Air Service where planes from both groups would be refueled and repaired (if necessary) while pilots could rest and be apprised of the latest weather conditions.
The brainchild for this transcontinental air race came from Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, the Air Service's No. 2 , in charge of its Training and Operations Group. Since returning from France ---where he had successfully commanded the largest aerial armada yet deployed in combat during the Battles of Saint Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne --- Mitchell was determined that the Air Service should become an independent air force. To that end, he pressured his supporters in Congress to introduce and pass legislation establishing an independent American air force based upon Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). The legislation would be taken up by Congress in the fall.
So, as a way of emphasizing his belief that an air force was vital to the nation's security and helping to foster the development of a domestic aviation industry and commercial aviation, Mitchell announced that the Air Service would stage a transcontinental air race in the fall of 1919. This race would serve to highlight how much aeronautics had developed during the recently concluded World War and stimulate the public's interest in aviation.
The reader is brought into that long ago world through the stories of several of the airmen (one of whom was also an ordained minister) who took part in the race, shedding light on the thrills, perils, and hazards they faced. As a longtime aviation enthusiast, I was fascinated to learn about the state of aviation technology of that time. A pilot and his mechanic had to be acutely attuned to the ways and whims of the airplane, its engine, its control surfaces, and bracing wires (which helped to support and keep together the 2 wings of the airplane; in 1919, the biplane was the standard aircraft in use; it wouldn't be until the 1930s that monoplanes would supplant biplanes in both military and commercial aviation). What's more: airplanes in 1919 did not have brakes! YIKES! In landing a plane, a pilot had to be highly skilled in reducing speed so that when he touched down at an airfield, he could safely and smartly park the plane and cut its engine.
The Great Air Race also has lots of photos of the people and airplanes that were in the competition as well as a national map showing the control stops and distances (spelled out in miles) that were involved. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story.
The brainchild for this transcontinental air race came from Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, the Air Service's No. 2 , in charge of its Training and Operations Group. Since returning from France ---where he had successfully commanded the largest aerial armada yet deployed in combat during the Battles of Saint Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne --- Mitchell was determined that the Air Service should become an independent air force. To that end, he pressured his supporters in Congress to introduce and pass legislation establishing an independent American air force based upon Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). The legislation would be taken up by Congress in the fall.
So, as a way of emphasizing his belief that an air force was vital to the nation's security and helping to foster the development of a domestic aviation industry and commercial aviation, Mitchell announced that the Air Service would stage a transcontinental air race in the fall of 1919. This race would serve to highlight how much aeronautics had developed during the recently concluded World War and stimulate the public's interest in aviation.
The reader is brought into that long ago world through the stories of several of the airmen (one of whom was also an ordained minister) who took part in the race, shedding light on the thrills, perils, and hazards they faced. As a longtime aviation enthusiast, I was fascinated to learn about the state of aviation technology of that time. A pilot and his mechanic had to be acutely attuned to the ways and whims of the airplane, its engine, its control surfaces, and bracing wires (which helped to support and keep together the 2 wings of the airplane; in 1919, the biplane was the standard aircraft in use; it wouldn't be until the 1930s that monoplanes would supplant biplanes in both military and commercial aviation). What's more: airplanes in 1919 did not have brakes! YIKES! In landing a plane, a pilot had to be highly skilled in reducing speed so that when he touched down at an airfield, he could safely and smartly park the plane and cut its engine.
The Great Air Race also has lots of photos of the people and airplanes that were in the competition as well as a national map showing the control stops and distances (spelled out in miles) that were involved. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story.
January 12, 2023
A book about the Wild West days of flying.
December 5, 2022
This is a great book for people who are really interested in the dawn of American aviation. I really think the book should have had its subtitle as the main title and struck out "The Great Air Race" altogether. The race was interesting, but the main thrust of the book was the history of aviation in America, and I just couldn't summon up that much interest for it. The research was sound and the writing was solid, but this was poor picking on my part.
May 2, 2023
Enjoyable read. After World War I, Billy Mitchell wanted to promote airplanes and what they could accomplish. So they planned a race across the country. This was all new info for me. Flying in the early days was scary as heck! If I had to climb out onto the tail of the plane to make sure we landed safely, I don't think I'd be flying. LOL!
December 1, 2022
An entertaining (though somewhat esoteric) book about the forgotten 1919 race that helped promote modern aviation to the public a little over 100 years ago. We've come a long way, baby! Colorful characters and hair raising situations were the norm of the day for a convenience we mostly take for granted. We're flying in the air, people! It's astounding!
