all from a Flikr page of George, who has the cool trucking blog http://georgedennis.blogspot.com
The "GILMORE" plane was a Wasp powered C/n 75, NR-3057, the third of a total of eight air Expresses built, started its life on May 13 1929 as Lockheed’s development/demonstrator plane. c/n 75 failed in an attempt by Lockheed on the cross-country speed record. General Tire and Rubber Company bought her as their entry in the 1929 Los Angeles-Cleveland Non-Stop Derby.
Fitted with a 525 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet, she won. Shortly thereafter Gilmore Oil Company bought c/n 75 for “Colonel” Roscoe Turner. The “Colonel” rank was self-bestowed for use on his self-designed uniforms. Turner set many point-to-point speed records with “Gilmore” carrying “Gilmore” the lion cub as his passenger as a publicity gimmick. “Gilmore” was fitted with his own parachute just in case.
A Wasp replaced the big Hornet in 1931. In 1932 Turner bought the plane and acquired sponsorship from MacMillan Petroleum and renamed the plane “Roscoe Turner’s Ring-Free Express.” Due to extensive dry rot, beyond economic repair, c/n75 was parted-out and burned in 1940.
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