Dole Air Race

Inspired by Charles A. Lindbergh's successful trans-Atlantic flight, James D. Dole, the Hawaii pineapple magnate, announced on May 25, 1927, a prize of $25,000 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|25000|1927|r=-3|fmt=eq}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) for the first fixed-wing aircraft to fly the {{convert|3870|km|mi|0|sp=us}} from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, and $10,000 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|10000|1927|r=-3|fmt=eq}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) for second place.{{cite web|title=Dole Derby|url=http://hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation/aviation-photos/1920-1929/dole-derby/ha_photo_album_view?b_start:int=0&-C=|access-date=23 August 2011}} The flights would have to be completed before August 15, 1928. Dole stated he hoped that Lindbergh would compete.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CC19270525.2.17 |title=Offers $25,000 to First to Cross the Pacific |agency=Associated Press |date=May 25, 1927 |newspaper=Calexico Chronicle |access-date=29 February 2020}} The prospect of breaking more long-distance flight records enticed other wealthy businessmen to offer similar Pacific-conquering prizes: Sid Grauman offered $30,000 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|30000|1927|r=-3|fmt=eq}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) to the first to fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo,{{cite news |date=May 26, 1927 |title=Los Angeles to Tokio Air Trip Prize $30,000 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270526.2.14 |access-date=4 March 2020 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |page=1 |issue=171 |agency=United Press}} and William Easterwood offered a similar $25,000 prize for the first to fly from Dallas to Hong Kong in three stops (Honolulu, Guam or Manila, and San Francisco), taking no more than "144 consecutive hours" and before 28 September.{{cite news |date=June 14, 1927 |title=$25,000 Will Go to Flyer for Success |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19270614.2.15 |access-date=4 March 2020 |newspaper=Madera Tribune |page=1 |volume=XL |issue=36 |agency=United Press}} All the wealthy patrons hoped to draw Lindbergh.

The Honolulu chapter of the National Aeronautic Association drew up rules for the Dole race.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270528.2.22 |title=Complete Rules for Flight to Honolulu |date=May 28, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=3 March 2020}}

The publicity for the first successful transpacific flights from Oakland to Hawaii was stolen by two flights in June and July 1927, ahead of the scheduled August start for the Dole Derby. On 28 June, about a month after Dole posted the prizes, US Army Air Corps Lieutenants Lester J. Maitland and Albert F. Hegenberger flew Bird of Paradise (a three-engine Atlantic-Fokker C-2 military aircraft) from Bay Farm Airport in Oakland to Wheeler Army Airfield on Oahu in 25 hours and 50 minutes.{{cite news | first = Jane Eshleman | last = Conant | title = Death Dogged the Dolebirds: Pioneer Pacific Fliers Wrote Tragic Chapter in Air History | url = http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/27dolerace.html | work = San Francisco Call-Bulletin | date = October 10, 1955 | access-date = September 12, 2010 }}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270629.2.4 |title=Army Fliers Land in Hawaii; Nation Honors New Heroes |agency=AP |date=June 29, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=25 February 2020}} An earlier attempt in 1925 had ended in failure for two Navy PN-9 seaplanes; one of the aircraft, commanded by Commander John Rodgers, ran out of fuel several hundred miles short of Hawaii and sailed to Kauai over the next nine days.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19250912.1.1 |title=Rodgers Reviews History of Flight |author=Rodgers, Cmdr. John |author-link=John Rodgers (naval officer, World War I) |date=September 12, 1925 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=25 February 2020}}

File:Travel Air 5000 City of Oakland after running out of fuel over Hawaii.jpg]]

Ernie Smith and Captain C.H. Carter had arrived in Oakland earlier to attempt to parallel the Maitland/Hegenberger flight in the City of Oakland, a small Travel Air 5000 civilian monoplane, but due to mechanical difficulties, took off two hours after Maitland, and returned with a broken windshield. Unlike Lindbergh's purpose-built Spirit of St. Louis, City of Oakland had been serving as a mail carrier for Pacific Air Transport.{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/emory-bronte-and-ernie-smith-flew-from-california-to-hawaii-in-1927.htm |title=Emory Bronte and Ernie Smith: Flew from California to Hawaii in 1927 |author=Grover, David H. |website=HistoryNet |date=14 June 2012 |access-date=29 February 2020}} According to Smith, Carter threatened to dump the gas after the windshield was lost, forcing the plane's return shortly after takeoff.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSZwdyVs8lYC&pg=PA22 |title=Ocean Flights Are the Bunk! |author=Smith, Ernie |date=January 1931 |magazine=Popular Aviation |pages=22–24;58 |volume=8 |number=1 |publisher=Aeronautical Publications |access-date=29 February 2020}} Carter quit after the record was lost, but Smith hired Emory Bronte as a navigator, and took off again on July 14.{{cite journal|journal=Plane and Pilot|date=July 1967}} Upon running out of fuel 26 hours and 36 minutes later, they crash-landed in a thorn tree on Molokai.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NR6fckxHa4UC&pg=PA42 |title=Ernie Smith Says 'I Was a Hero' |last1=Smith |first1= Ernie |last2=Conant |first2= Paul |date=October 1939 |magazine=Popular Aviation |pages=42–43;65;88–89 |volume=XXV |number=4 |publisher=Ziff-Davis |access-date=29 February 2020}}

Dole disqualified the successful June and July flights from his prizes because they had not followed his rules.{{cite book |title=Great Adventure Stories |editor=Brent, Rafer |publisher=Bartholomew House |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/greatadventurest012839mbp |chapter=$35,000 Race to Death |author=Conant, Jane |pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatadventurest012839mbp/page/n178 175]–190 |date=1958}}{{rp|181}} The Air Corps flight had been planned months prior to the prize announcement and had no intent to land other than at Wheeler airfield.

By July 22, the starting and ending points had not been set. San Francisco began developing its new municipal airport, Mills Field, in anticipation that it could entice pilots into choosing it as the origin; the initial planned destination was John Rodgers Airport near Honolulu.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270722.2.24 |title=San Francisco's New Airport Is Prepared for Dole Race for Honolulu, Is Report |agency=AP |date=July 22, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=3 March 2020}}

The first official entrant, announced on June 28, was {{Interlanguage link|Arthur Cornelius Goebel|qid=Q60159912}}.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270628.2.93 |title=First Entry is Listed in $25,000 Air Race |agency=United Press |date=June 28, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=3 March 2020}} Another early entrant was Dick Grace, who shipped his plane to San Francisco shortly after he crashed his Cruzair,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270707.2.16 |title=Expects Another Plane |agency=AP |date=July 7, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=4 March 2020}} forcing him to abandon a Kauai to San Francisco attempt in June.

{{cite news

| newspaper= The New York Times

| title= Grace to Fly in Dole Race. Hawaii-California Flier Who Crashed to Enter Competition

| date= 7 July 1927

| page= 4

}}

{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270707.2.9 |title='Broken Neck' Flyer Abandons Pacific Hop |date=July 7, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=4 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270722.2.17 |title=Grace Plans Non-Stop Hop to Jap City |date=July 22, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=4 March 2020}} At the time, both Grace and Goebel were better known as founding members of the Thirteen Flying Black Cats, nicknamed the "Suicide Squadron", a Hollywood stunt pilot association started in 1922;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19330604.1.15 |title=Air Stunts Thin Ranks of Film Suicide Club |date=June 4, 1933 |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |access-date=4 March 2020}} that group's exploits were dramatized in the 1932 film The Lost Squadron.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CJ19320420.2.58 |title=Fox Theatre |date=April 20, 1932 |newspaper=Coronado Eagle and Journal |access-date=4 March 2020}} The two stuntmen were quickly joined by other contestants as the August 2 entry deadline approached.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270801.2.34 |title=2 Navy Airmen Entering Dole Hawaii Flight |date=August 1, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=4 March 2020}}

Fourteen official and four unofficial entrants were announced on August 3; Grace was not part of the group.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270803.1.3 |title=Dole Flight Entries, Official and Unofficial, Are Given |agency=AP |date=August 3, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=29 February 2020}} The draw for starting position in the Dole race was held on 8 August in the office of C. W. Saunders, California director of the National Aeronautics Association, at the Matson Building in San Francisco. Of the eighteen entries, fifteen made the official draw; contestants could choose to take off from Mills Field near San Francisco or Oakland Municipal Airport,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270802.1.3 |title=Ten Entries for Trans-Pacific Derby; Mills Air Field Is Ready |agency=AP |date=August 2, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=2 March 2020}} but the contestants later decided the air currents at Mills were too dangerous and all aircraft would take off from Oakland instead.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270810.2.7 |title=All Planes in Honolulu Flight to Leave Oakland |agency=United Press |date=August 10, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=2 March 2020}} Bennett Griffin received the first draw.{{Cite web |date=August 10, 1927 |title=Draws No. 1 |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19270810-01.2.41&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-%22Dole+Air+Derby%22-------0------ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org |publisher=The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) |via=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection}}