March 28, 2023
Good research, fairly well written. I wasn’t familiar with the Air Race of the title. But it might have been a better subject for a long magazine article, stretched into a book.
February 25, 2023
History can be fascinating. This book just wasn’t. At least not for the average reader. In fact, it was a DNF for me because it dragged so much for the first third of the book. It was far less the story of the great air race and far more the history of aviation. For those with a great passion for flight/aircraft/aviation etc, this book might be interesting but without that passion, it just was a slow moving bunch of technical facts and history.
July 19, 2022
4.25/5
I really enjoyed learning so much about early aviation; it's not a topic I would usually choose. The detail is amazing, you can easily visualize the pilots, and their planes. It's crazy to think how far the world has come in just 100 years as far as aviation and airmail is concerned. Some photos throughout the book help identify just what these pilots had to endure.
I really enjoyed learning so much about early aviation; it's not a topic I would usually choose. The detail is amazing, you can easily visualize the pilots, and their planes. It's crazy to think how far the world has come in just 100 years as far as aviation and airmail is concerned. Some photos throughout the book help identify just what these pilots had to endure.
February 5, 2023
Listened to the audiobook & hated the voice of the narrator. The book wasn’t terrible, but not great either. It was hard to follow the story line. The author is constantly going down irrelevant rabbitholes and then jumping back to the story.
July 18, 2022
So well written and researched. I loved the sense of adventure it evokes. The pioneers of aviation were maniacs! I’ll be thinking about the reckless bravery of these pilots for months.
October 31, 2022
On October 8, 1919 more than 60 pilots took to the air in what was officially called “The First Transcontinental Reliability and Endurance Test”, but everyone involved in it knew it was a race - an air race - across the United States. By the time it was done, the pilots and their planes would suffer 54 accidents and crashes, and nine men would be dead (two died even before the race began).
For a time the race captured the country’s attention, and newspapers of the day were packed with updates on the flyers and their progress, some laid out in grids reminiscent of the box scores that went along with the articles on the World Series, happening at the same time. But over time memories of the event have faded away, and today not many people know about this transcontinental race.
In The Great Air Race John Lancaster has done amazing research to create a fascinating account of the race itself, how it came to be, and what it meant for the future of commercial aviation in the US.
The race was Billy Mitchell’s idea. Mitchell, a highly decorated aviator in the Great War, and considered by many to be the father of the US Air Force was, at the time, the chief of Army Air Service Training. He hoped that the publicity from the event would assist his efforts in lobbying Congress to establish an air force as a separate branch of the armed services.
The race was an “out and back”, with pilots taking off simultaneously from New York and San Francisco, flying to the opposite coast, and then returning to their starting point. The course included twenty “control stops” - landing strips - many of which did not even exist when the race was announced. It was open only to military personnel. Most were returned veterans of air combat in Europe. The planes themselves were a mixed lot, biplanes of mostly wood and cloth, with open air cockpits and finicky engines. Flying at night was forbidden, and Air Service officers at each control stop enforced weather stops when they judged conditions too bad to allow flyers to continue.
All of this set the stage for what would be a thrilling race, and Lancaster’s account of it is as dramatic and thrilling as it gets. It’s full of wonderful details and amazing moments and holds your interest to the very end. He’s done a great job bringing an event that had almost been forgotten back to life. The race created heroes, among them the first to finish the course, the “Flying Parson” Belvin Maynard. It also fueled a hunger for flying in the public that helped spur not only the formation of commercial airlines, but support for the funding of airports for the airlines to fly in and out of.
It’s amazing to think today of the skill of the pilots who took part, and that of their mechanics who accompanied them. They flew in open cockpit planes through the Rocky Mountains at the start of winter weather, encountered rain and sleet that coated the planes with ice, and had to handle all kinds of mishaps like engine fires, stalls, landings in muddy fields that could rip the landing gear from their planes (or worse). They did all of this without the aid of modern equipment - no radios, no radar, no GPS, no lighted runways, no air controllers, and with sometimes spotty ground support and limited supplies.
History buffs, aviation enthusiasts, and those who appreciate a good race will love this book.
RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
NOTE: I received an advanced copy of this book from W.W. Norton & Co. and NetGalley, and am voluntarily providing this review. The book is available starting November 15, 2022.
For a time the race captured the country’s attention, and newspapers of the day were packed with updates on the flyers and their progress, some laid out in grids reminiscent of the box scores that went along with the articles on the World Series, happening at the same time. But over time memories of the event have faded away, and today not many people know about this transcontinental race.
