Schneider Trophy Information & Schneider Trophy Links at HealthHaven.com
advertise
add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
Bookmark and Share

search wiki for    ?
web dir firms image gallery news pdf wiki shop video 
about
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
Featured Results:
Women's Trophy Club Personal Trainer in Trophy Club Texas
Women's Trophy Club Personal Trainer in Trophy Club Texas
dallaspersonaltrainer.net
 Female Trophy Club Personal Trainers in Trophy Club Texas for Women
Female Trophy Club Personal Trainers in Trophy Club Texas for Women
ladytrainerstogo.com
 About - Marc S. Schneider , MD Schneider Centre of Fort Myers Florida
About - Marc S. Schneider, MD Schneider Centre of Fort Myers Florida
schneidercentre.com
 
Schneider Trophy
Schneider Trophy 2006-08-10.jpg
The Schneider Trophy on display at the London Science Museum

The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider (commonly called the Schneider Trophy, or prize or cup) was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931. It was meant to encourage technical advances in civil aviation but became a contest for pure speed with laps over a triangular course (initially 280 km, later 350 km). The races were very popular and some attracted crowds of over 200,000 spectators. Since 1977 the trophy has been on display at the Science Museum in London.

If an aero club won three races in five years, they would retain the cup and the winning pilot would receive 75,000 francs. Each race was hosted by the previous winning country. The races were supervised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and the Aero Club in the hosting country. Each club could enter up to three competitors with an equal number of alternates.

Contents

[edit] History

Schneider Trophy, 1929, cover of the programme for the amphibious airplane races held on the Solent

The trophy was first competed for on 16 April 1913, at Monaco and won by a French Deperdussin at an average speed of 45.72 mph (73.57 km/h).[1] The British won in 1914 with a Sopwith Tabloid at 86.78 mph (139.9 km/h).[1] The competition resumed in 1919 at Bournemouth where in foggy conditions the Italian team won. They were later disqualified and the race was voided.[2]

In 1920 and 1921 at Venice the Italians won — in 1920 no other nation entered and in 1921 the only non-Italian entry did not start.[2] After 1921, an additional requirement was added: the winning seaplane had to remain moored to a buoy for six hours without human intervention.

In 1922 in Naples the British and French competed with the Italians and the British private entry, the Supermarine Sea Lion II, won.[3]

The 1923 trophy, contested at Cowes, went to the Americans with a sleek, liquid-cooled engined craft designed by Glenn Curtiss. It used the Curtiss D-12 engine. US Navy Lieutenant David Rittenhouse won the cup.[3]

In 1924 there was no competition as no other nation turned out to face the Americans — the Italians and the French withdrew and both British craft crashed in pre-race trials.

In 1925 at Chesapeake Bay the Americans won again, the British challenger (R.J. Mitchell's Supermarine S.4) and the Italians soundly beaten by pilot Jimmy Doolittle.[3]

Jacques Schneider Trophy, 1929 Programme for the races held in the Solent with the competitor countries and history

In 1926, the Italians returned with a Macchi M.39 and won against the Americans with a 246 mph (396 km/h) run.[4]

In 1927 for Venice there was a strong British entry with government backing and RAF pilots (the High Speed Flight) for Mitchell, Gloster and Shorts. Supermarine's Mitchell designed S.5s came first and second. 1927 was the last annual competition, the event then moving onto a biannual schedule to allow for more development time.[5]

In 1929, at Cowes, Supermarine won again in the Supermarine S.6 with the new Rolls-Royce R engine with an average speed of 328.63 mph (528.85 km/h).[5]

In 1931 the British government withdrew support but a private donation of £100,000 from Lucy, Lady Houston allowed Supermarine to compete and win on 13 September against only British opposition, with reportedly half a million spectators lining the beachfronts. The Italian, French, and German entrants failed to ready their aircraft in time for the competition. The remaining British team set both a new world speed record (379 mph, 610 km/h) and won the trophy outright with a third straight win.[6] The following days saw the winning Supermarine S.6B further break the world speed record twice, making it the first craft to break the 400 mph barrier on 29 September at an average speed of 407.5 mph (655.8 km/h).

