Wedell Williams 57

Wedell Williams airplane model. During the years 1932 and 1933, Turner set many inter-city and coast to coast records selling aviation and giving his sponsors a real show for their money. Late in 1933, Chicago played host to the International Air Races and Roscoe again settled for second behind Wedell. Jim had exchanged his Wasp Jr. for a Wasp Sr. and outran Turner by 15 miles an hour. Turner's speed for the Shell Dash was 289.9 mph and Jim's 305.33 mph. The only change Roscoe had made in his ship was the removing of the "20th Century Pictures" and replacing it with "Ring Free Special". The racer was entered in the International Races with race number 17, but it is doubtful if that number was ever painted on it. After the trimming he had taken from No. 44, Turner removed the Wasp Sr. 1344 cu. in. engine and replaced it with a 1690 cu. in. 1000 hp Hornet engine. A smooth cowl was used at first but later, because of the large frontal area, changed to a tighter fitting smaller cowl with fairing bumps for the rocker arms. The racer sported a new race number 57 for Roscoe's latest sponsor, the H. J. Heinz Company and their 57 varieties of canned foods. Turner won the Thompson Trophy Race with a speed of 248.13 mph. Davis had been leading at the time of his crash with a speed of 253 mph. Turner followed Davis in the Shell Speed Dash with speeds of 306.215 mph and 295.47 mph for the first and second places. Mahogany wood. Wingspan 16 1/2 inches, Length 13 1/2 inches.