In The Great Air Race John Lancaster has done amazing research to create a fascinating account of the race itself, how it came to be, and what it meant for the future of commercial aviation in the US.
The race was Billy Mitchell’s idea. Mitchell, a highly decorated aviator in the Great War, and considered by many to be the father of the US Air Force was, at the time, the chief of Army Air Service Training. He hoped that the publicity from the event would assist his efforts in lobbying Congress to establish an air force as a separate branch of the armed services.
The race was an “out and back”, with pilots taking off simultaneously from New York and San Francisco, flying to the opposite coast, and then returning to their starting point. The course included twenty “control stops” - landing strips - many of which did not even exist when the race was announced. It was open only to military personnel. Most were returned veterans of air combat in Europe. The planes themselves were a mixed lot, biplanes of mostly wood and cloth, with open air cockpits and finicky engines. Flying at night was forbidden, and Air Service officers at each control stop enforced weather stops when they judged conditions too bad to allow flyers to continue.
All of this set the stage for what would be a thrilling race, and Lancaster’s account of it is as dramatic and thrilling as it gets. It’s full of wonderful details and amazing moments and holds your interest to the very end. He’s done a great job bringing an event that had almost been forgotten back to life. The race created heroes, among them the first to finish the course, the “Flying Parson” Belvin Maynard. It also fueled a hunger for flying in the public that helped spur not only the formation of commercial airlines, but support for the funding of airports for the airlines to fly in and out of.
It’s amazing to think today of the skill of the pilots who took part, and that of their mechanics who accompanied them. They flew in open cockpit planes through the Rocky Mountains at the start of winter weather, encountered rain and sleet that coated the planes with ice, and had to handle all kinds of mishaps like engine fires, stalls, landings in muddy fields that could rip the landing gear from their planes (or worse). They did all of this without the aid of modern equipment - no radios, no radar, no GPS, no lighted runways, no air controllers, and with sometimes spotty ground support and limited supplies.
History buffs, aviation enthusiasts, and those who appreciate a good race will love this book.
RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
NOTE: I received an advanced copy of this book from W.W. Norton & Co. and NetGalley, and am voluntarily providing this review. The book is available starting November 15, 2022.
March 28, 2023
It is 1919 and the Army Air Service, specifically General Billy Mitchell who had distinguished himself leading the US air contingent in France in 1918, found that peacetime and Congressional budget cuts were going to leave the US far behind other nations in developing commercial and military aviation. What to do? Well, stage a transcontinental air race with participants starting in Long Island and San Francisco to see who could do the round trip the fastest. This would spark the public's imagination (and more importantly Congress's) and get funding for new aircraft designs as well as the establishment of long distance air mail services.
And that is exactly what happened. Sixty-three planes (all biplanes, most American-built DH-4 two seaters) were entered. The race was widely documented and had its share of tragedies. It was a mere 16 years since the Wright Brothers had managed a 59 second powered flight at KittyHawk. Aircraft had improved since then but not by much. Range could be as low as 200 miles, cockpits were open, and crashes were all too-frequent. A whole network of landing strips had to be established in record time along with fuel, spare parts, and mechanics.
I'd say the most interesting part of the book is how well the author takes you back in time to 1919. If a contestant had to force land in a farmer's field and cracked a radiator, well, the pilot walked a few miles and got a new radiator from some other plane that might have otherwise been written off, installed the replacement, and took off again from the field. No NTSB back then. There was such resourcefulness and even MacGyver-like solutions to keep going. You'll marvel at how the second seater (the mechanic) would, on approach to the landing, get out of his seat and scoot back along the fuselage to be nearer the tail to improve the weight distribution for a better landing. Pilots loathed the DH.4's design that had the gas tank immediately behind the pilot's head so if the plane smacked down nose first, the tank could become dislodged and smash into the pilot's neck.
Spectators and well-wishers would steal souvenirs from the planes while the crew was catching some food prior to taking off for the next control stop (airfield). No flying at night was allowed. At least in 1919 they had the telephone and radio (in places) to communicate weather conditions at upcoming air strips. No flying on Sundays either. Tired field crews would pour oil into the gas tank or vice-versa.
I won't reveal who won and whether it was even close. Suffice it to say that not every plane made the whole trip, some taking more than two weeks (!). Fewer did the round trip. All men plus one dog, no women, and no civilians, competed. The winner, whose name is now forgotten, was a national hero.
