1949 Bendix 470 mph?

[Coyote Chris]

I am reading "Gentlemen, You Have a Race" and on page 9, it says in the 1949 Bendix race from California to Cleveland, the winning F-6C Mustang came in with an average of 470 mph and the next two P-51Cs came in at 450 mph. I assume the average includes fuel stops.

I am gonna guess that they had favorable winds aloft to do this. Still, to have the three Mustangs go that fast for four hours is pretty impressive. If anyone has more details on this race I would appreciate hearing them.

[Hawkeye]

Re: 1949 Bendix 470 mph?

The aircraft you refer to had wet wings which allowed them to fly non-stop. Getting up to high alititude also increased the speed.

[Coyote Chris]

Re: 1949 Bendix 470 mph?

Wow, thanks Hawkeye....I wonder how much fuel the winner carried to go non stop at what must have been almost max power settings for over four hours.....I would think he would have had to have a pretty good tail wind for most of the trip.

[Hawkeye]

Re: 1949 Bendix 470 mph?

Two books that are a must to have are "Wet Wings and Drop Tanks" which cover the post war Bendix races and "Mustang, The Racing Thoroughbred" covers the post war pylon racing. I beleive the author for both is Birch Mathews. They are both excellent books.

[Coyote Chris]

Re: 1949 Bendix 470 mph?

Thanks! Found a good used copy of Wet wings and drop tanks by Matthews Birch on Amazon.com for 21 bucks and just ordered it....