The first of the three Curtiss racers under construction at the Garden City plant of the Curtiss company, was put through its preliminary trials during the week of September 19, 1925 and was considered in every way to be a great achievement in racing airplane design. Several flights in the earlier part of the week when Lieut. Alford J. Williams, U.S.M., who is to pilot the Navy entry in the Pulitzer Race, and Lieut. James H. Doolittle, A.S., flew the plane for short trials, served to indicate the through airworthiness of the racer. It was not until this was defintely demonstrated that attempts to determine the speed qualities was made. On September 18, Lieutenant Doolittle, for the first time, opened the throttle wide and flew the actual course of the Pulitzer Race from Mitchel Field, where these tests were carried out. W. L. Gilmore, chief engineer for the Curtiss Company, timed the trials and reported an average speed of 254 m.p.h. for two circuits of the course, thus exceeding by approximately 11 m.p.h. the last Pulitzer speed figure set up when the Navy Curtiss racer won this race at St. Louis in 1923, the speed then being 243.6 m.p.h.
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Mahogany Wood. Scale: 1/20. Wingspan 13 3/8 inches, Length 13 9/16 inches.
