"Everything's lovely,'' grinned Benny Howard, as attendants retanked his speedy little white monoplane Mister Mulligan at Wichita, Kan. one morning last week. With his pretty wife Maxine at his side, his sleek, self-designed plane functioning perfectly, Pilot Howard had reason to be pleased. Competing in the famed Bendix Transcontinental Race from New-York's Floyd Bennett Field to Los Angeles for the opening of the 1936 National Air Races. he already had a commanding lead.
Because of three spectacular withdrawals, his competitors were less formidable than they were in last year's Bendix Race when Pilot...