Miles & Atwood 'Special' | Planes of Fame Air Museum

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Miles & Atwood 'Special'

HISTORY

Designed by Leland Miles and Leon Atwood, the Special was built by Lawrence Brown (who would later gain fame with the Brown B-2 Miss Los Angeles). The airplane had a fabric-covered welded tubular steel fuselage and tail surfaces, and fabric-covered wings with wooden spars and ribs. The wings and landing gear were wire-braced. The original design had no wheel pants; these were added following the 1933 races.
Lee Miles flew the racer in the National Air Races at Cleveland from 1933 to 1937. In 1934, the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company sponsored a new race class for aircraft with smaller engines. Named for the company president, the Greve trophy carried a purse of $25,000.
Wearing race number 6, the Special won the first Greve Trophy with a speed of 206.2 mph. In 1935, sporting race number 1 and the name "Miss Tulsa," Miles took sixth place in the Greve race. The Special carried race number 4 (and no name) in 1936, and had a finish similar to that of the 1935 race. Sadly, during the 1937 races, Leland Miles was killed while flying the Special when a wire fitting on the wing failed.

Planes of Fame Air Museum's replica of the Special was built by the renowned Bill Turner of REPEAT (Restoration of Exotic Planes Engines and Airframes by Turner) Aviation of Flabob Airport in Riverside, CA. The museum's replica appeared in the movie "Rocketeer".