December 6,
2000
Puyallup, Washington
 Aviation
history lives again in the small
town of Puyallup, Washington. When
pilot Jim Moss took to the air in
his classic biplane early
this month he turned the clock back nearly 70 years. The airplane is an
exact replica of the Laird Super
Solution, in which Jimmy Doolittle
won the 1931 Bendix Trophy race
and set a new cross country
record. [ click
here to read
more about this race and the
construction process of the
replica]
There was only one
Laird Super Solution built in
1931 and it took 15 men only 40
days to complete. The "next
one off the line" came
nearly 70 years later and was
completed over a two and a half
year period by Moss and up to 14
others. Moss estimates there are
over 10,000 man hours in this
historic flying replica.
 According
to Moss, the airplane is an exact
replica of the original, down to
to the same Pratt & Whitney
950 450 HP radial engine. The
only concessions to modernization
are a set of Cleveland Brakes and
an additional landing wire.
As well as building
and flying classic airplanes,
Moss has been an air show pilot
on the west coast show circuit
and is also a noted sculptor of
race horses and polo ponies. His
works have been displayed at the
Kentucky Derby Hall of Fame.
With the growing
fleet of "Golden Era of Air
Racing" replicas either
flying or nearing flight status,
we asked Jim Moss what his plans
for the racer were. "I have
no plans except to fly it around
to fly the time off it"
replied artist and pilot Moss.
 As to
whether he would participate in
any potential classic air race
demonstrations with other
replicas now flying, or make air
show appearances with the
airplane, Moss told us:
"Well that's always up for
grabs" adding "I’m
not going to actively campaign it
[at air shows] but I will
probably accept appearance
fees."
The airplane made
one airshow appearance even
before it was completed. Trucked
to Oshkosh for the EAA's
AirVenture 2000 gathering (as
seen in the photos on this page)
the potential for show
appearances seems promising.
We would like to
extend a sincere thank you to Jim
Moss for sharing his time with us
so we could bring you this
report. We would also like to
thank Tom Jensen and Bela
Havasreti for allowing us to
process and show the video of the
first flight of the Laird Super
Solution Replica on December 6,
2000!
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