Although the book is about a race, it is not written in a way to keep you hanging in suspense. The author focuses on a few of the planes and their crew (perhaps because of greater first person documentary evidence). The narrative switches back and forth across the highlighted planes. Stuff breaks down. The weather is an issue. The machinations back in Washington DC get some attention as well. And, of course, what happened later to the featured pilots (plus Mitchell) is documented.
A useful map detailing the route and some photos. Apparently, there is a 2022 PBS documentary on the DH.4 that I shall now watch.
Recommended if you're interested in early aviation history. Note - this will not keep you up past your bedtime.
And that is exactly what happened. Sixty-three planes (all biplanes, most American-built DH-4 two seaters) were entered. The race was widely documented and had its share of tragedies. It was a mere 16 years since the Wright Brothers had managed a 59 second powered flight at KittyHawk. Aircraft had improved since then but not by much. Range could be as low as 200 miles, cockpits were open, and crashes were all too-frequent. A whole network of landing strips had to be established in record time along with fuel, spare parts, and mechanics.
I'd say the most interesting part of the book is how well the author takes you back in time to 1919. If a contestant had to force land in a farmer's field and cracked a radiator, well, the pilot walked a few miles and got a new radiator from some other plane that might have otherwise been written off, installed the replacement, and took off again from the field. No NTSB back then. There was such resourcefulness and even MacGyver-like solutions to keep going. You'll marvel at how the second seater (the mechanic) would, on approach to the landing, get out of his seat and scoot back along the fuselage to be nearer the tail to improve the weight distribution for a better landing. Pilots loathed the DH.4's design that had the gas tank immediately behind the pilot's head so if the plane smacked down nose first, the tank could become dislodged and smash into the pilot's neck.
Spectators and well-wishers would steal souvenirs from the planes while the crew was catching some food prior to taking off for the next control stop (airfield). No flying at night was allowed. At least in 1919 they had the telephone and radio (in places) to communicate weather conditions at upcoming air strips. No flying on Sundays either. Tired field crews would pour oil into the gas tank or vice-versa.
I won't reveal who won and whether it was even close. Suffice it to say that not every plane made the whole trip, some taking more than two weeks (!). Fewer did the round trip. All men plus one dog, no women, and no civilians, competed. The winner, whose name is now forgotten, was a national hero.
Although the book is about a race, it is not written in a way to keep you hanging in suspense. The author focuses on a few of the planes and their crew (perhaps because of greater first person documentary evidence). The narrative switches back and forth across the highlighted planes. Stuff breaks down. The weather is an issue. The machinations back in Washington DC get some attention as well. And, of course, what happened later to the featured pilots (plus Mitchell) is documented.
A useful map detailing the route and some photos. Apparently, there is a 2022 PBS documentary on the DH.4 that I shall now watch.
Recommended if you're interested in early aviation history. Note - this will not keep you up past your bedtime.
May 8, 2023
I am convinced that someone, someday soon, will make a great movie about early aviators. It may be a WWI combat film, or it may be more of an exploration story. (Somebody option Maggie Shipstead’s The Great Circle.) So, with that in mind, I picked this one up.
The material is great. In 1919, as the U.S. WWI fighter corps faced demobilization, Billy Mitchell – one of the highest Army officials dealing with U.S. fliers – conceived of a cross-country flying race. It would call on some of the best pilots in the world to test the limits of machines designed for shorter, military purpose rather than commercial application. As they pushed themselves, Mitchell hoped, they’d raise the profile of the nascent aviation industry, buying public and Congressional support.
On top of that, as part of researching the book, Lancaster trained to become a small-plane pilot and eventually retraced the route of the race.
That sounds like gold to me, and I’m sure that – if I were an editor – I’d have given it at least a long look.
But…I think Lancaster undersells what he has. The race is the heart of this, but he spends most of the first several chapters telling us about Mitchell, who didn’t fly at all. As a result, by the time we get to the racers themselves, they feel like after-thoughts. Belvin Maynard, “the flying parson,” is a remarkable character. He’s an actual Southern parson who turned out to be one of the great pioneering pilots, gifted with unerring navigational skills as well as the nerve to put his plane into breathtaking spins and turns.
Carl Spaatz would go on to a long career in the Army and Air Force, and he was there as a young man and flight mechanic. And he and Emil Kiel finished within minutes of each other as they raced.
By way of confession, though, most of those characters melted together for me. In a final chapter, Lancaster talks of flying past the spot where another pilot was killed in a crash, and I found I couldn’t remember anything about the dead pilot.
