National Air and Space Museum Archives

Cyrus Bettis Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2009.0038
Creators:
Bettis, Cyrus
Dates:
bulk 1924-1926
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.05 Cubic feet
1 folder
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consist of Cyrus Bettis' logbook, photographs, correspondence and news clippings that document the Pulitzer Trophy flights as well as Bettis' career as an Army Air Service pilot.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Cyrus Bettis (1893-1926) was one of the leading Army Air Service pursuit pilots in the early 1920s. Born in Carsonville, Michigan, Bettis entered the Army as a flying cadet in February 1918. He attended the school of Military Aeronautics at the University of Illinois and was sent to Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas in April of that year. He finished his flight training and was commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Service on September 11, 1918. On July 1, 1920, Bettis was commissioned in the Regular Army and promoted to first lieutenant. During the International Air Races in 1924, Lt. Bettis won the John L. Mitchell Trophy Race. Bettis won the 1925 Pulitzer Trophy competition and established a world record of 249.342 miles per hour, flying the Curtiss R3C-2 Racer in its land plane configuration. Bettis was also the backup pilot for the 1925 Schneider Trophy competition, and flew the R3C extensively in its float plane configuration. Bettis, along with Lt. James Doolittle, was awarded the Mackay Trophy for 1925. Bettis died at the Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington DC on September 1, 1926, as a result of injures he received in an aircraft accident on August 23, 1926, when in heavy fog he crashed into a mountainside near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

Administration

Author
Allan Janus
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Aviationbug.com, purchase, 2009, NASM.2009.0038

Digital Content

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Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Preferred Citation
Cyrus Bettis Collection, Acc. 2009.0038, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airplane racing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curtiss R3C-2 Racer Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Logs (records) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pulitzer Trophy Race Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patrick, Mason M. (Mason Mathews) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Army. Air Service Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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