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Ford's Reliability. Edsel Bryant Ford, donor of the annual trophy for reliability in the National Air Tour (TiME, Sept. 29) last week (for the first time) saw it won by his own company's entry, a Ford 7-AT monoplane powered by one Wasp and two Wright J-6 engines. The winning pilot, Harry L. Russell, took the lead of the 18 contestants early in the 4,900 mi. race, gradually increased it through the two weeks of flying, finished the circuit at Detroit with 58,575 points. Until the final leg, Pilot Russell was always threatened by Waco's John Livingston and Arthur Davis whose company won the 1928 air tour. Pilot Livingston's score was 55,628 points. Honors in the class for single or dual engined cabin planes went to George Haldeman, whose Bellanca Pacemaker, after an early forced landing in Canada, fought its way up to fifth place ahead of the Curtiss Kingbird. Flying across Kansas, Pilot Haldeman tried the cross-country tactics of Lindbergh and Hawks, climbed above 15,000 ft., there found a strong west wind to whisk him into Wichita ahead of his rival. Most telling test of the week occurred between Wyoming and Colorado, when the heavily loaded ships had to take off from high-altitude fields, clear a 9,400 ft. range into Denver.
Smith's Record. Dean Smith, crack pilot of National Air Transport's New York-Cleveland mail run, took leave of absence two years ago to go to Antarctica with Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd. Fortnight ago he got his old job back. Last week he took off from Cleveland with 700 Ib. of mail, rode a tail wind over the Alleghenies and into Newark Airport (412 mi.) in 2 hr. 51 min.—a new record.