A ruthless scam! Although the International F-18, or F-17W, could carry up to six people, this machine was ill-prepared for a flight to Hawaii. It was entered for the Dole Air Race by stunt pilot and actor Frank Clarke who apparently acted that he intended to take part while owner Parkford and aircraft broker Charlie Babb tried to sell the aeroplane, in the words of writer Alan Herr, 'to some desparate aviator in search of fame and fortune.' It was certainly offered to Charles Kingsford Smith who was stunned. Miss Hollydale was either disqualified or withdrawn and Clarke and Babb left Oakland in it on 13 August. Photo from: California State Library

Apparently inspired by Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis in name and design, the Dallas Spirit built by the Swallow company of Wichita was to compete in the Dole Air Race to Hawaii and then to continue to win a $25,000 prize for a Dallas - Hong Kong flight, as mentioned on the nose. After take-off from Oakland the crew, Erwin and Eichwaldt, returned with a technical issue. They took off again on 18 August, promising to look for the missing aircraft Golden Eagle and Miss Doran en route to Hong Kong. However, they crashed into the ocean themselves and perished. The second aircraft is the NAS Air King NX3070. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

El Encanto and NX914 Aloha before the start of the Dole Air Race. What became OAK airport received a 2140 m (7020 ft) runway for the event and the pilots preferred it over Mills Field (now KSFO). However, several planes crashed on take-off, including El Encanto. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

Would you fancy a flight to Hawaii - in this? Pilot Parkhurst and navigator Lowes were happy to be disqualified from the Dole Air Race due to insufficient fuel capacity, as their flight from Illinois had not gone well. The National Airways System company from Lomax, Illinois, built and sponsored this biplane which looks stubbier than either the Air King 1926 model, with two pairs of seats side by side in two cockpits, or the three-seat 1928 model. The lower wing had a longer span than the upper wing. The name City of Peoria was not worn. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

The very first Lockheed (rather than Loughead) aircraft, the Vega prototype, was bought by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and took off in the Dole Air Race to Hawaii one month after its first flight. It was clearly the most advanced plane in the race but vanished in the Pacific with pilot John Frost and navigator Gordon Scott. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

Painted yellow and red with a Hawaiian garland, Aloha was the second and last finisher in the Dole Air Race. Navigator Paul Schluter, a seaman, did a great dead-reckoning job but only got $25 of the $10,000 second prize. Pilot Martin Jensen had hired him through a classified newspaper ad and did warn Schluter that he needed any prize money to pay his debts. One photo shows the reg as NC914, not NX914, but it does not seem to have been worn during the race. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

Compass calibration for Woolaroc, the eventual winner of the Dole Air Race. Pilot Art Goebel and navigator William Davis took 26 hours to reach Honolulu. Woolaroc - woods, lake, rock - is the name of the Oklahoma ranch of Frank Phillips, of Phillips Petroleum, who owned the aircraft. It is preserved on the ranch since 1929. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

The Breese Model 5 was designed for the Dole Air Race. This machine was flown solo by Maj Livingston Irving, who served with the 103rd Aero Squadron in France in 1918 - note the unit's Indian head insignia. Irving crashed the heavy-loaded aircraft on his second take-off attempt. The registration was not worn on race day. Sister aircraft NX914 Aloha was one of only two contenders to reach Hawaii. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

The Travel Air 5000 was designed as a small airliner. Ernest Smith succeeded in flying the prototype from Oakland to Hawaii in July 1927, despite crashing into a thorn tree on arrival. One month later the Travel Air 5000 Special, NX869 Woolaroc, won the disastrous Dole Air Race over the same route. Seen here just before take-off, sister aircraft Oklahoma was not successful - pilot Bennett Griffin aborted the race with a technical problem and returned to Oakland. Reg not painted on race day. Photo from: California State Library

Only two aircraft made it from California to Hawaii in the tragic Dole Air Race. Seven crashed before or during the race. Miss Doran disappeared in the Pacific without trace, carrying pilot Augy Pedlar, navigator Vilas Knope and the brave passenger, Mildred Doran. There was no radio on board. The name Miss Doran was worn frontally. Photo from: California State Library