1968, Gene Akers National Air Races F4U-4 Corsair "Lancer Two", cool paint scheme

https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2017/09/f4u-4-lancer-ii-reno-air-races.html

https://www.hyperscale.com/2009/features/f4u448rw_1_1_1.htm

In 1929, Hollywood stunt pilot Roscoe Turner deployed a whole-airplane parachute for kicks before 15,000 spectators in Santa Ana, California, and landed softly in his 2,800-pound Lockheed Air Express. But is his RT-14 Meteor, the only repeat Thompson Trophy winner, even cooler?

it was retired in 1939 after just 30 hours of flying time.

Born in Mississippi in 1895, Turner had been trained as a balloon pilot during World War I and went into barnstorming following the war.

Turner had a flair for such commercial tie-ins; when working with the Gilmore Oil Company in a promotional plane that had its lion’s head logo painted on it, the pilot obtained a lion cub he also named Gilmore who flew with him until the animal got too big and unmanageable.

“He had a parachute and a harness for the lion,” Kinney says. “Gilmore became a symbol for this golden-age idea of the outrageous things people would do in marketing.” When the big cat got too ornery for plane rides, Turner kept Gilmore as a pet in his Beverly Hills home until the lion died in 1952. Even then, it was hard to let go, Kinney says. “Turner had him stuffed and kept him in the family den for decades.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-things-work-whole-airplane-parachute-67493177/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-record-shattering-airplane-behind-dashing-pilot-meteoric-rise-to-fame-180980207

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/06/have-you-seen-gilmore-airplane.html
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/10/jean-harlow-at-national-air-races-of.html

the 1927 Dole Air Race from Oakland to Honolulu has had some photos turn up recently

I posted about it in 2015, https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-woolerac-and-tribute-room-at-frank.html but now 

https://vintageairphotos.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-tragedy-and-triumph-of-dole.html  and https://www.facebook.com/photos.from.Semas/posts/3955804731102221  have added to the photos online about it, and added a lot of detail information too

for a 500 photo gallery of the Dole Air Race see https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157667480712492

Aloha, a Breese-Wilde Model 5 then took off with Martin Jensen and Paul Schluter. Schluter wasn’t an aviator, but rather was a marine navigator who had seen an advertisement in the newspaper placed by Jensen

They were followed by the Woolaroc, named after the Oklahoma ranch of sponsor and oilman Frank Phillips, as way of promoting the company’s Nu-Aviation brand of gasoline.

see https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157707576865405  for better ones

The Woolaroc and the tribute room at Frank Phillips ranch

Four days after Charles Lindbergh’s famous transatlantic flight in May 1927, James Dole of the Dole Pineapple Company offered a $25,000 first prize for an air race of its own – across the Pacific from Oakland to Honolulu

for a 500 photo gallery of the Dole Air Race see https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157667480712492

Frank Phillips, president of Phillips Petroleum Company

With an enthusiastic crowd of more than 50,000 cheering them on, the eight competing aircraft attempted to take off from the muddy Oakland Airport field at about noon on August 16, 1927. Two of the fuel-heavy planes crashed on takeoff and others soon returned to the airport for repairs.

High-octane aviation fuel developed by Phillips Petroleum powered the “Woolaroc” monoplane to victory in a dangerous 1927 air race over the Pacific.

Two years after the 1927 Dole Air Race, Frank Phillips brought his winning plane back to his Osage Hills ranch and built a hangar for it – the first building in what would become today’s Woolaroc Ranch and Wildlife Preserve.

Will Rogers once said, “When you are visiting the beauty spots of this country, don’t overlook Frank Phillips’ ranch and game preserve in Bartlesville. It’s the most unique place in this country.”

This is a small exhibit, but I also learned that the Phillips 66 company has a museum http://www.phillips66museum.com/EN/Pages/index.aspx

Images from http://aoghs.org/transportation/flight-of-the-woolaroc-high-octane-aviation-fuel/  via  https://www.facebook.com/groups/353785941367129/?fref=nf

Dole Travel Air 5000 at Wheeler Fld, Hawaii
http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&t=16352&finish=15&start=30

http://aoghs.org/transportation/flight-of-the-woolaroc-high-octane-aviation-fuel/

https://www.facebook.com/photos.from.Semas/posts/3955804731102221

8x10 press photo of the start of the Dole Air Race in Oakland, California on August 16, 1927. Caption pasted on the back reads, "General view of flying field where four planes took off for Honolulu in the Dole $35,000 prize air derby. The Oklahoma is seen on the starting line, with other planes in rear awaiting their turn.

https://vintageairphotos.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-tragedy-and-triumph-of-dole.html