Macchi M.39T: Gordon Bennett Trophy racer, 1926
Posting my
The Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda GB entry here too.
![](http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/259/d/b/macchi_m39t___side_views_by_perttime-d6mdsoj.jpg)
The Gordon Bennett Trophy
could have been running through the 1920s and '30s, with rules paralleling the Schneider Trophy rules - but for landplanes. Italy
should certainly have participated, and let Mario Castoldi base the landplane racers on his Schneider Trophy designs. For 1926, the Italian Gordon Bennett Trophy entry
would have been Macchi M.39T.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Macchi M.39T (T for Terra) was a single-seat landplane of mixed metal and wooden construction. The wooden wings were wire-braced, with two thirds of the upper surfaces used as low drag surface radiators. The pilot sat in an open cockpit parallel with the trailing edge of the wing. The cockpit's windscreen and "turtledeck" were somewhat raised for better visibility, compared with the seaplane version. Being lower weight than the seaplane, the M.39T was given a shorter wing span.
Macchi built two types of M.39T: two trainer aircraft and three racers. The trainer version had a 447-kilowatt (600-horsepower) Fiat AS.2 liquid-cooled V12 engine, while the racing version had a 597-kilowatt (800-horsepower) Fiat A.S.2.
On 17 October 1926, the three M.39T racers took part in the 1926 Gordon Bennett Trophy contest at RAE Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Major de Bernardi, took first place with an average speed of 426.7 kilometres per hour (265.1 mph), setting a new world speed record. Three days later, on 20 October 1926, de Bernardi achieved a new world speed record of 442.6 kilometres per hour (275.0 mph) over a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) course at Farnborough.
A larger version of the picture can be found at DeviantArt:
http://perttime.deviantart.com/art/Macchi-M39T-side-views-400392307?ga_submit_new=10%253A1379247143