I understand the difficulty in telling a story based around the characters in the race itself. It’s clear that Lancaster doesn’t know all that much about most of them. He tells us, for instance, how much of a research coup it was to find that Maynard used to take off his rimless glasses and wipe them on his shirt as a nervous habit. (I’m not being sarcastic; I’ve prized such small bits of research when I’ve found them.)
With so little to build on the heart of this, I don’t understand why Lancaster didn’t make his own flight the heart of the narrative. (Well, maybe I do. Half the fliers started on the East Coast and headed west, while the other half did the reverse.)
Still, there’s just not quite the narrative thrust that I’d imagine from a book about a race. Toward the end, he tells us that it ended “anticlimactically,” and I feel that.
There’s good story in here, but I wish Lancaster had been able to sustain more of the drama that must have been a part of it.
The material is great. In 1919, as the U.S. WWI fighter corps faced demobilization, Billy Mitchell – one of the highest Army officials dealing with U.S. fliers – conceived of a cross-country flying race. It would call on some of the best pilots in the world to test the limits of machines designed for shorter, military purpose rather than commercial application. As they pushed themselves, Mitchell hoped, they’d raise the profile of the nascent aviation industry, buying public and Congressional support.
On top of that, as part of researching the book, Lancaster trained to become a small-plane pilot and eventually retraced the route of the race.
That sounds like gold to me, and I’m sure that – if I were an editor – I’d have given it at least a long look.
But…I think Lancaster undersells what he has. The race is the heart of this, but he spends most of the first several chapters telling us about Mitchell, who didn’t fly at all. As a result, by the time we get to the racers themselves, they feel like after-thoughts. Belvin Maynard, “the flying parson,” is a remarkable character. He’s an actual Southern parson who turned out to be one of the great pioneering pilots, gifted with unerring navigational skills as well as the nerve to put his plane into breathtaking spins and turns.
Carl Spaatz would go on to a long career in the Army and Air Force, and he was there as a young man and flight mechanic. And he and Emil Kiel finished within minutes of each other as they raced.
By way of confession, though, most of those characters melted together for me. In a final chapter, Lancaster talks of flying past the spot where another pilot was killed in a crash, and I found I couldn’t remember anything about the dead pilot.
I understand the difficulty in telling a story based around the characters in the race itself. It’s clear that Lancaster doesn’t know all that much about most of them. He tells us, for instance, how much of a research coup it was to find that Maynard used to take off his rimless glasses and wipe them on his shirt as a nervous habit. (I’m not being sarcastic; I’ve prized such small bits of research when I’ve found them.)
With so little to build on the heart of this, I don’t understand why Lancaster didn’t make his own flight the heart of the narrative. (Well, maybe I do. Half the fliers started on the East Coast and headed west, while the other half did the reverse.)
Still, there’s just not quite the narrative thrust that I’d imagine from a book about a race. Toward the end, he tells us that it ended “anticlimactically,” and I feel that.
There’s good story in here, but I wish Lancaster had been able to sustain more of the drama that must have been a part of it.
April 18, 2024
John Lancaster’s book, “The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation,” is a gripping and fascinating account of one of the most thrilling and dangerous events in aviation history. The book chronicles the race to be the first to fly across the United States, a feat that captured the imagination of the American public and pushed the boundaries of what was thought possible in the early days of aviation. Lancaster’s writing is engaging and immersive, drawing the reader into the world of early aviation with vivid descriptions of the planes, the pilots, and the challenges they faced. From the daring and charismatic aviators who risked their lives to achieve glory, to the tragic accidents that claimed the lives of many of them, Lancaster brings to life the high stakes and adrenaline-fueled drama of the race. One of the most compelling aspects of the book is Lancaster’s exploration of the impact of the race on American society. As the country emerged from the devastation of World War I, the race captured the spirit of optimism and adventure that characterized the Roaring Twenties. The public’s fascination with the race not only propelled the aviators to fame and fortune, but also helped to popularize aviation and pave the way for the modern air travel industry. Lancaster’s meticulous research is evident throughout the book, as he delves into the personal stories of the aviators, their triumphs and tragedies, and the technological advancements that made the race possible. His attention to detail and his ability to bring the past to life make “The Great Air Race” a must-read for anyone interested in the history of aviation. Overall, “The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation” is a thrilling and informative read that will appeal to history buffs, aviation enthusiasts, and anyone who enjoys a good story of adventure and daring. John Lancaster’s masterful storytelling and deep knowledge of the subject make this book a true gem that deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the early days of flight.
