On September 28, 1923, two Curtiss air racers flown by American naval aviators took first and second place in the Schneider Trophy seaplane contest at Cowes, the Isle of Wight, in southwestern England. Lt. David Rittenhouse won the competition with an average speed of 177.38 mph, almost three miles per minute, and a good 20 mph over the slower third place flying boat design from Great Britain. His diminutive gray CR-3 biplane equipped with floats represented the latest concepts in high-speed design, primarily aerodynamic streamlining and drag reduction (Figure 13). Its modified Curtiss D-12 engine was one of the most powerful in the world at 500 horsepower. The newest component of the Curtiss racing system was a duralumin propeller developed by Dr. S. Albert Reed, which to Stanley Spooner, the founder and editor of Flight weekly, “undoubtedly contributed considerably” to the Navy's victory. The dramatic success of American and European air racers equipped with Dr. Reed's propeller led the international aeronautical community to embrace it as an airminded symbol of “Progress” through technological innovation.

Reed's approach to propeller innovation offered an attractive alternative to the ground-adjustable-pitch, or detachable-blade, propeller created by the Engineering Division and Standard Steel. If a fixed-pitch propeller made from a single piece of metal could turn faster and propel the airplane at ever-higher speeds as well as withstand the elements, then it would be a significant step forward in the development of propulsion technology. The Reed propeller did not offer the flexibility of being able to change its blade pitch on the ground. Despite that limitation, the use of Reed propellers in the aerial spectacles of the 1920s, primarily air racing, electrified the aeronautical community with their promise of increased speed and durability. Reed the inventor and his corporate backers, the international aeronautical community, and the specialists at McCook Field reacted to that enthusiasm in different ways. The resultant tension revealed the important place of communal perceptions of what constituted ultimate success or failure in the evolution of technology.