Contestants were to present the aircraft and pilots by Monday, August 8 in San Francisco, so the Bay Area chapter of the National Aeronautic Association could check their certificates and licenses as a final qualification. Once their papers were checked, the contestants would again draw for starting positions.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270805.1.1 |title=Oklahoma Flyers Speeding Towards S.F. Forced Down |agency=AP |date=August 5, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=5 March 2020}}

Before the race started, many of the aircraft had mechanical issues during test flights and while traveling to San Francisco to meet the final qualification deadline. Pabco Flyer (Irving) broke a fuel line while conducting a test flight on August 5 from San Francisco to San Diego, and was forced down in a cow pasture near Point Sur, approximately {{convert|40|mi}} south of Monterey.{{rp|181}}  Golden Eagle (Frost/Scott) hit a gopher hole on the runway while taking off from San Diego and wrecked the landing gear and propeller.{{rp|182}} City of Peoria (Parkhurst/Lowes) was delayed by sandflies, and Bluebird (Giles) was stuck at Detroit with engine issues.{{rp|182}} 

Oklahoma (Griffin/Henley) took off on August 4 for an intended nonstop flight from Bartlesville to San Francisco,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270804.2.14 |title=Long Trip Starts |agency=AP |date=August 4, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} but was forced down near Amboy by a broken exhaust pipe;{{rp|181}} after effecting repairs, Oklahoma took off again at approximately 7 am on August 5, but the aircraft came down again {{convert|7|mi}} outside of Los Angeles due to heavy fog.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270805.2.2 |title=Misfortune Rides with Three Dole Flight Entrants |agency=United Press |date=August 5, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}}

Spirit of John Rodgers (Covell/Waggener) was also forced down twice during a flight from Brea to San Diego: first near Santa Ana by fog during a test flight on August 5;{{rp|181–182}}  then again after an oil feed line broke on August 6, forcing the plane down at Escondido. The Tremaine Humming Bird monoplane, which was designed and built by Fred Thaheld{{Cite web |date=August 11, 1927 |title=NAVY FLIERS IN DOLE AIR DERBY FALL TO DEATH |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19270811-01.2.2&srpos=11&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-%22Dole+Air+Derby%22-------0------ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org |publisher=The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) |via=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection}} and William D. Tremaine, had a wingspan of {{convert|47|ft|6|in}} and a low wing configuration, unusual for the time.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270810.1.1 |title=Two Dole Race Entrants Killed: Plane Crashes into Point Loma When on the Way North |agency=AP |date=August 10, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=3 March 2020}}

File:Dole Air Race Buhl CA-5 Air Sedan NX2915 Miss Doran.jpg and the Miss Doran]]

Meanwhile, Mildred Doran, Auggy Pedlar, and navigator Manley Lawing were flying into Oakland on August 6 when their aircraft developed engine trouble due to fouled spark plugs. They successfully landed near Mendota in a wheat field in the San Joaquin Valley, but damaged the landing gear in the process and had trouble making repairs because they no longer had any tools. Doran went to Modesto, California to secure tools and a mechanic;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270806.2.3 |title=Honolulu Fliers Have Hard Time Staying in Air |agency=United Press |date=August 6, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} she quipped "We threw [the tools] off at Long Beach because they were in the way and cluttering things up."{{rp|182}} Lawing, chief aerographer and meteorologist at Naval Air Station North Island, was later replaced by Vilas R. Knope when Lawing could not satisfy the race committee of his navigational skills.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270812.2.11 |title=Miss Doran Has New Navigator |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=29 February 2020}} He reportedly got lost over Oakland.

James L. Giffin announced he needed US$15,000 to complete a giant triplane under construction in July 1927; at the time, he was planning to fly it from Los Angeles to Tokyo via Hawaii.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270714.2.38 |title=Lack of Funds May Postpone Hawaii Flight |agency=United Press |date=July 14, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=3 March 2020}} The motors of the triplane, by then named Pride of Los Angeles, were installed in early August. After a short test flight on August 10, Giffin confidently predicted they would rest upon arrival in Honolulu, then continue to Australia nonstop, a distance of {{convert|4100|mi}}. Giffin's intended final destination was Paris, a flight of 30 days in total via Borneo, India, Constantinople, and Rome.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270810.1.1 |title=Giant Plane Performs in Good Shape |agency=AP |date=August 10, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=3 March 2020}}

Frank Clarke's biplane Miss Hollydale completed a roundtrip test flight from Los Angeles to San Diego without incident on August 4. Captain and Mrs. Erwin announced they would be departing Dallas in the Dallas Spirit for Oakland on August 6 or 7, planning to continue around the world via Tokyo after the race to Hawaii.

Goddard had already built and tested El Encanto and anticipated it would reach speeds of {{convert|120|mph|abbr=on}} at takeoff, speeding up to {{convert|140|mph|abbr=on}} when nearing Honolulu as fuel was consumed, lightening the aircraft. El Encanto means "The Enchanted" and was designed by Goddard after the streamlining of a salmon.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CC19270812.2.35 |title=Plane Resembles Salmon: Navy Flyers Design Unique Airshop to Race for Dole Prize |agency=Central Press Dispatch |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=Calexico Chronicle |access-date=3 March 2020}}

Woolaroc, piloted by Goebel, was originally intended to fly solo, but later decided to have Lieutenant W. J. Slattery navigate; for the flight to Hawaii, Lt. William V. Davis navigated for Woolaroc. Goebel departed from Bartlesville on a nonstop flight to San Francisco on August 6.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270806.2.5 |title=Stunt Flier Hops off to Compete for Prize |agency=AP |date=August 6, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=3 March 2020}} In test flights before the race, Goebel's Woolaroc encountered gear issues that required Goebel to hang outside the plane to fix.

Martin Jensen and Robert Fowler competed over the purchase rights for the same Breese-Wilde Model 5; Jensen won that race after his wife Margaret raised US$15,000 from local backers in Honolulu, and Jensen took delivery of Aloha on August 8.{{rp|178}} Fowler, left without an airplane for the contest, was forced to withdraw.{{rp|183;185}} Because Aloha was only completed when the race was nearly about to begin, the preparations for the contest were rushed; the fuel tanks on Aloha only held {{convert|130|USgal|L}} and the original plan was to add sufficient spare fuel capacity via forty-nine portable {{convert|5|USgal|L|adj=on|abbr=on}} containers,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270809.1.1 |title=Oklahoma Flyer to be First in Hop for Honolulu: 15 Airmen Ready for Air Derby |agency=AP |date=August 9, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=3 March 2020}} requiring the navigator to fill the central tank, then transfer fuel to the {{convert|50|USgal|L|adj=on|abbr=on}} tank in use via a hand pump; the plane was later retrofitted with a {{convert|405|USgal|L|adj=on|abbr=on}} tank, obviating the need for the complicated refueling plan, which would have required the passing of written messages between the two men.{{rp|84}}

{{multiple image |direction=horizontal |align=right |total_width=500

|image1=Dole Air Race Tremaine Humming Bird - Waggener & Covell (2).jpg

|caption1=Covell & Waggener, Spirit of John Rodgers [crashed Aug 10, both killed]

|image2=Dole Air Race - Pride of Los Angeles.jpg

|caption2=Pride of Los Angeles in San Francisco Bay [crashed Aug 11; three survived]

|image3=Dole Air Race - Rogers & Bryant, Angel of Los Angeles.jpg

|caption3=Rogers & Bryant, Angel of LA [Aug 12, Rogers]

|header=Three crashes in the three days (Aug 10–12, 1927) leading up to the start of the race}}

Two days after they drew the thirteenth position, on August 10 United States Navy Lieutenants George W. D. Covell and R. S. Waggener took off from San Diego, California in their Tremaine Humming Bird named Spirit of John Rodgers to fly to Oakland; after flying into a fog bank, the aircraft crashed into an ocean cliff at Point Loma, killing both men.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270810.2.49 |title=Hawaii Flight Plane No. 13 Crashes, Three Navy Men Killed |agency=United Press |date=August 10, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=29 February 2020}}

{{cite web

| title= American airplanes: ti – ty

| publisher= Aerofiles.com

| date= 2009-05-02

| url= http://aerofiles.com/_ti.html

| access-date= 2011-04-28

}}

The night before, mechanics were working on the plane's fuel system and counselled the aviators to delay their start to test the plane's systems thoroughly. Lt. Leo Pawlikowski was the navigator originally announced; Pawlikowski had developed an abscess on his back which required surgery, and the doctors would not allow him to participate, so he was replaced with Waggener.{{rp|179–180}} William Davis, a Navy lieutenant who would serve as the navigator for Art Goebel on Woolaroc, was granted leave to participate in the race; he had planned to catch a ride with Covell and Waggener to San Francisco, but the leave was not granted in time, and he took a train from San Diego instead.{{rp|83}}