December 29, 2022
Hmm. Let’s see. Sixty-three biplanes competing in a cross-country air race in 1919. The course takes the competitors over the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. It’s October so, of course, they are dealing with rain, snow, ice, and fog. The planes don’t have brakes, gas gauges, or radios. Their wooden propellors splinter in rainstorms. There’s no real-time weather data. Pilots use rudimentary two-dimensional maps and ground-based visual reference points to navigate. They don’t have parachutes. And they are flying in and out of hastily improvised landing sites. What could go wrong? I mean other than the 54 planes that crashed and the nine men who died.
Still, it’s a great story and John Lancaster has written a compelling and highly readable account of the pilots at the dawn of the aviation age. Clearly, these guys were wired a little differently. Were they visionaries and pioneers? Or reckless, irresponsible, and crazy thrill seekers? You could make a case for either, I suppose, but my guess is the answer is probably “a bit of all of the above.”
The other major players in this story are the two men who were the driving forces behind the race itself: Billy Mitchell, Brigadier General in the Army Air Service, and Otto Praeger, Second Assistant United States Postmaster General. Both felt the race would drive public and Congressional support for investing in aviation. Mitchell was motivated by the military applications of air power while Prager wanted to establish air mail service. These guys don’t fare so well in the story. Each comes across as self-important, self-promoting, and ruthless – more than happy to write checks, so to speak, which others ended up cashing, sometimes paying for the ambitions of Mitchell and Praeger with their lives. In my view, that is the real tragedy of this story. It appears little was learned or accomplished by the race itself that could not have been achieved without the human toll of the lives lost.
An important book and a good read.
Still, it’s a great story and John Lancaster has written a compelling and highly readable account of the pilots at the dawn of the aviation age. Clearly, these guys were wired a little differently. Were they visionaries and pioneers? Or reckless, irresponsible, and crazy thrill seekers? You could make a case for either, I suppose, but my guess is the answer is probably “a bit of all of the above.”
The other major players in this story are the two men who were the driving forces behind the race itself: Billy Mitchell, Brigadier General in the Army Air Service, and Otto Praeger, Second Assistant United States Postmaster General. Both felt the race would drive public and Congressional support for investing in aviation. Mitchell was motivated by the military applications of air power while Prager wanted to establish air mail service. These guys don’t fare so well in the story. Each comes across as self-important, self-promoting, and ruthless – more than happy to write checks, so to speak, which others ended up cashing, sometimes paying for the ambitions of Mitchell and Praeger with their lives. In my view, that is the real tragedy of this story. It appears little was learned or accomplished by the race itself that could not have been achieved without the human toll of the lives lost.
An important book and a good read.
February 3, 2023
Let's say you have a new, promising technology with the potential to significantly change the economy and indeed the way of life of your nation and the world.
Does said nation invest in putting its best experts, engineers and technologists to work? Do its governing bodies at least set up a playing field that would allow those best minds to develop the technology in a deliberate, thoughtful way?
(Of note, that's what other nations are doing, and threaten to leave your nation in the dust.)
Or do you set up an artificial contest, well publicized but haphazardly organized, without regard to human safety, in hope that that will generate interest and momentum for this technology?
Well this is America, and a century ago as today it is the kind of place that picks the latter option.
'The Great Air Race' is the entertaining telling of the transcontinental air race of 1919, set up basically as a publicity stunt by military aviators who despaired of the U.S. taking this transformative technology seriously.
Largely forgotten today, it was a sensation at the time and Lancaster does well to paint a picture of the intersting characters behind and in the race and the challenges they faced, both fundamental and self-inflicted.
Does said nation invest in putting its best experts, engineers and technologists to work? Do its governing bodies at least set up a playing field that would allow those best minds to develop the technology in a deliberate, thoughtful way?
(Of note, that's what other nations are doing, and threaten to leave your nation in the dust.)
Or do you set up an artificial contest, well publicized but haphazardly organized, without regard to human safety, in hope that that will generate interest and momentum for this technology?
Well this is America, and a century ago as today it is the kind of place that picks the latter option.
'The Great Air Race' is the entertaining telling of the transcontinental air race of 1919, set up basically as a publicity stunt by military aviators who despaired of the U.S. taking this transformative technology seriously.
Largely forgotten today, it was a sensation at the time and Lancaster does well to paint a picture of the intersting characters behind and in the race and the challenges they faced, both fundamental and self-inflicted.
April 11, 2023
A decent story of an early airplane race that was well-covered at the time but has largely been forgotten because it didn't prove all that important in aviation history.
