The Schneider Trophy (or Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider to give it it's properly glorious title) covered a period of intense and exciting development in aviation.
The 1929 event was an especially significant one for British aviation. It's no wonder, then, that one of the leading weekly journals, The Aeroplane, devoted three entire issues to it.
The Schneider race was for seaplanes and had been running since 1911 - though patchily at times and not at all during World War One.
During the inter-war years it acquired considerable prestige, being competed by national teams.
For a while, it looked as though the US might dominate it. They took home the trophy in 1923, when US Navy Lieutenant David Rittenhouse flew an aircraft designed by Glenn Curtis. In 1924, no-one would compete with the Americans, so no race. And in 1925, the US once again won the title, held at Chesapeake Bay, with the famous Jimmy Doolittle at the controls.
That winning streak ended in 1926 when the Italians reasserted their earlier high profile by winning with the Macchi M.39.
Then it was the turn of the Brits. In 1927, the British team that turned up in Venice consisted largely of RAF personnel and had the backing of the Government. Better yet, they had a superb aircraft - the Supermarine S.5 - designed by R J Mitchell. He was the legendary designer who would go on to create one of the finest aircraft in all aviation history - the Spitfire. Three S.5s were built, powered by 875hp and 900hp versions of the Napier Lion VII engine.
The British team's S.5s took both first and second place.
The event then switched from being held every year to every two years. The popularity and prestige of the Schneider Trophy (crowds sometimes numbered in hundreds of thousands) was encouraging countries to devote significant resources to it. But they needed more time to develop their aircraft.
In 1929, the race was held at Cowes, England. Mitchell had worked his magic again, producing the S.6 powered by the 1,900hp Rolls-Royce R engine. In many ways, this powerplant was inspired by the Curtiss C.12 engine that had propelled Rittenhouse to victory in 1923. But more significantly, it would be the predecessor of the Rolls-Royce Merlin - the hugely successful and beautiful V12 that powered the Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, Lancaster, Mosquito and others.
The Brits had two S.6s. N247 took first place, flown by Flying Officer HR Waghorn at a speed of 328.63mph (528.88km/h). N248, alas, was disqualified for cutting one of the course markers, otherwise it might have been another one-two. Second place fell to the Italians while third place went to an S.5.
The S.6 returned, in modified form, for the following event, in 1931 - which would prove to be the final Schneider Trophy race in its original form (it has been resurrected since for light planes, but is the merest shadow of its former self). This time, the team failed to get government backing and managed to appear only because of private sponsorship from Lady Houston, who saw it as a patriotic duty. No other national teams made it. The S.6Bs, now with 2,350hp versions of the Rolls-Royce R engine, competed against other British entries. In winning, the S.6B also set a new world speed record of 379mph (610 km/h).
As a result of this third straight win, Britain got to keep the trophy. And the 1931 race was the last (Europe soon had other things on its mind). But in many ways, 1929 was more important. It saw the refinement of Mitchell's ideas and designs, which would lead to the Spitfire - one of World War Two's most important weapons. And it helped Rolls-Royce along the path to the development of the Merlin - another war-winner. The S.6 and R engine may have been refined somewhat in 1931, but the truly pivotal moment was 1929.
For me, these three issues of The Aeroplane are a mesmerising glimpse into this historic moment. And, as always, I find the illustrations - including the ads - both beautiful and fascinating.
Comments (0)
Write a comment