James Theis

I am a new AMA member and have enjoyed reading the official publication Model Aviation very much. On page 34 of the January 1980 issue there is an article on the Heinkel 100 that ". . .held the absolute world speed record for a generation before being broken by a special Bearcat. . ." The record being 463.92 mph, set March 31, 1939. That would make the He100 a very special airplane indeed. However, when I went to my local library to relive these historic moments for myself, all I got was confusion because the June 1939 edition of Aviation told me the record was to be broken by the "degraded" 109 a month later. Thirty days is hardly a generation. The new mark was listed 469.220 mph, set by Fritz Wendel April 26, 1939 in the Me109R. The World Almanac for 1940, p. 296, concurs. The N. Y. Times give April 28, 1939 at 468.9 mph the nod for the fastest piston/prop run.