Then, on 11 August, as J. L. Giffin and Theodore S. Lundgren approached Oakland, their aircraft, a converted Catron & Fisk CF-10 triplane airline named the Pride of Los Angeles sponsored by the film actor Hoot Gibson and five businessmen, crashed into San Francisco Bay, but the two men and their passenger, Laurence Willes, were able to escape and swim to shore.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270811.2.20 |title=Three Escape Death as Big Ship Crashes: 'Pride of L.A.' Total Wreck on Eve of Honolulu Hop |agency=United Press |date=August 11, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=1 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270811.1.1 |title=Long Beach Plane Falls into the Bay |agency=AP |date=August 11, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=1 March 2020}}

The next day, British ace Arthur V. Rogers took off for a test flight on August 12 in the twin-engine Angel of Los Angeles at Western Air Express Field at Montebello, California, the aircraft reached an altitude of {{convert|200|ft}} and began acting "queer";{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270812.2.18 |title=Victim's Wife Is Witness of Tragic Crash |agency=United Press |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=29 February 2020}} Rogers jumped out of the plane as it suddenly dived towards the ground, but died as either his foot or parachute snagged on the aircraft as it crashed.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270812.2.22 |title=Second Dole 'Plane Crashes; Pilot Dies |agency=AP |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=29 February 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270813.2.51 |title=Freak Construction Fatal to Rodgers |agency=United Press |date=August 13, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=29 February 2020}}

{{cite news

| newspaper= The New York Times

| date= 12 August 1927

| title= Third Dole flier Killed in crash at Los Angeles

| quote=

}}

Leland A. Bryant, the designer of the aircraft, was to have served as Rogers's navigator, but was not on board during the test flight.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CC19270822.2.28 |title=Race Entry Killed on Plane's First Flight |date=August 22, 1927 |newspaper=Calexico Chronicle |access-date=29 February 2020}}

Maj. Livingston Irving was the first pilot to qualify for the contest. During the pre-race inspections, Major Clarence Young declared that up to ten of the fifteen entries may be disqualified for inadequate fuel capacity; the rule stated that a single-engine aircraft was required to carry {{convert|460|USgal|L}} of fuel, a nominal capacity of {{convert|400|USgal|L}} plus a 15% reserve.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19270808.2.17 |title=May Disqualify Ten Dole Pilots |agency=United Press |date=August 8, 1927 |newspaper=Madera Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} Another rule was interpreted to require pilots to hold a license from the Department of Commerce, which five pilots (not named) did not have.

{{quotebox |text=Arose a horde of pompous men to boss the job, as you may ken; made sets of rules to puzzle, fool, as though the racers saw no school; they plotted charts, allotted starts, ruled on gas tanks, criticized parts, befuzzled everything worse 'n tarts till they wracked people's nerves, upset hearts — pray tell me why. |author= — Frank L. Phillips, race team sponsor |source="Pray Tell Me Why?", Healdsburg Tribune (August 12, 1927){{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270813.2.31 |title=Pray Tell Me Why? |author=Phillips, Frank L. |author-link=Frank Phillips (oil industrialist) |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} |width=20em}}

The race, originally scheduled to start on August 12, was postponed on August 11, in light of the numerous mechanical issues, failed qualification tests, and poor weather.{{rp|184}} The Aeronautics Division of the Commerce Department (the forerunner to today's Federal Aviation Administration) felt the planned race was unsafe and supported a two-week delay; other changes urged by the Aeronautics Division included switching the route to fly an equivalent distance over land (for instance, a nonstop flight across the continental United States) or changing the direction to fly from Hawaii to California, as the consequences of a navigation error would be less dire.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NY8jAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PA26 |title=The Winners and Losers in the Race to Hawaii |date=September 1927 |magazine=U. S. Air Services |pages=26–27 |publisher=Air Service Publishing Co., Inc. |location=Washington DC |volume=XII |number=9 |access-date=5 March 2020}} Several contestants protested the delay, and the Honolulu chapter of the National Aeronautic Association refused to endorse the recommendation of the Oakland chapter to postpone, meaning the race would proceed.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270811.1.1 |title=Island Committee Refuses to Postpone Tomorrow's Flight |agency=AP |date=August 11, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=1 March 2020}} However, nine of the contestants agreed to postpone the contest late in the evening of August 11, which would give the teams time to rest and pass the stringent qualification tests; the deadline to qualify was extended to 10 AM on August 15. The National Aeronautic Association disqualified Constance O. Erwin, wife of Captain William P. Erwin of the Dallas Spirit from participating due to her age. Erwin's disqualification left 22-year-old Mildred Doran as the only female participant to take part in the race.{{Cite web |date=August 12, 1927 |title='WE'LL MAKE IT, EVEN IF WE HAVE TO PUSH,' SAYS WOMAN AVIATOR |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19270812-01.2.18&srpos=26&e=-------en-20--21--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-%22Dole+Air%22-------0------ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org |publisher=The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) |via=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection}}

A three-part qualification test was administered to the navigators by Naval Lieutenant Ben H. Wyatt, consisting of a written, oral, and flying examination. For the flight exam, the pilot and navigator were sent over a predetermined course and upon their return, quizzed to determine which points they had passed. By August 11, none of the crews had passed the test. Pedlar's Miss Doran was found to have inaccurate compasses.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CC19270811.2.2 |title=Hawaiian Race Postponed Two Weeks: Lieut. Wyatt Says Pilots Not Ready |agency=Associated Press |date=August 11, 1927 |newspaper=Calexico Chronicle |access-date=3 March 2020}} Later, it was noted that only two teams had qualified (El Encanto and Golden Eagle), with one more likely to qualify (Oklahoma) by the original date of Friday, August 12.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CC19270812.2.23 |title=Pacific Race Will Start Tuesday |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=Calexico Chronicle |access-date=3 March 2020}} On August 12, four crews had passed: Oklahoma (Griffin/Henley), El Encanto (Goddard/Hawkins), Pabco Pacific Flyer (Irving), and Golden Eagle (Frost/Scott).{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270812.2.6 |title=Late News Bulletins: Airmen Qualify |agency=United Press |date=August 12, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=3 March 2020}} Miss Doran (Pedlar/Knope) passed with a new navigator on August 13.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270813.2.50 |title=Plane Miss Doran Qualifies Today |agency=United Press |date=August 13, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} By the qualification deadline of August 15, nine crews had passed the tests; Dallas Spirit was the final qualifier.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270815.2.9 |title=Planes Ready for Dash to Ohau [sic] Island |agency=AP |date=August 15, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=3 March 2020}}

On August 10, Hollywood pilot and actor Frank Clarke either withdrew or was disqualified from participating in the race with his navigator, Jeff Warren, in Miss Hollydale, an International F-17 biplane.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270810.2.3 |title=Withdraws from Race |date=August 10, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=2 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CC19271112.2.17 |title='Movie' Party Arrives Here for Location |date=November 12, 1927 |newspaper=Calexico Chronicle |access-date=2 March 2020}} Clarke announced he would attempt the world endurance record instead and took off abruptly on August 13 with his sponsor, Charley H. Babb, leaving the other contestants fuming. One day later, Clarke sent a telegram to the race sponsors from Los Angeles, apologizing for the furor and officially withdrawing from the race.{{cite web |url=http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/h9611932 |title=Inc. Pacific & Atlantic Photos |date=August 13, 1927 |website=Oakland Museum of California |access-date=2 March 2020}}

On August 15, Frederick Giles was disqualified as he had not arrived in time to meet the navigation qualification test deadline. Giles would go on to attempt a solo flight from San Francisco to Honolulu in November as the first leg of a planned flight to Australia. A missing component on a spare compass for Miss Doran sparked fears of vandalism the night before the flight,

{{cite news

| newspaper= The Washington Post

| title= DOLE PRIZE FLIERS GUARD THEIR AEROS AS TAKE-OFF NEARS

| quote= Missing Compass Causes Talk of Vandalism in Tense Camp. KING OF AIR UNABLE TO PASS FULL TESTS Eight Machines Qualify to Fly Over the Pacific at Noon Today. DOLE PRIZE AIRMEN GUARD THEIR PLANES

| date= 16 August 1927

}}

and competitors vowed to protect their aircraft with shotguns overnight. Pedlar later stated the missing magnet was probably an oversight by the maintenance crew.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270816.1.1 |title=Nine Planes at Oakland Ready for Take-off Today on First Air Race: Winner Will Land $25,000 Prize Award |agency=Associated Press |date=August 16, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=9 March 2020}}

The Air King (formerly City of Peoria), flown by Charles Parkhurst and Ralph C. Lowes Jr., was disqualified at 11:15 AM on the 16th, less than an hour before the first plane would start, because its {{convert|370|USgal|adj=on}} tanks were estimated to give the plane a range {{convert|300|mi}} short by inspectors.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270816.2.20 |title=5 Mechanical Birds Winging Toward Honolulu and Big $35,000 Prize; Much Trouble |agency=AP |date=August 16, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=3 March 2020}}{{Cite web |date=August 17, 1927 |title=ROW BETWEEN OFFICIALS AND FLIERS PRECEDES RACE START |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19270817-01.2.29&srpos=13&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-%22Dole+Air+Derby%22-------0------ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org |publisher=The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) |via=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection}} A test was held at sundown on August 15 to quantify fuel consumption; it was determined the aircraft would consume {{convert|13|USgal/hour|L/min}} when cruising at {{convert|90|mph|km/hour|abbr=on}}.

