The final event of the 1929 Cleveland National Air Races was expected to be a closely fought battle between an Army P-3A and a Navy Curtiss Hawk. Five civilian craft were also entered in the 50-mile free-for-all, but none was thought to have much of a chance against the two military pursuit planes.

As expected, the P-3A roared into the lead. It was followed closely, not by the Navy’s Hawk, but by a “Mystery Ship" piloted by Doug Davis. Rounding the scattering pylon, Davis pulled into the lead. Two laps into the five-lap race, the “Mystery Ship’s” only remaining challenger was the P-3A. Suddenly, Davis realized that he had cut inside the pylon at the start of the third lap and would have to return and re-circle the missed marker or be disqualified. Since the race was half over, time was critical. Without hesitation, Davis sped full throttle toward the missed pylon, circling it twice before returning to the course!

Incredibly, Davis went on to re-lap the entire field and finished first. He had completed the race in just under 14 minutes, 5.9 seconds. His average speed was an amazing 194.9 mph, the fastest ever recorded by a commercial aircraft. More importantly, it marked the first time that a commercial plane had beat a military craft in a race.

The “Mystery Ship” was built by Travel-Air of Wichita, specifically to beat the military entries. Engineers Herb Rawdon and Walt Burnham designed a wire-braced, low-wing monoplane, with a “souped up” Wright-Aero 300-hp, six-cylinder, vertical Whirlwind R-975 engine. Company president Walter Beech knew after the August test flight, in which airspeed reached 225 mph, that he had a winner. And, in the skies above Cleveland that fall, the Government learned a valuable lesson in preparedness from a small Kansas aircraft company.