Though I liked the book, I believe the story would've been better told in a shorter format such as a magazine article because I found a lot of information to be extraneous. The author wasted too many pages on background information--about the first fourth of the book--before getting to his narrative about the actual race. The level of detail he was able to cobble together to describe key junctures was impressive. But the author spread himself thin trying to detail as many different flyers as possible, and I struggled to keep track of the competitors, some of whom were flying east-west across the U.S. and west-east and then vice versa. The book's epilogue about the author's attempt to follow the route in his own plane, while interesting, didn't fit with the rest of the book.
In sum, if you're a fan of aviation history you will most likely enjoy this. If you're a general history fan like myself, you may like it but I wouldn't say it's a must read.
Though I liked the book, I believe the story would've been better told in a shorter format such as a magazine article because I found a lot of information to be extraneous. The author wasted too many pages on background information--about the first fourth of the book--before getting to his narrative about the actual race. The level of detail he was able to cobble together to describe key junctures was impressive. But the author spread himself thin trying to detail as many different flyers as possible, and I struggled to keep track of the competitors, some of whom were flying east-west across the U.S. and west-east and then vice versa. The book's epilogue about the author's attempt to follow the route in his own plane, while interesting, didn't fit with the rest of the book.
In sum, if you're a fan of aviation history you will most likely enjoy this. If you're a general history fan like myself, you may like it but I wouldn't say it's a must read.
February 14, 2023
Doug learned about this book from our local paper because Binghamton was one of the stops at the eastern end of the route for the cross country race. It is full of names and events that are not familiar to us and I won't remember them. The race did cause a sensation in 1919 and the men who competed were famous at the time, but 7 people died. The organizers insisted on going through with it in October instead of the following summer and there were far too many weather related accidents. What the pilots accomplished was amazing due to their skill. The odds were against them with the equipment they had to work with. The goal was to raise public awareness of the possibilities of aviation but many believed that the cost was too high. They had open cockpits, no navigation equipment other than a compass and paper maps, no radios, and terrible weather information. It is amazing how far aviation had progressed by 1919 considering that the Wright Brothers first flight was in 1903, but in truth the technology was really not ready for the demands of this race.
July 14, 2023
I give this book a five-star rating.
Why? Well, because I've read several of these 1920's air race/pioneers of aviation book and enjoyed them all. But what boosted my rating to five-stars is this on page 148:"...Below him was Highland Park, a bustling neighborhood in north-central Des Moines."
That's were I live. My house was three-years-old when US Army Air Service pilot John O. Donaldson made an emergency landing somewhere in the area.
There are similar feats of "derring-do," near misses and tragedies throughout.
As a coda I am leaving the following observation: During the air race of 1919 public enthusiasm for the flight and future technology were extremely high. In fact it seems that every generation up to the War-Baby and Boomer generation looked forward to advances in technology. Since my g-g-g-g-generation has taken the helm, a significant number of my fellow Americans, from Boomers to Gen Z, have turned their backs on technological advances, except for the Internet. We have doomed ourselves.
Why? Well, because I've read several of these 1920's air race/pioneers of aviation book and enjoyed them all. But what boosted my rating to five-stars is this on page 148:"...Below him was Highland Park, a bustling neighborhood in north-central Des Moines."
That's were I live. My house was three-years-old when US Army Air Service pilot John O. Donaldson made an emergency landing somewhere in the area.
There are similar feats of "derring-do," near misses and tragedies throughout.
As a coda I am leaving the following observation: During the air race of 1919 public enthusiasm for the flight and future technology were extremely high. In fact it seems that every generation up to the War-Baby and Boomer generation looked forward to advances in technology. Since my g-g-g-g-generation has taken the helm, a significant number of my fellow Americans, from Boomers to Gen Z, have turned their backs on technological advances, except for the Internet. We have doomed ourselves.
August 23, 2023
It is very much a niche book. A bit interesting on the history and, for me, the geography. Beyond that, even as one who worked in aviation, this wasn’t a great book – just three stars.
Racers started on both coasts so the book alternates between eastbound and westbound flyers. Your geography of lessor known points across the US will be tested but I enjoyed the list of aerodromes in the western part of the country as I’ve been there or near there.
Lancaster covers it all and little appears to have been left out. The sections looking back at WWI air duels, pilots, and lessons was interesting.
In the end, though, the book is about a group of pilots crossing the US when aviation was in its infancy resulting in deaths and crashes. It predates a lot of today’s safety features like checklists, aviation maps, radio, and machine reliability.
