How they fared - pilots and aircraft
THE PILOTS
Fate was unkind to many of these aviators.
Campbell-Black was killed two years later - he was sitting in his aircraft waiting to take off when an RAF training bomber on landing ran into his. The propeller of the bomber tore through the side of Black's aircraft, striking and killing him.
C.W.A.Scott went on to do more air racing and set more records. He was constantly in the headlines, but the problems with Hitler and the ensuing war took away his fame and he couldn't adjust. Several failed marriages and the loss of fame caused his heavy drinking. In 1946, while working for the UN in Germany, Scott shot himself. He was 42.
Amy Mollison went on to set more records and became even more popular. In 1935 she and Jim separated for good. When the war broke out Amy joined the air transport auxiliary, and was delivering an Airspeed Oxford in January of 1941 when she went down into the Thames estuary near a British destroyer. A lookout on the ship dived in to her rescue, but they were both lost.
Jim Mollison also joined the ATA. Even though he was an alcoholic he ferried more than a thousand aircraft across the Atlantic. After the war he bought a temperance hotel outside London. Jim died in November of 1959.
Parmentier, pilot of the DC2, stayed with KLM and went to England during the war flying London to Lisbon. After the war he became chief pilot for KLM and spent much of his time at their training school where he would lecture new pilots on hazards on their routes. One he especially warned them about was the high tension lines on the approach to Prestwick, Scotland. Ironically, he was pilot in command of a KLM Super Constellation that flew into these same wires during bad weather, all on board were killed.
Roscoe Turner went on to become the only three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy and died a natural death at age 73.
Clyde Pangborn served as a test pilot for Bellanca; he died in 1966.
Jackie Cochran went on to greater things. She became head of the WASPS. She won the Bendix Race once, plus one second and one third place. After the war she became the first woman to break the sound barrier, flying an F104 Startfighter in 1953. She was no doubt one of the most celebrated woman pilots in history; she died a natural death.
John Polando saw Jack Wright for the last time at the 1937 Cleveland Air Races, where they both were spectators. In 1943 John joined the Air Corps as a Captain flying B-17s and B-29s. He died in 1985, aged 82.
Cathcart-Jones went to the States and joined the fast-moving Hollywood crowd and became a friend of Errol Flynn.
Of the three Comets built for the race, their history is recorded elsewhere on this website.
KLM's DC-2 "Uiver" was the pride of Holland. For about a month it toured Europe. It went back into service on 19 December 1934 when it took off for Batavia on the Christmas mail run. Over Iraq it ran into bad weather and crashed near Baghdad; there were no survivors.
Turner's Boeing 247D was re-equipped and was sold to United Airlines where it flew for a number of years. It then passed on to a corporation who used it as an executive transport. It now hangs in America's National Air and Space Museum.
Jackie Cochran's QED BeeGee was returned to the States and was entered in several Bendix Races. It was later purchased by a Mexican pilot who set a record from Mexico City to Washington DC. Returning to Mexico the aeroplane crashed into the Potomac river, killing the pilot. It was recovered and sent to Mexico where it is now on display in a museum.
The Monocoupe "Baby Ruth" was repaired and flown back to England by Jack Wright. Back in the States it was purchased by a woman pilot, who one day was on short finals when it caught fire and crashed and she was killed. The bones of "Baby Ruth" have been purchased by someone who plans on restoring it.
The Dutch Pander finally made all necessary repairs and prepared to take-off from Allahabad. It had become dark and the field officials ordered their two searchlights to illuminate the field for the take-off. The Dutch pilot requested they be turned off as he felt they would only distract him. There must have been some missed communications with the operator thinking the pilot was not going to take-off. He hooked the one searchlight wagon to an ambulance and began towing it back to the hangers across the field. The Pander started its take-off run and when it reached midfield crashed into the ambulance. Luck was with the crew and they all escaped alive, but the wooden Pander was destroyed by fire.
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