july 2016 AH 15OOPPOSITE: SAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM; ABOVE RIGHT: ©AVIATION HISTORY COLLECTION/ALAMY; RIGHT: JOAN LAIRD POST/EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION
winning formula Jimmy
Doolittle flew the Laird Super
Solution (above) to victory in
the 1931 Bendix race. Laird
built his first airplane (below)
in his Chicago home in 1913.a few were built over the next
three years. Laird’s infant
company was losing money.
In 1926 sweeping changes
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aviation industry, as the U.S.
government recognized that
the aviation business had
grown to the point where
it needed to be regulated.
The new Air Commerce Act
required licensing of pilots
and mechanics, as well as reg-
istration of aircraft. In addi-
tion, and of particular interest
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facturers such as Laird, all
aircraft had to comply with
minimum airworthiness stan-
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federal government.
In May 1927, America’s
avia tion industry was cata-
pulted to new heights after
Midwestern airmail pilot
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Ryan monoplane nonstop
across the North Atlantic to
Paris, winning the $25,
Orteig Prize. “Lucky Lindy”
and his Spirit of St. Louis ush-
ered in the dawn of aviation’s
golden age. In the wake of his
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business exploded.
Laird was quick to capi-
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swept the country during the
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duced new designs such as
the LC-B and LC-1B, the
powerful LC-R, plus specialracing models, including the
LC-DW-300 Solution, which
won the 1930 Thompson
Trophy Race with Charles
W. “Speed” Holman at its
controls. In 1931 Laird’s
solid reputation as a builder
of racing biplanes led to
construction of the powerful
LC-DW-500 Super Solution,
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cross-country race by James
H. “Jimmy” Doolittle.
The last new design Laird
produced before the stock
market crash of 1929, des-
ignated the LC-DE, was
smaller than the LC-B and
LC-R, but soon proved
popular with sportsman
and amateur racing pilots
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Following the Wall Street
debacle, new airplanes sales
plummeted. Many aviation
companies closed their doors,
but Laird managed to hold
on by a thread thanks to a few
wealthy sportsman pilots who
ordered biplanes built to their
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In 1931 Matty introduced
the LC-EW-450, a six-place
cabin sesquiplane featuring
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to that time: an all-metal,
semi-monocoque fuselage.
Although it was an advanced
design with good potential,
it proved to be too expensive
for Depression-era operators,
and only one was built.Laird won contracts from
American Airlines, TWA,
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to repair mechanical com-
ponents during the 1930s,
but he never lost his taste for
speed. In 1937 he teamed
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Roscoe Turner. With only
a few months left before the
National Air Races began
that September, Matty and
his team worked to Turner’s
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pletely rebuild the wrecked
Wedell-Williams Model 44
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the Turner Special, a new,
untested monoplane pow-
ered by a 14-cylinder Pratt
& Whitney Hornet radial
rated at a bellowing 1,000 hp
and designated the LTR-
(Laird/Turner Racer).
Turner had gained fame by
winning the 1934 Thompson
Trophy Race in his Wedell-
Williams monoplane, and
hoped to win again in 1937
in the LTR-14. But he placed
third, later citing Laird’s work
on the fuel tank among the
reasons for his failure. Turner
had promised Matty that hewould use his anticipated
earnings from the Thompson
Trophy and Bendix races to
pay for the work done on the
two racers. Although initially
reluctant, Laird agreed to
wait for payment. According
to his daughter, Joan Laird
Post, Turner never paid that
debt, and the two men sub-
sequently parted company.
Turner and the LTR-14 went
on to win the 1938 and 1939
Thompson races, thus earn-
ing permanent possession of
the Thompson Trophy. But
Laird received no publicity
for his work on the airplane,
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company logo was removed
from the LTR-14.
During World War II,
Laird worked as an engineer
for the LaPorte Corporation,
which built B-26 tail sections
and airframe assemblies for
the B-24. After the war Laird
considered building a four-
place, high-wing monoplane,
but decided against the plan.
His 30-year involvement with
aviation ended in 1945.
E.M. Laird died in 1982,
leaving a legacy of speed
and a reputation for building
superior custom airplanes
that had earned the respect
of both customers and com-
petitors. Above all, the self-
taught pilot and designer had
earned the right to be called
one of America’s great avia-
tion pioneers.