Classic Air Racing: Thompson Trophy Air Racing 1930-1939

Air racing in the 1930s was a very popular spectator sport with excitement, drama, danger, and a huge fan base following the exploits of those intrepid aviators! The art and science of aviation advanced rapidly in those early days of aviation, and hundreds of thousands of spectators came out to the races to see their stars in action! The Thompson Trophy races at the National Air Races events were the premiere closed-course pylon racing events in the nation during the 1930s. It was the Indianapolis 500 of air racing, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans to watch the best air racers of the era put their planes through the paces.

Classic Air Racing: Thompson Trophy Air Racing 1930-1939 can take you back to the thrilling sport of 1930s air racing!! This game is a table top, performance-based simulation of Thompson Trophy air racing in the 1930s. The game is based on the historical performance of each pilot and plane that flew in the 10 Thompson Trophy races from 1930 through 1939. Rules and procedures provide a simulation of flying around the closed pylon courses that were used in these races.

The game document in the Files section includes historical background on the Thompson Trophy series, rules and procedures for performing the races, performance values for each pilot and plane in each race, graphic images of planes that flew in the historical races that are used as counters for game play, map sheets with hex grids that reflect the various closed courses used in the series of races, counters and markers for keeping track of each competitor’s race status, and Plane Control Panels for each plane in the race.

Game components can be printed from the game document, and instructions are provided for assembling the map sheets to provide the courses used for each race in the series. Everything needed to play the game is included in the game document in the files section, except for two ten-sided dice.

—description from the designer