File:Dole Air Race - 8091692321.jpg

The race began on 16 August, by which time the starting line-up had dwindled to nine aircraft, with one of the nine disqualified just before the start of the race. In order of start, they were:

1. Oklahoma, one of two modified Travel Air 5000 aircraft, NX911, piloted by Bennett Griffin and navigated by Al Henley
2. El Encanto, a Goddard Special metal monoplane, NX5074, flown by Norman A. Goddard and Kenneth C. Hawkins, which was heavily favored in the pre-race odds
3. Pabco Pacific Flyer, a Breese-Wilde Monoplane, NX646, flown alone by Livingston Gilson Irving
4. Golden Eagle, the prototype Lockheed Vega 1 monoplane, NX913, flown by Jack Frost and navigated by Gordon Scott
5. Miss Doran, a Buhl CA-5 Air Sedan, NX2915, flown by Auggy Pedlar, navigated by Vilas R. Knope, and carrying Mildred Doran
6. DQ City of Peoria, an Air King biplane, NX3070, flown by Charles Parkhurst and navigated by Ralph Lowes, disqualified the day of the hop-off for inadequate fuel capacity
7. Aloha, a yellow Breese-Wilde 5 Monoplane, NX914, flown by Martin Jensen and navigated by Paul Schluter
8. Woolaroc, a Travel Air 5000 sister ship of Oklahoma, NX869, flown by Arthur C. Goebel and navigated by William V. Davis{{cite journal |journal=AAHS Journal |date=Spring 1985 |title=Woolaroc! |author=Phillips, Ed |url=https://www.aahs-online.org/tocb.php?year=1985 |volume=30 |pages=24–35 |publisher=American Aviation Historical Society}}
9. Dallas Spirit, a Swallow Monoplane, NX941, flown by William Portwood Erwin and navigated by Alvin Hanford Eichwaldt{{Cite web |date=August 12, 1927 |title=Dole Air Derby is Delayed When Pilots Fail to Pass Official Navigation Tests |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19270812-01.1.2&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA--------0------ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org |publisher=The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) |via=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection}}

File:Dole Air Race NX5074 "El Encanto" Goddard Special (3).jpg

The fifteen competitors were seen off by a crowd estimated to include 75,000 to 100,000 persons on August 16, 1927. Weather was predicted to have a high fog on takeoff (extending from approximately {{convert|50|to|100|mi}} offshore) and intermittent, localized showers along the route. A fog bank started at the Golden Gate and the entire route was overcast.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270818.2.8 |title=Two Dole Planes Are Still Missing: Erwin and Parkhurst Prepare Planes to Join Search over the Pacific |agency=United Press |date=August 18, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=1 March 2020}} At Oakland Municipal Airport, clearance to depart was not granted until just before noon; the fog that had lain over the airport did not lift until 10:40 AM.{{rp|187}}

The initial takeoffs were plagued with trouble, as several of the heavily-laden aircraft struggled to take off. Oklahoma took off first, just after 12 PM.{{rp|187}} {{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270816.2.2 |title=Three Planes 150 Miles out at 2 P.M. |date=August 16, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} The crew would eventually abort the flight over San Francisco with an overheating engine. She was followed by El Encanto at 12:02 PM, which failed to clear the runway before she swerved and crashed, smashing the port wing {{convert|4800|ft}} from the starting line.{{rp|187}} Pabco Flyer, starting at 12:09 PM, lifted momentarily into the air, then crashed some {{convert|7000|ft}} from the start.{{rp|187}} Their crews were not hurt.

The last five planes successfully departed. Golden Eagle took off smoothly at 12:30 PM and flew out of sight. Miss Doran succeeded in taking off at 12:31 PM. The final three, Aloha (at 12:33 PM), Woolaroc (12:34 PM), and Dallas Spirit (12:36 PM) all left uneventfully.

Oklahoma passed through the Golden Gate at 12:20 PM, followed by Aloha at 12:48. Aircraft then began to return: Miss Doran circled back and landed approximately ten minutes after departing (12:43 PM),{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest1119unse/page/250/mode/2up/ |title=The Dole Pacific Race |date=September 1927 |magazine=Aero Digest |pages=250–255;366 |publisher=The Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp. |volume=11 |number=3}}{{rp|252}} its engine "sputtering like a Tin Lizzie."{{rp|187}} {{cite magazine |url=https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/above-and-beyond-aunt-mildred-79371463/ |title=Above & Beyond: Aunt Mildred |first=Richard A. |last=Durose |magazine=Air & Space/Smithsonian |date=March 2011}} Oklahoma returned to Oakland and Dallas Spirit also turned back, both returning at approximately 1:08 PM; Oklahoma had ripped the fabric covering the fuselage, and Dallas Spirit was having issues with its tail gear.{{rp|188}} {{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=THWARTED DOLE RACER PLANS FLIGHT TO TOKYO: Pilot of Dallas Spirit, Disabled by Wind, Repairs Plane for New Start West. WEATHER DICTATES MOVE|date=18 August 1927|page=3}}

Miss Doran and Pabco Flyer would make second starting attempts; Pabco Flyer crashed a second time at 1 PM, putting her out of the race for good, but Miss Doran succeeded and took off again at 2:03 PM.{{rp|188}} {{rp|252}} Of the fifteen teams that participated in the draw, just four were on the course: Golden Eagle, Aloha, Woolaroc, and Miss Doran.

A series of ships were strung out along the route from San Francisco to Honolulu to transmit radio signals (allowing radio-equipped airplanes to take bearings), mark distances, and provide emergency aid if needed.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270816.1.3 |title=Favorable Weather Conditions Announced on Eve of Air Race to Hawaii: Fox Expected to Become No Great Barrier |agency=Associated Press |date=August 16, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=9 March 2020}} In addition, the Navy's sole aircraft carrier, {{ship|USS|Langley|CV-1|6}}, was put on standby in San Diego.{{rp|78}}

Woolaroc flew a great-circle route, flying at an altitude of {{convert|4000|to|6000|ft}}, above the cloud cover. The navigator, Davis, used sextants and smoke bombs to calculate course and wind drift; although the radio beams from the picket ships stationed along the route helped guide the aircraft, Davis used it only to check the course plotted via traditional instruments. Of the four aircraft headed to Hawaii, only Woolaroc had a two-way radio capable of sending and receiving messages. In fact, Davis had packed a spare radio and repair parts based on Bronte's prior experience in July.{{cite book |url=http://aviation.hawaii.gov/publications/above-the-pacific/ |title=Above the Pacific |date=1966 |author=Horvat, William J. |publisher=Aero Publishers, Inc. |pages=59–89 |chapter=VI: All the Way & VII: Enter the Civilians}}{{rp|81}} The crew radioed Wahiawa Radio Station, next to Wheeler Field, when they were approximately {{convert|200|mi}} out with an estimated remaining time of 2{{frac|2}} hours.{{rp|82}} They were greeted in Hawaii by a crowd estimated between 25,000 and 30,000, and escorted by a Boeing PW-9 out of Wheeler Field. Goebel and Davis won the race in 26 hours, 17 minutes, earning them the US$25,000 first prize.{{rp|82}} After their sponsors were paid, Goebel and Davis split the remainder, earning them each US$7,500.

