The R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle. He lapped all but one ship in the race, made easy turns and never had to come down and make a tight pylon turn. He also set a new F.A.I. world landplane speed record of in the Shell Speed Dash. The distinction of a landplane record was noteworthy because, at that time, racing seaplanes outran landplanes, such as the then current speed record holder, a Supermarine S.6B which had averaged on September 1931.