The Wedell-Williams Racer displayed is the most-remembered of the three Model 44s designed and built by Jimmy Wedell. Construction on this aircraft began in early 1932 when the flamboyant aviator, Colonel Roscoe Turner (with the financial backing of Gilmore Oil Company), contracted Wedell to duplicate the Wedell-Williams #44, "Miss Paterson." Turner, famous for his in-flight antics with his pet lion cub, was convinced that the sleek Model 44 would make it possible for him to win the Thompson and Bendix Trophies. Completed in August 1932, Turner flew the new racer (powered by a Pratt & Whitney 550 hp Wasp Jr. engine) to third place in both the Thompson and Bendix Races that year.

After the 1939 races, the now obsolete racer was abandoned in a Cleveland Airport hangar, amassing storage fees. In the spring of 1947, Fred Crawford acquired the neglected former champion for the Thompson Collection in exchange for paying off the storage bill. The 1963, the Thompson Collection was transferred to the Western Reserve Historical Society and became known as the Frederick C. Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.

Click on a link to the right to learn more about our aviation collection!