Marguerite Jensen, the wife of Martin, anxiously asked the crew of Woolaroc if they had sighted Aloha, which had departed just ahead of Woolaroc; they replied they had not, adding to her anxiety.{{rp|82}} Jensen flew much of the way at a low altitude of {{convert|10|to|50|ft}} above sea level, helping fuel economy but making it impossible to sight the stars for navigation.{{rp|84}} Three times during the flight, Jensen attempted to climb to {{convert|4000|ft}}, but went into a tailspin each time; once Jensen inadvertently commanded a shallow dive and skimmed the water with the landing gear, prompting him to rise to a safer altitude of {{convert|500|ft}}.{{rp|86–87}}

File:Dole Air Race - Goebel, Dole, Jensen.jpg

The next morning, at 9:30 AM (Hawaii time) on August 17, Jensen calculated they should be close to Hawaii, based on average speed and time elapsed.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-04-me-2147-story.html |title=He Knows What It's Like to Meet, Beat Challenge: Pilot Among Few to Finish Deadly 1927 Race to Hawaii |author=Smollar, David |date=January 4, 1987 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url-access=limited |access-date=4 March 2020}} Over the next two and a half hours Schluter, the navigator, attempted to determine their position from the sun.{{rp|87}} At noon on August 17, Schluter was able to plot their location: they were approximately {{convert|200|mi}} north of Oahu, and Jensen turned for the finish. When they landed at approximately 2:15 PM, Aloha had only {{convert|5|USgal|L}} of fuel remaining; in order to ensure the engine never starved for fuel, the crew was required to pump the gravity-fed tank until it overflowed.{{rp|87}} 

Aloha arrived approximately two hours after Woolaroc, in 28 hours, 16 minutes, earning Jensen and Schluter the US$10,000 second prize. Out of his $10,000 winnings, pilot Jensen gave his navigator Schluter only $25.{{cite news |title=Winner of $10,000 in Dole Race Gives Only $25 to His Navigator |newspaper=Boston Daily Globe |date=August 25, 1927 |page=8}} Details of Schluter's scanty share became public after he approached friends in Hawaii to help him cash a check; Jensen stated that Schluter had taken the position for experience{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270825.1.7 |title=Navigator of 'Aloha' Given $25 and Fare |agency=AP |date=August 25, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=4 March 2020}} and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Schluter had offered to pay any Dole pilot $500 to permit him to navigate.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270826.2.78 |title=Navigator of Aloha Is Not Complaining |agency=AP |date=August 26, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=4 March 2020}} Wyatt singled out the crew of Aloha for praise, calling their use of dead reckoning the greatest single achievement in the history of aviation, especially in comparison to the radio-following course of Woolaroc, which he called "as easy as walking down a railroad track."{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270819.1.7 |title=No Scientific Purpose Served by Flight; Advised Rejection of Miss Doran After First Failure |agency=Mercury-Herald |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=4 March 2020}}

{{multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=500

|image1=Dole Air Race NX913 "Golden Eagle" Lockheed Vega, Frost & Scott.jpg

|caption1=Golden Eagle: Frost (L) & Scott (R)

|image2=Dole Air Race - Knope, Doran, Pedler.jpg

|caption2=Miss Doran: Knope, Doran, and Pedler (L–R)

|image3=Dole Air Race NX941 "Dallas Spirit" Swallow Monoplane, Erwin & Eichwaldt.jpg

|caption3=Dallas Spirit: Erwin (L) & Eichwaldt (R)

|footer=Aircraft crews that disappeared over the sea, Aug 16 & 19

}}

Neither Golden Eagle nor Miss Doran was ever seen again.{{rp|188}} {{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=FLOWERS CAST ON SEA FOR LOST DOLE FLIERS: Steamer Halts in Pacific While Tribute Is Paid to Six Men and Young Woman.|date=17 September 1927}} Dole put up a US$10,000 reward for anyone who found either plane; this was matched by each plane's sponsors, for a total of US$20,000 reward for each aircraft.{{rp|87}}  Of the two, Golden Eagle had a radio capable of reception only and could use the shipboard radio signals for navigation;{{rp|81}} Miss Doran had no radio equipment at all.{{rp|254}} The odds of survival were grim; although each plane was required to carry fresh water, food, and a life raft, these were limited in quantity and durability as seaborne assistance had been anticipated to respond quickly.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270819.1.1 |title=This Is All They Have to Keep Alive |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=6 March 2020}} In addition, the route was experiencing rough seas and a high sea state.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270820.1.2 |title=Hope for Missing Dole Fliers Sinks as Storms Besiege Island Region: Mariners See Heavy Sees as Great Menace |agency=United Press |author=Ekins, H. R. |date=August 20, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=7 March 2020}} Unlike the unsuccessful flight of Rodgers in 1925, the two missing aircraft were not flying boats, and they were not expected to remain afloat for more than a few days.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270819.1.1 |title=Ships Will Sink After Few Days Expert's Belief |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=6 March 2020}} Both Jensen and Goebel took to the air and searched the ocean on August 18; Goebel searched near Kauai and Jensen checked the Molokai Channel.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270819.1.1 |title=Rumors of Finding Aviators False, Neither Ship Sighted by Searchers: offer Reward of $40,000 for Rescue of Fliers on Two Missing Dole Planes |agency=Associated Press |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=6 March 2020}}

According to Wyatt, the radial engine of Miss Doran was misfiring on four of nine cylinders when it returned to Oakland; he believed the aircraft had gone down shortly after entering the fog bank just off the Golden Gate.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CJ19270906.2.91 |title=Miss Doran Plane Engine Defective |date=September 6, 1927 |newspaper=Coronado Eagle and Journal |access-date=3 March 2020}} Miss Doran was last sighted passing the Farallon Islands at 2:43 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST).{{rp|252}}

Golden Eagle was last reported approximately halfway to Honolulu, at the southern edge of the course with Aloha at 2 AM PST on August 17 by {{ship|SS|City of Los Angeles|1922|6}}, relaying messages from the Army Signal Corps.{{rp|254}} At about the same time, {{ship|SS|Manulani}} relayed a message that Woolaroc, possibly accompanied by Miss Doran, was also approximately halfway, at the northern edge of the course.{{rp|254}} Because Golden Eagle had sufficient fuel to reach and pass Hawaii altogether, some theorized the aircraft may have overshot the goal in the darkness;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270819.1.1 |title=Pilots Overshot Islands Is Fear of Ernie Smith |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=6 March 2020}} Wyatt rejected that theory as ludicrous, as the Golden Eagle would have passed over the islands in broad daylight.

42 Navy ships were involved in the search for the Golden Eagle and Miss Doran, joined by smaller vessels based in Hawaii; {{ship|USS|Langley|CV-1|6}} and {{ship|USS|Aroostook|CM-3|2}} departed from San Diego the night of August 17.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270818.2.27 |title=42 Navy Craft Combing Seas in Big Search |agency=United Press |date=August 18, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=4 March 2020}} The search fleet included three submarines, {{USS |R-8 |SS-85 |6}}, {{USS |S-42 |SS-153| 2}}, and {{USS |S-46 |SS-157| 2}}. By August 19, Langley had started steaming towards Hawaii at {{convert|15|kn}} from a spot {{convert|40|mi}} west of the Farallones, sweeping a lane {{convert|200|mi}} wide with its airplanes. Other surface ships that had set out from California were commanded to shift their search parallel to the Great Circle route.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270819.2.2 |title=Navy to Keep up Search for Four More Days |agency=United Press |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=4 March 2020}} Meanwhile, three ships left Hawaii for San Francisco on August 18, sweeping the ocean in the opposite direction: {{ship|USS|S-29|SS-134|6}}, {{ship|USS|Pelican|AM-27|2}}, and {{ship|USS|Sunnadin|AT-28|2}}.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270819.1.1 |title=Forty Naval Ships Continue Tireless Search |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=6 March 2020}}

Some residents of Wailuku stated they had heard an airplane's engine grow louder, then abruptly cease on the afternoon of the 17th. Two boys said they had seen an aircraft run out of fuel and glide down just {{convert|1+1/2|mi}} off the north shore of Oahu on August 17 at 9 PM local time, with its engine glowing red.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270917.2.19 |title=Believes Miss Doran Went Down Near Oahu |date=September 17, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=7 March 2020}} A report that Miss Doran had been found in Honolua Bay the night of August 18 proved to be false; a sampan with an identical red, white, and blue color scheme had been mistaken for the aircraft.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270819.1.1 |title=Baseless Story Excites Honolulu Residents |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=6 March 2020}} On August 19, an amateur radio operator in Alhambra reportedly intercepted a radio message stating a derelict airplane had been found along with a raft containing a live man and a dead woman;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270819.1.1 |title='Woman Dead,' Comes Through Air: Alhambra Operator Is Authority |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=6 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270820.1.1 |title=Girl's Body Picked Up At Sea Radio Operator Hears |agency=AP |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=7 March 2020}} the radio frequency was not traditionally used by ships, however, and no ships were known to be in the vicinity of the transmission's origin.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270820.1.2 |title=Scout Radio's Death Report About Fliers |agency=Associated Press |date=August 20, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=7 March 2020}}