Development of the other entrants did not cease there. The proposed Italian entrant (the Macchi M.C.72) which pulled out of the contest due to engine problems later went on set two new world speed records. In April 1933 (over Lake Garda, in northern Italy) it set a record with a speed of 424 mph. Then, a year and a half later in the same venue, it broke 700 km/h with an average speed of 709.202 km/h (440.681 mph) in October 1934. Both times the plane was piloted by Francesco Agello. This speed remains until today the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane.[7]

[edit] Competition summary

Date Location Winning Aircraft Nation Pilot Speed (km/h, mph)
1913 Monaco Deperdussin France France Maurice Prevost 73.56, 45.71
1914 Monaco Sopwith Tabloid  United Kingdom Howard Pixton 139.74, 86.83
1920 Venice, Italy Savoia S.12 Italy Italy Luigi Bologna 70.54, 43.83
1921 Venice, Italy Macchi M.7bis Italy Italy Giovanni de Briganti 189.66, 117.85
1922 Naples, Italy Supermarine Sea Lion II  United Kingdom Henri Biard 234.51, 145.72
1923 Cowes, United Kingdom Curtiss CR-3  United States David Rittenhouse 285.29, 177.27
1925 Baltimore, United States Curtiss R3C-2  United States James Doolittle 374.28, 232.57
1926 Hampton Roads, United States Macchi M.39 Italy Italy Mario de Bernardi 396.69, 246.50
1927 Venice, Italy Supermarine S.5  United Kingdom Sidney Webster 453.28, 281.66
1929 Calshot Spit, United Kingdom Supermarine S.6  United Kingdom Henry Waghorn 528.89, 328.65
1931 Calshot Spit, United Kingdom Supermarine S.6B  United Kingdom John Boothman 547.31, 340.09

The race was very significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of WW2. The streamlined shape and the low drag, liquid-cooled engine pioneered by Schneider Trophy designs are obvious in the British Supermarine Spitfire, the American P-51 Mustang, and the Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore.

[edit] Schneider Trophy alumni

Reginald J. Mitchell, designer of the winning Supermarine Schneider Trophy entrants, also designed the Supermarine Spitfire. Mario Castoldi, designer of the 1926 winner, the Macchi M.39. Also designed other contestants such as the M.52, the M.52R, the M.67, and the M.C.72. After the M.C.72 Castoldi designed some of the Italian fighters which flew during World War II, such as the MC.202. James Doolittle, winning pilot of the 1925 race, was accomplished in many other areas. He was the first pilot to do an outside loop and the first to perform a successful instrument flight with zero visibility. He also led the famous "Doolittle Raid", a bombing attack on several Japanese targets in April 1942.

The trophy itself has been entrusted to the Royal Aero Club and can be viewed along with the winning Supermarine S.6B floatplane at the London Science Museum Flight exhibition hall. Supermarine S.6, N248, which competed in the 1929 contest but was disqualified, is preserved at Solent Sky maritime museum in Southampton.[8]

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Eves 2001, p. 240.
  2. ^ a b Eves 2001, p. 241.
  3. ^ a b c Eves 2001, p. 242.
  4. ^ Eves 2001, p. 243.
  5. ^ a b Eves 2001, p. 244.
  6. ^ Eves 2001, p. 245.
  7. ^ Gunston 1989, p. 58.
  8. ^ Solent Sky aviation museum

[edit] Bibliography

  • Eves, Edward. The Schneider Trophy Story. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-257-5.
  • Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9

[edit] Further reading

  • Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation (1989) has an extensive article on the Schneider Trophy, see pages 794 to 797.

[edit] External links




Product Results (view all...)

search wiki for    ?
web dir firms image gallery news pdf wiki shop video 



↑ top of page ↑about thumbshots