1930 Derby Racer

WHAT DO YOU CALL a plane that was built at the Pacific School of Engineering in Portland, Oregon, for racing and lacks a definite designation? The PS of E Racer-not an inspired choice, but it does the job!

The design team built one such plane to compete in the 1930 All-America Flying Derby. Powered by a supercharged, in-line Cirrus engine, the light, low-wing Racer had almost zero dihedral. It was a single-seat tail-dragger, and its wings were braced with wires that ran from the hubs of the main wheels. It had a traditional steel-tube fuselage, wooden wings and an aluminum engine cowl. It was entirely fabric covered, and most of the airframe was painted silver while the tail was a golden yellow.

Registered as X10358, its number is still readable on the basket-case remains that arrived at the Oregon Aviation Historical Society's (OAHS) facility in 2003. The remains include the complete airframe, the wings and tail but no engine. The fabric has been removed except for that on the tail surfaces. Very few pictures of the original exist, but Aero Digest magazine featured one in its September 1930 issue as part of its coverage of the 1930 All-America Flying Derby.

The 1930 All-America Flying Derby started in Detroit and covered 5,541 miles, going south to Texas and then west to California and back to Detroit. The PS of E Racer's performance data is sketchy, but we know it didn't complete the race.

What happened to it from the 1930s to the early 1960s? There aren't any records, but in the '60s, Seattle Boeing employee Dick Geist bought it and later moved to Texas and then back to Tacoma with it. During 2002, Tim Talen tracked down the aircraft's remains and took them back to Oregon and the OAHS's safekeeping.

For more information on this unusual aircraft, visitwww.oregonaviationhistoricalsociety.com and the excellent quarterly OAHS newsletter.

-Geoffrey P. Jones

Copyright Air Age Publishing Aug 2004
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