a wheat field in the San Joaquin Valley, but damaged the landing gear in the process and had trouble making repairs because they no longer had any tools. Doran went to Modesto, California to secure tools and a mechanic; she quipped "We threw [the tools] off at Long Beach because they were in the way and cluttering things up." Lawing, chief aerographer and meteorologist at Naval Air Station North Island, was later replaced by Vilas R. Knope when Lawing could not satisfy the race committee of his navigational skills. He reportedly got lost over Oakland. James L. Giffin announced he needed US$15,000 to complete a giant triplane under construction in July 1927; at the time, he was planning to fly it from Los Angeles to Tokyo via Hawaii. The motors of the triplane, by then named Pride of Los Angeles, were installed in early August. After a short test flight on August 10, Giffin confidently predicted they would rest upon arrival in Honolulu, then continue to Australia nonstop, a distance of . Giffin's intended final destination was Paris, a flight of 30 days in total via Borneo, India, Constantinople, and Rome. Frank Clarke's biplane Miss Hollydale completed a roundtrip test flight from Los Angeles to San Diego without incident on August 4. Captain and Mrs. Erwin announced they would be departing Dallas in the Dallas Spirit for Oakland on August 6 or 7, planning to continue around the world via Tokyo after the race to Hawaii. Goddard had already built and tested El Encanto and anticipated it would reach speeds of at takeoff, speeding up to when nearing Honolulu as fuel was consumed, lightening the aircraft. El Encanto means "The Enchanted" and was designed by Goddard after the streamlining of a salmon. Woolaroc, piloted by Goebel, was originally intended to fly solo, but later decided to have Lieutenant W. J. Slattery navigate; for the flight to Hawaii, Lt. William V. Davis navigated for Woolaroc. Goebel departed from Bartlesville on a nonstop flight to San Francisco on August 6. In test flights before the race, Goebel's Woolaroc encountered gear issues that required Goebel to hang outside the plane to fix. Martin Jensen and Robert Fowler competed over the purchase rights for the same Breese-Wilde Model 5; Jensen won that race after his wife Margaret raised US$15,000 from local backers in Honolulu, and Jensen took delivery of Aloha on August 8. Fowler,