judged by the same officials, there were separate prizes in the men’s classification and so, also, for the women. However, a sweepstakes was offered to the winner, irrespective of sex, who had the highest total of points. This prize, $2500.00, and a new automobile was won by a woman, Phoebe Omlie, of Memphis, Tennessee. Mrs. Omlie, by the way, won several thousand dollars in addition to this in the closed course races, and was one of the heaviest winners among competing women pilots. Among other prize winners were May Haizlip, Maude Tait, Gladys O’Donnell and Florence Klingensmith.
One of the best races for men is the justly famous Thompson Trophy event. It is to land planes what the Schneider Cup has been to seaplanes. In other words it is the aerial speed classic of the year.
Corresponding to this is the Aerol Trophy Race for women for maximum speed over a closed course. In 1931 the distance was fifty miles, made in five laps of a ten-mile course, the flyer rounding four markers. The home pylon, as the markers are called, is directly in front of the grandstand, while the other three simply define the boundaries of the course to be flown.
The highest speed made in this race was 187 miles an hour, attained by Maude Tait in her Gee Bee sport plane. This time, it is interesting to notice, is less than fifteen miles slower than that of the best record made by men in the Thompson Trophy race of the year before—which goes to show that selected women flyers, if given opportunity and
