Following up on his initial success with his DGA-3,"Pete", Benny Howard constructed "Ike" and "Mike" in Kansas City in the summer of 1932. The planes were completed just in time for the National Air Races in Cleveland in August.  Designed with a very different philosophy than many of the aircraft they competed against, both airplanes relied on inverted inline engines with a very small frontal area, combined with small, unusually light airframes.  Another factor that worked in their favor was the remarkable skill of their pilots. Benny Howard was known as the pylon polisher, and for very good reason.  Mike was also flown with great success by Harold Neumann, one of the few pilots to win both the Thompson and Bendix Trophies, Mike competed in three Thompson Trophy Races, and once clocked a speed in excess of 241 MPH. Contemporary fighters flown by the Army and Navy were 100 MPH slower.  The Howard racers were built to the highest standards of quality.  Notably, none of them were involved in any fatal accidents during their racing days.

 

     Perhaps the greatest measure of their success is the fact that the purses they won financed the construction of their magnificent successor, "Mr. Mulligan", a radically different design that made history by winning both the Thompson and the Bendix Trophies.  Another factor that sets these airplanes apart is their future.   Not relegated to the status of full-time static displays, "Ike" and "Mike" are fully expected to fly again, and provide aviation enthusiasts with an opportunity to see for themselves what the Golden Age of air racing was truly like.

 

     N.O.M.A. is proud to have these  two historically significant  air racers as part of its  permanent aeronautical  collection.  Co-owned by Karl Engelskirger and Thomas Matowitz, N.O.M.A.'s President and Vice President, "Mike" and "Ike" epitomize the technological   and aeronautical feats that were accomplished by privately funded, self reliant  individuals during the National Air Races of the 1930's.  These Air Races proudly placed Cleveland, Ohio into the center World's aviation stage and gave Clevelander's  a great sense of pride during an otherwise gloomy period of social and economic depression.  It is events such as these that N.O.M.A. wishes to commemorate and to educate younger generations as to how truly significant Northern Ohio was to the advancement of Aviation during the 20th century.

 

"Mike" and "Ike"    A day at the races...

The following is a brief race history of the Howard "Mike" and "Ike" Racers

The Howard DGA-4 "Mike" NR55Y

                                                                     1932-           The Aerol Trophy Race                  (1st)    185.5 mph

                                                                     1933-           The Thompson Trophy Race        (3rd)    199.8 mph 

                                                                                            The Shell Speed Dash                    (4th)    241.6 mph

                                                                     1934-            The Thompson Trophy Race       (4th)    207.1 mph

                                                                     1935-            The Thompson Trophy Race       (4th)    209.1 mph

                                                                                            The Greve Trophy Race               (1st)    212.7 mph

The Howard DGA-4 "Ike" NR56Y

                                                                      1932             The Thompson Trophy Race      (7th)    191.1 mph

                                                                      1934             The Greve Trophy Race               (3rd) 

                                                                      1934             Holder of the Inverted World Speed Record

 

 

The Cleveland Plain Dealer