The Laird-Turner RT-14 Meteor, also called the Turner TR-14, Ring Free Meteor, PESCO Special, Miss Champion, Turner Special and the Turner Meteor is the winning aircraft of the 1938 and 1939 Thompson Trophy

Thompson trophy

The Thompson Trophy race was one of the National Air Races of the heyday of early airplane racing in the 1930s. Established in 1929, the last race was held in 1961. The race was long with pylons marking the turns, and emphasized low altitude flying and maneuverability at high speeds...

 races.

Design and development

The aircraft was commissioned and designed by Roscoe Turner

Roscoe Turner

Roscoe Turner was an aviator who was a three time winner of the Thompson Trophy.-Background:Turner was born in Corinth, Mississippi, the eldest son of a poor but respectable farmer. He came to realize that he did not want to be a farmer and found that he was attracted to mechanical devices instead...

 in 1936. The Meteor would be the last of the Matty Laird

Emil Matthew Laird

Emil Matthew Laird was an American aircraft builder and pilot. He is credited with putting the first commercial aircraft into production.- Early life :...

 race planes as well as the last race plane flown by Roscoe Turner.

The aircraft is a conventional geared

Conventional landing gear

thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....

 mid-wing monoplane with a radial engine

Radial engine

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...

 built in California. It was modified in 1936 by Mattie Laird

Emil Matthew Laird

Emil Matthew Laird was an American aircraft builder and pilot. He is credited with putting the first commercial aircraft into production.- Early life :...

 at the E. M. Laird Airplane Company

E. M. Laird Airplane Company

E. M. Laird Airplane Company was a American aircraft manufacturer of commercial aircraft and custom race planes.- Wichita Airplane Company :...

 in Chicago with 3 foot longer wings, wing flaps

Flap (aircraft)

Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...

, a longer fuselage

Fuselage

The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...

 and a 50 u.s.gal fuel tank. In 1938 Wheel pants were added for the Oakland races.

Operational history

The aircraft was known by many names. Initially the RT-14 for "Roscoe-Turner 14 cylinder". The air commerce bureau labed it the Model No. LTR-14, Serial No. 11, Type 1 POLM.The first sponsor was the Ring-Free Oil company, naming the aircraft the Ring-Free Meteor. The 1938 sponsor, Pump Engineering Service Corp renamed the aircraft "The PESCO SPECIAL". In 1939, the Champion Spark Plug Co

Champion (spark plug)

Champion is an American brand of spark plugs.Originally Champion was a Fortune 500 Company founded by Robert A. Stranahan and Frank D. Stranahan in 1908 in Boston, MA and then moved to Toledo, OH in 1910 to be close to the Willys-Overland Auto Company....

 borrowed the name from its 1931 Pitcairn PCA-2

Pitcairn PCA-2

-External links:*...

 autogyro, giving the aircraft the name "Miss Champion".

• 1937 National Air Races
  National Air Races
  The National Air Races were a series of pylon and cross-country races that took place in the United States from 1920 to 1949. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew rapidly during this period; the National Air Races were both a proving ground and...
  
   - Turner placed third after missing a pylon in the sun at 253.802 mph (408 km/h). A fire from a leaking fuel tank prevented Turner from racing in the Bendix Trophy
  Bendix trophy
  The Bendix Trophy is a U.S. aeronautical racing trophy. The transcontinental, point-to-point race, sponsored by industrialist Vincent Bendix founder of Bendix Corporation, began in 1931 as part of the National Air Races. Initial prize money for the winners was $15,000...
  
   race and required the fabric to be recovered before competing.
• 1938 National Air Races - Turner won the Thompson Trophy Race at 283.416 mph (456 km/h)
• 1938 Oakland Air Race - Second place

The original aircraft was put into storage at Weir Cook Airport

Indianapolis International Airport

Indianapolis International Airport is a public airport located seven miles southwest of the central business district of Indianapolis, a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority...

 for 29 years until it was restored, then donated to the Frederick G. Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. In December 1972 the plane along with many of Roscoe Turner's trophies were transferred to the Smithsonian. The aircraft retired with less than 30 hours flying time.

The Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

 minted a $2 Coin in 2008 featuring the Laird-Turner Meteor LTR-14 as part of its 1930s Air Racing Collection

Variants

• In 2003, Tom Wathen built a replica of the LTR-14, demonstrating it at the 2003 EAA Airventure airshow.

Specifications (Laird-Turner RT-14 Meteor)