The Ike was originally known as Miss Chevrolet

The cockpit of the Howard DGA-5 Ike is partially enclosed to provide added speed and protection for the pilot.

The monoplane racer Ike features low wire bracing for its wings and horizontal stablizers.

These inlets supplied cooling air to the 485 cu. in. Menasco Buccaneer engines of the Ike and Mike.

The Ike featured more cooling louvres than the Mike. The original aircraft had thirty ventilation holes drilled in their windscreens for cooling of the pilot, which says a tremendous amount about the heat in the cockpit during a race.

The Ike featured the registration seen here. The Mike featured NR55Y. The wingspans of both aircraft were measured at 20 feet one inch.

The landing gear of the Ike and the Mike differed, and the Ike eventually featured the style of landing gear seen here, with smaller wheel pants enclosing the aircraft's tires, allowing for streamlining and an increase in speed.

Both the original Ike and Mike racers are reportedly still in existance and under restoration in Ohio.

At SSNS, we've been looking into the origins of the names of both the Mike and Ike racers, which may trace their own roots to Benny Howards' or could have originated with the Vaudeville Act of "Mike and Ike" back in the 1920s. They did not originate with the fruity candy of the same name, "Mike and Ike (c)" produced originally in late 1927, before being introduced some thirteen years later (1940) by Just Born Candies. The candy lives on as a "retro" candy and is still one of the most popular theater candies in existence today.

However, the names of Mike and Ike are popular for a seeming multitude of reasons and have remained, through time and history, encapsulated within the Golden Era of Air Racing by Howard's designs.

An interesting thought, especially with so many Golden Age of Air Racing planes becoming available to the skies over the U.S. and elsewhere. And how interesting it would be to see not only the Gee Bees face off once again, but also different versions by different builders of Ike, Mike and Mr. Mulligan. To see the Laird run the Pylons again in actual competition against other racers of its era. To hear the sounds of Air Racing in the 1920s and 1930s today at the turn of the new Century. Put a Hughes H-1 back in the skies and introduce it for the first time on the closed-course.

Or we could go back further in time to the First Air Race at Rheims, France, in August, 1909, when the aircraft flying were Curtiss, Wright, Latham, Bleriot, in a reenactment of what is considered to have been the grandest, most epic air race of all, in the Champagne vineyards surrounding the historic Cathedral City where Joan d' Arc crowned the French King. Perfect for the upcoming 100th Anniversaray...

The day of the return of the Classic Racer is likely coming and not very far away. Until then, we'll have to sit back and enjoy the sight of the old racers demonstrating the past at places like Oshkosh, Lakeland, Arlington, and elsewhere.