Jetrader - Winter 2014 - 47

Plans for the Dole Air Derby went forward,
with 15 competitors expected, but this was
whittled down to 13 when two pilots were
unable to get their airplanes ready in time.
Then the carnage began.
Army plane with two men aboard joined
the search and also disappeared.
Back in Oakland, by 19 August, the
Dallas Spirit had been repaired, so the
pilots decided to search while flying
a zig-zag course to Hawaii. Their last
radio message was sent well after dark.
They reported the lights in the cockpit
and instrument panel had failed and the
pilot, unable to see anything, could not
keep the aircraft under control. Entering
a tail spin, they sent an SOS as they were
going down and then, silence. Ships converged on their last reported position but
found nothing.
The final tally was three aircraft
destroyed and three pilots killed before
they could get to Oakland for the start
of the race. Two aircraft crashed taking

off from Oakland on race day. Two aircraft
and five occupants disappeared en route
to Hawaii. Two more aircraft and four men
were lost while vainly searching for the
others. The glorious Pineapple Derby was
a catastrophe. Even the winners found no
joy in their accomplishment.

What Happened to ... ?
The Fokker Trimotor Bird of Paradise that
was the first to make the crossing to Hawaii
remained in service with the Army there
until 1930. It was dismantled and put into
storage in anticipation of being put on display in a museum in Hawaii, but because of
the Great Depression, there were no funds
available. In the late 1930s, the aircraft
was crated and shipped to Wright Field in
Ohio (now the location of the Air Force

Museum), but it was eventually scrapped
rather than being put on display.
The Army pilots of the Bird of Paradise,
Maitland and Heggenberger, whose flight
was a successful demonstration of novel
means of airborne radio navigation, were
awarded the Mackay Trophy, a prize established in 1911 and awarded annually since
then to recognize the most meritorious
U.S. military flight of each year.
Woolaroc, the aircraft that won the Dole
Air Derby, takes its name from the Woolaroc
Ranch that was owned by Frank Phillips,
the president of Phillips Petroleum. The
name combined the words for the woods,
lake and rocks at the site of his ranch in
the Osage Hills region of Oklahoma. Phillips
sponsored the aircraft in the race, using it
to promote a special blend of aviation fuel
developed by his company. After the race,
a hangar was built at the ranch to house
the aircraft, and the hangar eventually was
expanded into a museum with a large collection of Western art and Native American
Indian relics. The Woolaroc is suspended
from the ceiling of the museum in what is
now known as the Woolaroc Museum and
Wildlife Preserve.

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