{{quotebox |text={{pad|0.5em}}5:10 PM — Passed S. S. Manoa, dipped in salute, answered on whistle, which we couldn't hear, only seeing steam; might pick up destroyer squadrons, although this depends on their speed.
{{pad|0.5em}}5:45 PM — Saw a rum-runner on left; had a hell of a time keeping Ike in the plane.
{{pad|0.5em}}5:52 PM — Passed a destroyer bound for Honolulu.
{{pad|0.5em}}7:10 PM — Changed course; now at lat. 35:30 N., lon. 130 W.
{{pad|0.5em}}7:18 PM — Weather partly cloudy, sea smooth, visibility 30 miles.
{{pad|0.5em}}8:03 PM — Getting dark.
{{pad|0.5em}}9:02 PM — SOS – Went into tail spin; came out O. K. but sure scared; sure was a close call; Bill Erwin thought it was all off but we came out of it, the lights on the instrument board went out and it was so dark that Bill couldn't see the tail spin.
{{pad|0.5em}}9:10 PM — SOS tail spin– |author= — radio transmissions from crew of Dallas Spirit |source=transcribed by Associated Press, published August 20, 1927{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270820.2.19 |title=Radioman at Coast Guard Base Picks Up Last Message From Dallas Spirit |date=August 20, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=5 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270820.2.22 |title=Renew Efforts to Find Fliers: Dallas Spirit Sends SOS and Then Is Silent |agency=AP |date=August 20, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=5 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270820.1.1 |title=Lone Bill Told Story of Trip to Last Minute |date=August 20, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=6 March 2020}} |width=35em}}

After repairing Dallas Spirit, Erwin and Eichwaldt joined the search, leaving Oakland for Honolulu on August 19 at approximately 2:20 PM PST;{{rp|189–190}} {{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19270819.2.17 |title=No Trace Lost Planes Found: Determined Effort Is Being Made to Locate Five Missing Flyers |agency=United Press |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Madera Tribune |access-date=6 March 2020}} the crew intended for Honolulu to be the next stop on their way to Hong Kong to win the Easterwood prize,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1985/february/nostalgia-plane-crazy/ |title=Nostalgia Plane Crazy: How Lone Star Bill lifted the Dallas Spirit |author=Peeler, Tom |date=February 1985 |magazine=D Magazine |access-date=4 March 2020}} although Erwin stated they would refuel in Hawaii and fly back to Oakland if they did not spot the missing aircraft on the westbound trip.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19270818.2.14 |title=Erwin Plans Help Search Lost Flyers |agency=United Press |date=August 18, 1927 |newspaper=Madera Tribune |access-date=5 March 2020}} Local ham radio operators convinced Erwin to take along the radio set from Pabco Pacific Flyer, a 50-watt transmitter powerful enough to allow the aircraft to stay in contact with other operators in California or Hawaii for the entire trip.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270819.2.8 |title='Dallas Spirit' Prepares to Join Search at Sea |agency=United Press |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=6 March 2020}}{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtFVeYXxi-0C&pg=PA144 |title=The World of Ham Radio, 1901–1950: A Social History |author=Bartlett, Richard A. |date=2007 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-2966-0 |chapter=10. More Amateurs and Aircraft: The NC-4, Byrd, the Dolebirds, the Lindberghs, and Others |pages=140–153 |access-date=5 March 2020}}{{rp|144}}

Their last radio message, received at 9 PM that night, was that they were in a tailspin approximately {{convert|600|mi}} out to sea.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=CALLS DOLE RACE "MISTAKE." Ernest Smith Fears That Erwin May Have Stripped Fuselage|date=21 August 1927|page=2}} Dallas Spirit was also never seen again. Erwin's aircraft was reported to be {{convert|600|mi}} from Hawaii at noon on August 20, but the report was not confirmed.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270820.2.19 |title=Erwin Plane Reported Sighted in Air 600 Miles from Hawaii Goal: Fate of Miss Doran, Pals Is Unknown |date=August 20, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=7 March 2020}} {{ship|USS|Hazelwood|DD-107|6}}, which was approximately {{convert|100|mi}} away and searching for the other two missing aircraft when Dallas Spirit went down, proceeded to the spot where the last transmission was made, arriving less than three hours later. Hazelwood scoured a area of {{convert|3200|mi2}} without finding any wreckage or flotsam from Dallas Spirit.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270822.1.1 |title=Slim Chance for Finding Rescue Ship |agency=AP |date=August 22, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=4 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270822.1.1 |title=Might Have Seen Plane Take Dive |agency=AP |date=August 22, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=4 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270823.1.3 |title=Systematic Search for Erwin Plane at Point of Pluge Still Futile: Officer of Vessel Among First to Reach Point of Plane Drop Pessimistic |agency=Associated Press |date=August 23, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=6 March 2020}}

By August 22, naval ships from California had met their counterparts who had left from Hawaii, with neither fleet finding a trace of the three planes.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270822.2.18 |title=Hope of Ever Finding Lost Flyers Fades |agency=United Press |date=August 22, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=4 March 2020}} On August 23, green flares were spotted on the slope of Mauna Kea, but Army airplanes sent to investigate reported the flares were a new gasoline-powered light being tested by a rancher.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270824.2.42 |title=No Trace Yet of Lost Dole Prize Flyers |agency=United Press |author=Ekins, H. R. |date=August 24, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=6 March 2020}}

At the time, the Navy's search operation was authorized to continue until August 23,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270819.2.2 |title=Navy to Keep up Search for Four More Days |agency=United Press |date=August 19, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=6 March 2020}} then extended to August 25,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19270822.2.21 |title=Ocean Search Is Fruitless: Greatest Ocean Hunt Fails to Find Clew Missing Dole Flyers |agency=United Press |date=August 22, 1927 |newspaper=Madera Tribune |access-date=6 March 2020}} after 16 ships were added to the search fleet, including {{ship|USS|Omaha|CL-4|6}}.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270823.2.11 |title=16 Ships Join in Search for Three Planes |agency=United Press |date=August 23, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=6 March 2020}} Ships were ordered to "Seek Till All Hope Gone" on the night of August 24.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270825.1.1 |title=Navy Ships Will Continue Search for Missing Flyers |agency=AP |date=August 24, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=7 March 2020}} The estimated cost of the extra fuel used in the search was US$90,000,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270823.1.8 |title=Uncle Sam Will Lose $90,000 by Dole Race |agency=AP |date=August 23, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=5 March 2020}} later revised to $135,000, with 8,000 sailors involved.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270826.1.3 |title=Rumor About Plane Passing Followed Up |date=August 26, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=6 March 2020}} A final accounting tallied the total cost at {{USD|82246.14|1927|round=-4}}, of which {{USD|70256.34|1927|round=-4}} was for fuel; the search covered an area of {{convert|350000|mi2}} and involved 54 ships, which steamed a combined total of {{convert|152000|mi}}, and airplanes from Langley flew {{convert|9000|mi}} of search routes.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19280822.1.19 |title=Hunting Lost Fliers Is Costly Navy Item |agency=Associated Press |date=August 22, 1928 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=10 March 2020}}

On October 1, another tugboat was dispatched to the Johnston Atoll, approximately {{convert|750|mi}} northwest of Hawaii, under the continued suspicion that Golden Eagle had overshot Hawaii or drifted past it after ditching in the ocean.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19271002.1.1 |title=U.S. Will Renew Hunt for Pacific Fliers: Naval Craft Use Granted by President |date=October 2, 1927 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=7 March 2020}} After a thorough search, {{ship|USS|Whippoorwill|AM-35|6}} radioed that no trace of the missing aircraft had been found.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19271005.2.5 |title=Search Fruitless |date=October 5, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=7 March 2020}}

Bright yellow debris with dangling wires was spotted several hundred miles off Cape Flattery on September 1, 1927, thought to be part of Golden Eagle.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270914.1.1 |title=Dole Plane Sighted: Gold Eagle Reported off Flattery |agency=AP |date=September 14, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=7 March 2020}} A silver-colored piece of an aileron washed ashore at Redondo Beach in late October 1927; it may have come from Dallas Spirit, based on the color.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19271027.2.109 |title=Plane Wing Is Cast up by the Sea |date=October 27, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=5 March 2020}}{{cite news |agency=United Press |title=Wreckage of Plane May Be That of Dole Ship Dallas Spirit |newspaper=The San Bernardino Daily Sun |location=San Bernardino, California |date=October 28, 1927 |volume=LXI |number=58 |page=4 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19271028.1.4}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19271112.2.93 |title=Late News From All Parts of the World Reported by the Camera |date=November 12, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=5 March 2020}}

Two fishermen retrieved the collar of a kapok life jacket on September 9 near Waimanalo Beach on Makapu{{okina}}u Point;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270910.1.2 |title=Clew to Fate of Dole Flier Given with Finding of Life Jacket Band: Report Human Torso Hooked by Fisherman |agency=United Press |date=September 10, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=7 March 2020}} they stated they had seen the torso of a body in the jacket when they snagged it, but the collar broke free during retrieval.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270912.2.26 |title=Body Located Thought One of Missing Flyers |agency=United Press |date=September 12, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=7 March 2020}} In November 1927, a skeletal leg and foot washed ashore at Eureka, California; it was never conclusively tied to the Dole flyers.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19271117.2.5 |title=Bones Washed Ashore at Eureka May Be Flyer's |agency=Tribune Service |date=November 17, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=10 March 2020}}

