AIR SPEED RECORD SET BY U.S. NAVY PILOT
St. Louis, Missouri (JFK+50) On October 7, 1923, The Sunday Star reports Lt. A.J. (Al) Williams* of the Naval Air Station at Anacostia, District of Columbia has achieved "the most remarkable airplane speed achievement known to mankind--243.67 miles per hour."
The speed record was set last evening here in St. Louis. Fred R. Neely says the Pulitzer Trophy rests in the hands of three pilots all from the Washington station. He writes...
"The United States again has shown the world the leadership of this most thrilling and most dangerous sport--airplane racing."
*Lt. Alford J. "Al" Williams was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in May 1929 for his "feats in inverted flight and other achievements." The New York Times describes AJW as a "crack speed pilot."
SOURCES
"Lt. Williams Wins Navy's Flying Cross, Award Is Made for His Feats in Inverted Flight and Other Wards," The New York Times, May 17, 1929, www.newyorktimes.com/
"Mind Numbed By Speed, D.C. Flyer Wins Air Race," by Fred R. Neely, The Sunday Star, October 7, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
