Photos by Ricardo von Puttkammer
Photo by Megan Vande Voort
Our 2024 Schedule
Sun 'n Fun, Lakeland FL
April 9-14
Thunder Over Louisville, Louisville KY
April 19-21
Terre Haute Airshow, Terre Haute IN
June 1-3
Quad Cities Airshow, Davenport IA
June 22-23
Sound of Speed Airshow, St. Joseph MO
September 14-15
Thunder Over the Heartland
Topeka KS
October 11-13
Stay tuned for more announcements.
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Mister Mulligan took it all in '35!
The Golden Age of Aviation was a time when the world’s attention was captivated by the excitement of Charles Lindburgh’s flight to Paris. Passenger aircraft had three motors and traveled only 90 miles per hour and military aircraft struggled to break the 200-mph barrier. Air racing became the breeding ground for a whole new level of aviation technology. Each year competitors showed up with improved versions of what they flew the year before – a great example of entrepreneurial competition and innovation which became a very important part of promoting air travel and advancing aircraft research and development.
Up until 1935, Air Racers were dangerous radical single seat aircraft with horrible visibility and marginal flying characteristics. Benny Howard built three of these racers -- "Pete", "Mike", and "Ike" (DGA 3, 4 and 5). The racers were flown by Benny and a handful of other talented pilot friends such as Harold Neumann and Gordon Israel – each racer winning enough money to finance building the next.
A high school dropout from Texas who started working at the Curtiss Aircraft plant in Dallas in 1922 when he was 19 years old, Benny Howard also became a brilliant self-taught aeronautical engineer.
Howard, always moving from one better flying job to another, ended up with a job at United Airlines that prohibited him from flying pylon races. So he turned his attention to the cross-country Bendix race. Impressed with the speed and aerodynamic characteristics of Harold Neumann's Monocoupe, Howard envisioned a four-place airplane that could carry more fuel and fly at higher altitudes not just to win the Bendix race but also have potential in the commercial market.
Thus, the Howard DGA6 was born. Ben Howard and his good friend and fellow racer Gordon Israel, also a genius in aircraft design, built the Howard DGA6 along with Eddie Fisher, the hands-on engineer, in Kansas City hoping to fly it in the 1934 Bendix race.
Sadly, Ben Howard's friend Harold Neumann and his co-pilot became so hypoxic flying over the Rocky Mountains while ferrying it to the west coast for the ‘34 race, they lost control of the airplane and made a forced landing that kept it from flying that year.
However, Benny Howard and Israel went on to win the Bendix race in 1935 in the rebuilt “Mister Mulligan” flying cross-country from Burbank to Cleveland with only one fuel stop edging out Roscoe Turner by a mere 23 seconds at the finish. Benny never planned for Mulligan to race at Cleveland, but he and Harold Neumann decided to try it. Neumann flew “Mulligan” in the Thompson Trophy race and won making “Mister Mulligan” the first airplane to win both the Bendix and Thompson Trophies in the same year. And Benny was able to use the winnings from that race to launch the Howard Aircraft Manufacturing Company.
Sadly, the original "Mister Mulligan" shed a prop blade during the 1936 Bendix Race. The airplane was destroyed and Benny and his wife Maxine were badly injured.
Benny Howard with his racer "Pete."
Benny Howard and his wife Maxine with "Mister Mulligan."
"Mister Mulligan"
Returns to Flight
In the late 1970s, Jim Younkin and his brother Bob, reputable aircraft builders in Arkansas, built the Howard DGA6 that flies today. Jim and Bob recreated that airplane using photographs and a three way drawing they found in a model airplane book.
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The aircraft took 8,000 hours to build. To ensure the authenticity of the finished product, Jim corresponded regularly with Eddie Fisher in Kansas City. Eddie was the hands-on engineer on the original aircraft.
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Eddie passed away just before Jim finished the airplane so he was never able to see it. However, Harold Neumann -- the pilot who flew Mulligan in the 1935 Thompson Race -- was able to fly the airplane. He told Jim it flew exactly like the original.
He said it was a "dream realized."
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"Mister Mulligan" is one of a dozen or so of the most recognized airplanes ever built. It's a list that includes the Wright Flyer, "Spirit of St. Louis." the Gee Bee, and "Winnie Mae" to name a few..
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Jim was the grandfather of airshow performer Matt Younkin and was a good friend of Doug Rozendaal, "Mulligan's" current owner.
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Jim built other notable airplanes including a Travel Air 4000 and a replica of the Travel Air Mystery Ship. He also created the "Mullicoupe," a two place airplane that combined aspects of the Monocoupe and "Mister Mulligan." He also modified a series of Beechcraft Staggerwings which are now known as "Younkin Staggerwings."
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Learn more about Mister Mulligan and watch it's performance at Sun 'n Fun last year in this video by Martin Pauly: Mister Mulligan Story
Jim Younkin with "Mister Mulligan."
Matt Younkin, Jim Younkin, and Doug Rozendaal with the "Mullicoupe."
Jim Younkin with his Travel Air Mystery Ship."
CONTACT US
Mister Mulligan Airshows brings something new and different to your airshow. We tell the story of a time gone by. Your audience will learn how these race airplanes built in garages and small shops helped develop the aeronautical technology that would become incorporated into the aircraft that won World War II.
We are a team of aviation enthusiasts with a passion for vintage aircraft and the stories they tell. Our goal is to share our love of aviation history with audiences around the world.
For booking inquiries or more information, please contact us here or at:
Mister Mulligan Airshows
Kim Pardon
or
Doug Rozendaal
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