A note in a bottle was found near Fleming Point on October 5, 1927 and initially thought to be from Mildred Doran; its authenticity was doubted immediately, as the handwriting was noted to be "that of a woman, small and delicate, but ungrammatically worded".{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19271005.1.5 |title=Doubt bottle as of Doran Origin |agency=AP |date=October 5, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=7 March 2020}} A nearly illegible message was found in a perfume bottle washed ashore near Aberdeen, Washington in August 1928; it purported to be from Mildred Doran and was dated October 2, 1927.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19280823.1.1 |title=Doran Message Found in Bottle |agency=United Press |date=August 23, 1928 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=9 March 2020}} Another message in a bottle, purportedly from the crew of Golden Eagle, was turned into Redondo Beach police in August 1928; this was also suspected to be a hoax.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19280828.2.15 |title=Note Written on Shirt Signed by Honolulu Fliers? |agency=United Press |date=August 28, 1928 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=7 March 2020}}

The reward for the return of the aircraft was not withdrawn by James Dole until March 1928.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19280318.1.4 |title=Ocean Fliers Reward Fund Is Withdrawn |agency=Associated Press |date=March 18, 1928 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=3 March 2020}}

Martin Jensen piloted Aloha on an aerial search, carrying Denham Scott, Golden Eagle navigator Gordon's brother, in May 1928, looking over the jungle slopes of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii based on unsubstantiated reports that a monoplane had been spotted there heading for Honolulu on August 17, 1927.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19280517.1.1 |title=Dole Flyer Hunt Begun in Hawaii |agency=AP |date=May 17, 1928 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=7 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19280517.1.1 |title=Seek Missing Ocean Airmen |agency=Associated Press |date=May 17, 1928 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=10 March 2020}} Denham also led a ground search.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19280512.1.1 |title=Dead Dole Flyer's Brother on Search |agency=AP |date=May 12, 1928 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=10 March 2020}} In June 1928, Denham announced that he had found an area where an airplane may have made a forced landing. The tops of the trees had been broken off and a burned rag on a stick was placed at the end at the site.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19280608.2.33 |title=Believe Lost Dole Plane Fate Solved |date=June 8, 1928 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=7 March 2020}} He led a second search on Mauna Loa starting in early August;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LMJ19280802.1.6 |title=Search |date=August 2, 1928 |newspaper=Livermore Journal |access-date=10 March 2020}} however, no further clues were found and the search was abandoned later that month.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19280808.1.17 |title=Search for Missing Dole Race Airplane at Last Abandoned |agency=Associated Press |date=August 8, 1928 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=10 March 2020}}

In April 1929, the wreckage of an unidentified aircraft washed ashore near Carmel.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19290415.2.18 |title=Ocean Gives Up Wreck of Plane |date=April 15, 1929 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=3 March 2020}} Wreckage from one or more airplanes washed ashore at Kamilo Beach in June 1929; one bit apparently was part of a stabilizer, a {{convert|30|in|adj=on}} piece of aluminum with a few chips of red, white, and blue paint, matching the livery of Miss Doran.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19290618.1.1 |title=Clew to Dole Planes Found |agency=Associated Press |date=June 18, 1929 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=7 March 2020}} The final search for the missing aviators concluded later that month, as Jack Frost's brother Ezra followed up a theory the Golden Eagle may have crash landed on Mauna Loa.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19290626.1.2 |title=Hunt for Dole Race Aviators Is Concluded |agency=United Press |date=June 26, 1929 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=3 March 2020}}

File:1927 California-to-Hawaii flights.ogv

In the days after the race, the disqualified owners of the Air King charged that race officials should have disqualified the Golden Eagle, because it also had only 350 gallons of fuel capacity when it took off.{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=RULES WAIVED FOR LOST DOLE PLANE, IS CHARGE: Golden Eagle Had Less Fuel Than Required, Airways System Declares. TELEGRAM TO M'CRACKEN|date=19 August 1927}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270818.2.2 |title=Owners of Golden Eagle File Charges in Washington |agency=United Press |date=August 18, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=1 March 2020}} In a bitter conclusion, the father of the sponsor of the race, Rev. Charles F. Dole, died on November 27, 1927.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=REV. CHARLES F. DOLE DIES.: Peace Advocate Was Father of Sponsor of Dole Air Race|date=28 September 1927}}

Goebel and Davis returned on the Matson liner {{ship|SS|Manoa}}, with Woolaroc on board,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19270824.2.17 |title=Green Light on Hawaii Slopes Not Flyer Clew |author=Ekins, H. R. |agency=United Press |date=August 24, 1927 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=7 March 2020}} to an impromptu parade in San Francisco, arriving on August 31. They doubted there would be any survivors of a sea ditching.{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=WINNERS OF DOLE RACE BACK, BOWED IN SORROW: Goebel Says He Entertains No Hope for Seven Who Did Not Finish|date=1 September 1927}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270831.1.1 |title=Welcome Has Tinge of Sorrow; Goebel Believes Lost 'Gone' |date=August 31, 1927 |agency=AP |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=1 March 2020}} For their winning flight, both Goebel (a Lieutenant in the Army Reserves) and Davis (active-duty Navy) were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1928.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19280817.2.10 |title=Nation Honors Him |date=August 17, 1928 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=7 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/47571935/ |title=Navy to Decorate Eight for Bravery |date=May 11, 1928 |newspaper=Reading Times |page=6 |access-date=7 March 2020 |url-access=subscription}}

Jensen returned to San Pedro aboard City of Los Angeles on September 1 and immediately announced he would undertake a non-stop solo flight from Los Angeles to New York, carrying a lion.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270904.1.2 |title=Jensen Lands Only to Plan New Conquest |agency=United Press |date=September 4, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=7 March 2020}} The lion, named Leo, was one of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio mascots; they took off on September 16 after the lion had raw steaks.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270916.1.1 |title=Live Lion in Air Plane Flying East |agency=AP |date=September 16, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=7 March 2020}} However, the aircraft never arrived in New York;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270918.1.1 |title=Airman, Lion Vanish |agency=AP |date=September 18, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=7 March 2020}} Jensen crash-landed on an Arizona mountain in heavy fog.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270919.2.14 |title='Flying Lion' Plane Crashes in Arizona |agency=United Press |date=September 19, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=7 March 2020}}

Woolaroc has survived and is on display at the Woolaroc Museum in Oklahoma, which started as a hangar to store and display the plane.[https://archive.today/20021016003912/http://www.joplinglobe.com/archives/2000/000612/headline/story2.html Ranch delights children]; The Joplin Globe, by John Hacker, MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2000 Aloha was sold to a New York businessman and destroyed in a 1933 hangar fire at Roosevelt Field. Both Woolaroc and Aloha were powered by the Wright Whirlwind, which added to that engine's endurance legend, as it had already been used in Spirit of St. Louis (Lindbergh), Columbia (Chamberlin/Levine), America (Byrd), Bird of Paradise (Maitland/Hegenberger), and City of Oakland (Smith/Bronte).

Both Ernie Smith, pilot of the first civilian nonstop flight to Hawaii, and Ben Wyatt, navigation examiner for the Dole Air Race, criticized the race after its conclusion. Smith called it "stunt flying – not practical with land planes. And now there are six men and a girl out there somewhere battling for their lives. All for $35,000. It isn't worth it."{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270822.1.2 |title=Ernie Smith Terms Dole Race Mistake |agency=AP |date=August 22, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=3 March 2020}} Wyatt believed that "[no] scientific value can be derived from such flights [with land planes]."{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19270910.2.5 |title=Calls Pacific Air Ventures Foolhardy |author=Little, Herbert |agency=United Press |date=September 10, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=3 March 2020}} Goebel, Davis, and Jensen proposed that all aircraft flying over large bodies of water should be required to carry radio equipment.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270823.1.8 |title=Dole Prize Race Aided Aviation Principals State |agency=AP |date=August 23, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=5 March 2020}}

Planning for a memorial service at sea occurred in late August and early September.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270829.1.5 |title=Impressive Rites Planned for Missing Airmen |date=August 29, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=7 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270902.1.8 |title=Memorial Rites for Dole Racers Fully Planned |date=September 2, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=7 March 2020}} A separate service was held by the San Francisco Women's Club on September 8.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRPD19270908.1.5 |title=Last Tributes for Dole Race Flyers in S.F. |date=September 8, 1927 |newspaper=Press Democrat |access-date=7 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270908.1.1 |title=Women Hold Dole Services This Evening |date=September 8, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=7 March 2020}} Tributes and flowers were loaded onto {{ship|SS|Maui|1916|6}} at the Matson Lines dock on Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco before it departed for its regular service to Honolulu.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPDN19270912.2.132 |title=Memorial for Victims in Dole Flight; Capt. Schluter Back on Ship |date=September 12, 1927 |newspaper=San Pedro Daily News |access-date=7 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19270914.1.1 |title=Metropolis Weeps for Air Heroes |date=September 14, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=7 March 2020}} On September 16, Maui stopped at the spot where the last message was received from the Dallas Spirit to spread the flowers and release a floral Bible made by Miss Doran's students. Each of the seven flyers who died was eulogized and Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar" was recited.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19270917.1.1 |title=Floral Tributes to Lost Fliers Cast on Ocean: Pacific's Air Victims Paid Last Honors |agency=Associated Press |date=September 17, 1927 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=1 March 2020}}