Oh, and the narration left a lot to be desired: monotoned with a constant cadence across sentences, paragraphs, chapters, death, and crashes.
Racers started on both coasts so the book alternates between eastbound and westbound flyers. Your geography of lessor known points across the US will be tested but I enjoyed the list of aerodromes in the western part of the country as I’ve been there or near there.
Lancaster covers it all and little appears to have been left out. The sections looking back at WWI air duels, pilots, and lessons was interesting.
In the end, though, the book is about a group of pilots crossing the US when aviation was in its infancy resulting in deaths and crashes. It predates a lot of today’s safety features like checklists, aviation maps, radio, and machine reliability.
Oh, and the narration left a lot to be desired: monotoned with a constant cadence across sentences, paragraphs, chapters, death, and crashes.
August 10, 2023
This is one of those narrowly tailored histories of an event that probably had significance, but not as much significance as was attributed to it at the time. The Great Transcontinental Air Race was held right after the end of WWI, with the intent to demonstrate that planes were now a reliable means of transportation that should be supported by the government for postal service, passenger carriage, and military purposes. What the race actually showed was that courageous people given a monumental task may be able to accomplish it. Check. Lots of men died trying in this one race. The planes and the pilots were not ready. They lacked weather forecasting, communications, airfields, and reliable planes. Eventually we do get transcontinental air service, and sometimes it's even faster than the several week round trip in 1919, but did the Great Race actually help that to happen? Or did it delay it? You're left to ponder. A quaint story from a different time.
February 13, 2024
The Great Air Race of 1919 is a fascinating and underexplored topic that John Lancaster illuminates most of spectacularly. It takes a broad look at the race not just from the Flying Parson's perspective but also some of the less fortunate and successful contestants. The book can be hard to follow in places however, especially as an audio book, and I had to keep a google maps tab open as I read. My only real criticism of the book however comes within it's final 30 minutes, where John Lancaster seems to praise the privation of the Air Mail Service. Something that would lead to an equally unknown scandal called the Air Mail Disaster, where the privation of these routes lead to deaths and delays of packages. It was a very odd turn in the last thirty minutes, much like a sudden crosswind on final.
February 7, 2023
Looking backward, air travel feels like an inevitable conclusion, but this was a fascinating history of early aviation gave a glimpse of how NOT true that was in the early days. It's well structured to set a base of information and characters, and then progresses through the race showing how it brought together the world of American aviation and was a tipping point for how we approached and viewed the power of flight. Having flown in and out of General Mitchell airport more times than I can count, I was delighted to learn more about it's namesake. I loved the quotes from observers of the air race in particular, especially the awe at how quickly they had traveled. Really puts modern day travel in perspective.
May 20, 2024
I found this book as a recommended reading from Goodreads based on my reading history. I perused the description and decided to buy a copy. I was not disappointed. It is the story of early aviation and its aviators. It covers the WWI escapades of some of the big players in the race. The dogged drive and determination of Billy Mitchell is featured as well as that of Belvin Maynard, acknowledged winner of the race. It discusses the crashes and fragility of the early aircraft as well as putting the race in its proper place in American history. I learned a lot from reading this book. In under two decades man had gone from barely powered flight to being able to fly completely across the country .... and back. If you are interested in early aviation, Billy Mitchell or just life in the US just after WWI, this is a very good book. I highly recommend it.
May 17, 2023
Starts off a little slow as Lancaster spends the first half of the book laying down ground work for some important context about the early days of aviation; however, the fun begins when he starts to share stories about the race! I’ve flown as a pilot a fair bit but can safely say I never once considered getting OUT of the cockpit only to climb ON the fuselage in order to FIX an engine while IN FLIGHT! Who does that? Those pilots were equal parts skilled aviators and extreme adventurers, combined with a heavy dose of just plain crazy. They certainly defined grit and determination! This was even more fun to read on the heels of finishing McCullough’s book about The Wright Brothers.
July 27, 2023
Just after WWI war time pilots and visionaries who wanted to advance US aviation were looking for ways to keep interest by the public. In 1919 a race was organized with military pilots flying mostly biplanes across the continent and back. Counting the simultaneous starts at Roosevelt Field on Long Island and San Francisco there were 20 ragtag landing strips created, roughly following the transcontinental railroad. It was truly a barnstorming, fly by the seat of your pants type of flying in those days and the author does a good job of telling the exciting stories of the people, places, and events surrounding the race. 4****
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