From 1929 to the late 1940’s Cleveland, Ohio was a major player in the early days of the US National Air Races (a testing and proving ground for new aviation technology). Initially from the first race in 1920 until 1928, the races alternated between various cities such as New York, Omaha, Detroit, Dayton, Philadelphia and Spokane. Races were then held in Cleveland along the shore of Lake Erie in 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935 and 1937 to 1939 before a break was put in place during World War Two (Chicago hosted the race in 1930 and Los Angeles in 1928, 1933 and 1936).