Constance Ohl Erwin, the wife of Bill, pilot of Dallas Spirit, gave birth to a son on October 12, 1927 and named him Bill.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19271012.1.1 |title=Lost Pilot's Wife Bears Him Son |agency=AP |date=October 12, 1927 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Evening News |access-date=3 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19281218.1.3 |title=Mothers of Two Fliers Who Lost Their Lives in Mercy Trip Over Ocean Give Mutual Consolation |agency=United Press |date=December 18, 1928 |newspaper=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=3 March 2020}}

Davis, navigator of Woolaroc, stated "We know now that flying is a practical means of transportation across the Pacific. All that is necessary is a popular demand for this speedy transportation." Just under one year later, Charles Kingsford Smith and the crew of the Fokker F.VII trimotor Southern Cross successfully flew a trans-Pacific route from Oakland to Australia via Hawaii and Fiji; Smith was carrying Alvin Eichwaldt's ring.{{cite web |url=https://aviation.hawaii.gov/aviation-pioneers/sir-charles-kingsford-smith/ |title=Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith |publisher=Hawaii Aviation |access-date=10 March 2020}} The United States Navy set a record for flight time in a successful mass flight from California to Hawaii concluded in January 1934;{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19340111.2.4 |title=Navy Airmen Land in Hawaii: Set Record for Massed Air Flight |date=January 11, 1934 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=10 March 2020}} later that year, Kingsford Smith became the first to fly east from Hawaii to California in November when he retraced his 1928 flight in reverse using Lady Southern Cross, setting a new speed record in the process.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19341105.2.14 |title=Smith Lands Safely; Span 2400 Miles of Water in 15 Hours |date=November 5, 1934 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=10 March 2020}} In January 1935 Amelia Earhart completed the first solo flight from Hawaii to California.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19350112.2.18 |title=Amelia Earhart Lands at Oakland: Makes First Solo Flight from Hawaii to California Shore |date=January 12, 1935 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=10 March 2020}} Pan American established a trans-Pacific route later that year during a series of flights,{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19350828.2.12 |title=Clipper Ship Lands on Bay at Trip's End |agency=United Press |date=August 28, 1935 |newspaper=Healdsburg Tribune |access-date=10 March 2020}} and began regular commercial "Clipper" flying boat service from San Francisco to Manila via Hawaii, Midway, Wake, and Guam in October 1936.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19361021.2.79 |title=Clipper Planes Span Pacific in Regular Passenger Service |date=October 21, 1936 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=10 March 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19361027.2.35 |title=Paying Flyers Reach Manila |agency=AP |date=October 27, 1936 |newspaper=San Pedro News-Pilot |access-date=10 March 2020}}

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Notes

• PN-9 refers to the unsuccessful 1925 Navy attempt
• Bird of Paradise is the successful June 1927 Maitland/Hegenberger flight
• City of Oakland is misspelled as Spirit and refers to the July 1927 Smith/Bronte flight and crash landing
• Miss Doran is misspelled as Dorian

• List of aviation awards

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest1119unse/page/250/mode/2up/ |title=The Dole Pacific Race |date=September 1927 |magazine=Aero Digest |pages=250–255, 366 |volume=11 |number=3}}
• {{cite news | first = Jane Eshleman | last = Conant | title = Death Dogged the Dolebirds: Pioneer Pacific Fliers Wrote Tragic Chapter in Air History | url = http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/27dolerace.html | work = San Francisco Call-Bulletin | date = October 10, 1955 | access-date = September 12, 2010 }}
• {{cite book |title=Great Adventure Stories |editor-last=Brent |editor-first= Rafer |publisher=Bartholomew House |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/greatadventurest012839mbp |chapter=$35,000 Race to Death |last=Conant |first= Jane |pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatadventurest012839mbp/page/n178 175]–200 |date=1958}}
• {{cite journal |jstor=30235716 |title='The Dallas Spirit': The Last Fool Flight |last=Dealey |first= Ted |date=July 1959 |volume=63 |number=1 |pages=15–30 |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly}}
• {{cite book |last=Forden |first=Lesley |title=Glory Gamblers: The Story of the Dole Race |date=1961 |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York }}
• {{cite book |url=http://aviation.hawaii.gov/publications/above-the-pacific/ |title=Above the Pacific |date=1966 |author=Horvat, William J. |publisher=Aero Publishers, Inc. |pages=59–89 |chapter=VI: All the Way & VII: Enter the Civilians}}
• {{cite journal |url=https://www.aahs-online.org/tocb.php?year=1975 |title=Part 1 |last=Forden |first= Leslie N. |date=Fall 1975 |journal=Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society |volume=20 |number=3}}
• {{cite journal |url=https://www.aahs-online.org/tocb.php?year=1975 |title=Part 2 |last=Forden |first= Leslie N. |date=Winter 1975 |journal=Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society |volume=20 |number=4}}
• {{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYW6DHWqPXIC&pg=PA11 |title=The Dole Race to Hawaii: The wildest air derby of them all (Part 1) |pages=11–13 |date=May 1978 |magazine=FAA General Aviation News |publisher=Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration}}
• {{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYW6DHWqPXIC&pg=RA1-PA11 |title=The Conclusion of the Dole Race: Unreliable navigation led Hawaii-bound airmen to watery grave (Part 2) |pages=11–13 |date=June 1978 |magazine=FAA General Aviation News |publisher=Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration}}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-12-me-42043-story.html |title=Pacific Quest Brought Dark Days for Aviation |last=Rasmussen |first= Cecilia |date=October 12, 1997 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url-access=limited}}
• Burlingame, Burl (1986). "The Dole Derby". Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• {{cite news |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/12/29/features/story2.html |title=Chapter 1: The Pineapple King's Great Pacific Air Race |author=Burlingame, Burl |date=December 29, 2003 |newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}}
• {{cite news |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/01/05/features/index2.html |title=Chapter 2: In which aeroplane crews take off with dreams of glory blinding their common sense |author=Burlingame, Burl |date=January 5, 2004 |newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}}
• {{cite news |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/01/12/features/index.html |title=Chapter 3: Conclusion |author=Burlingame, Burl |date=January 12, 2004 |newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}}
• {{cite journal |url=http://www.cslfdn.org/pdf/Issue93_P4.pdf |title=Triumph and Tragedy over the Pacific: The 1927 Dole Air Race |author=Kurutz, Gary F. |pages=7–13 |date=2009 |number=93 |publisher=California State Library Foundation |journal=California State Library Foundation Bulletin}}
• {{cite book |title= Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Dole Race |first= Gary W. |last=Hyatt |publisher=self (Oldairfield, LLC) |date= October 2009 |isbn=9781520437200 }}
• {{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UjVlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |title=Pushing the Limits: The Remarkable Life and Times of Vice Adm. Allan Rockwell McCann, USN |last=LaVO |first= Carl |date=2013 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-61251-334-8 |chapter=5: Worlds to Conquer |pages=43–58}}
• {{cite book |url=https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/race-to-hawaii-products-9780912777252.php |title=Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the thrilling first flights that opened the Pacific |last=Ryan |first= Jason |date=August 2018 |isbn=978-0-912777-25-2 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |location=Chicago, Illinois}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157667480712492 Dole Air Race] at Flickr Commons via San Diego Air and Space Museum
• [https://archive.org/details/DoleAirR1927 Movie reel of the Dole Air Race on Internet Archive]
• [https://californiarevealed.org/do/d6587b89-d255-44ad-b59b-1a3a802e93b6 Digitized film of the Dole Air Race on California Revealed]
• [https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/16-august-1927/ This day in Aviation, extensive account and pictures from Dole Air Race]
• {{cite web |title= Arthur C. Goebel |work= Davis-Monthan Airfield Register Website |date= November 2009 |url= http://www.dmairfield.org/people/goebel_ac/index.html |access-date= September 12, 2010 }}
• [https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv483978/op=fstyle.aspx?t=k&q=martin+jensen Martin Jensen papers] at the American Heritage Center

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the 1920s|year=1927}}

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States before 1930}}

Category:Air races

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1927

Category:Aviation awards

Category:Challenge awards

Category:Dole plc

Category:Aerial disappearances

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Hawaii

Category:History of the Pacific Ocean

Category:History of Honolulu

Category:History of Oakland, California

Category:1927 in aviation

Category:1927 in California

Category:1927 in Hawaii