Schneider Trophy Races

Jacques Schneider was an accomplished hydroplane racer.
After  being introduced to flying by Louis Bleriot and  Wilber
Wright  he  began to  think  about  combining hydroplane and
 aircraft  racing. In December 1912 while in  Chicago  for  the
Gordon Bennett Aviation Cup races he offered to support  an
 annual  contest for seaplanes with a trophy and  prize money
 for the first three years. Schneider was looking for designers
to  produce  practical   airplanes  that  could  operate  from
large  bodies of water for  transportation.  The  aero club of
 any  country  winning   the trophy  three times  in  five years
 would become the permanent trophy holder and the contest
 would end.


 
Schneider Trophy

April 16, 1913 - 28 laps of a 10-km. course

France,  the leader in aviation technology  posted three strong contenders
for the  first  Schneider race. The  USA  sent  only one. France's  Maurice 
 Provost was off first, followed by Roland Garros who swamped his engine
on  takeoff and had to be towed back to the start. Charles Weymann  and
Gabriel  Espanet  were off and  gaining  on Provost. The  Nieuport's had a
speed advantage over the Deperdussin but Provost's flying skill in the four
 turns  kept  him  in  the lead.  As  the race  went  on Garros and Weymann
withdrew. On lap 25 Espanet's engine suffered a oil line break forcing him
 to land. Now  Provost  landed on the water and taxied over  the  finish line.
The rules of the race called for  flying  over the  finish line  to complete  the
race  but  Provost  refused. Garros than started  his now  dried out engine
 and took off. This  caused  Provost to reconsider, he took off and flew over
   the finish line to win. 1913 was the only year a French entry finished the race
 
 

   
Deperdussin                                                                Nieuport

April 20, 1914 - 28 laps of a 10 km. course

The two  French entries, Gabriel Espanet  &  Pierre Levasseur  were the first off. 
Switzerland's Ernest Burri's flying boat experienced difficulty getting off the water.
 Howard  Paxton  was off  last  and  it soon became  apparent the  British Sopwith
Tabloid  had  superior speed,  building  a great  lead  even  though one of the nine
 cylinders of the Gnome rotary engine was misfiring, but the other eight  preformed
 extremely  well. Levasseur  and  Espanet  both experienced  engine failures  when
  the second row of their twin row engines overheated  and seized. The Swiss F.B.A
    seaplane had to land and refuel but managed to get off the waterand finish the race.
Howard Pixton's  1914  Schneider win gave Britain its first big international victory.

 

     
Fairey                                                                                Spad



      
Sea Lion                                                                       Sopwith

Savoia 13

September 20-21 1920, - 10 laps of a 37.5 km. course

As the 1920 Schneider Races approached, both England and France were looking
at economic  downturns. England  was unable  to  attract any entries for the  race.
Switzerland was not interested. Italy the host  country for 1920 was able to secure
a rule  change which  required an  additional  660  pounds  of  ballast to all racers.
The  reason for the  change was the fact Jacques Schneider conceived the race to
 promote  the  advancement  of passenger  carrying  seaplanes  and  the extra 660
pounds  would  represent  the weight  of some passengers. This  extra  weight of
course favored  the larger Italian flying boats. France entered one aircraft and the
                                   Italians entered a total of four bi-plane flying boats.   Italy's Macchi M.7 piloted by                                            
Giovanni de Briganti the only one to finish, won the race.

 
                    
Macchi M.7                                                         Macchi Naval M.7






August 6-7, 1921 - Venice, Italy, - 16 laps 24.6 km.Course

Italy  the host nation introduced some new rules to stop the possibility of production
of special light weight race planes. In 1920 the additional rule was to requiring each
race  plane carry 660 pounds of ballast. This year was to additional sea worthy and
a 6 hr floatation test.  A new 5,000F registration  deposit was added to discourage
 unrealistic  entries. French pilot Sadi Lecointe on a practice run made a hard landing
bending  the float struts  and damaging the floats. With the French out it would be a
 guaranteed  Italian win. The  52 ft. wingspan  two  man  crew Italian  Macchi M.19's
  engine caught fire when it's crankshaft broke, Pilot Artuo Zanetti was able to land the
   M.19 safely and both crew members survived. Italy has now won two years in a row.

        
Macchi M.7                                                                        Macchi M.19

August 10-12, 1922 - 13 laps of a 28.5-km. course

With  two victories behind them  and  the  home field  advantage, Italy was looking for the trophy.
France  and  Italy  had  government  funding, however  Great Britain   had to depend on a private
sponsor by the name  of   Hurbert Scott-Paine.  Also  the D Napier Company  agreed to supply a
Lion  engine  plus  both Shell  and   Wakefield promised  to furnish  all the necessary fuel and oil.
Reginald   Mitchell  added  his input to the redesign of the  450 hp   Napier Lion engine creating a
fast airplane. All pilots tried to access the skills of the other pilots while trying not to show theirs.
The  Italians race  strategy was to bunch together at  the turns to  try to  keep the  Sea Lion from
passing the but  Biard just flew over the top of them. When  Passaleva's Savoia tried to pass, his
propeller started  vibrating  causing him to reduce power. Biard won keeping the Schneider alive. 

          
Sea Lion II                                                             Savoia S. 51


                       
Macchi M.17                                                                 Macchi M. 7

September 27-28, 1923 - (5 laps of a 68.9 km. course)
 

The  race  at  Cowes, England attracted entries from France, Great Britain and USA. Italy
was  not  able to field  any entries due  to  lack of  funding by the  government at the time.
The  governments  of France  and Great Britain were also lacking funding for  new planes.
Two of the American entries were  proven  race plane designs adapted as seaplanes with
newly  designed Curtiss  D-12 engines. The American pilots were trained in racing as part
of  their military flight training. With no funding for new aircraft  Supermarine relied on Sea
Lion  but it was out-classed by the  two  new  US  Navy  aircraft. The French C.A.M.S. 38
 suffered damage in a collision and the C.A.M.S. 36bis never arrived for the race at Cowes.
The  American  one-two victory saw  the race change for it's original intent to develop new
seaplanes for transportation to an all out speed aircraft speed event. The Americans with
no  competition for the  1924  races could have gained an easy victory but declared a 'no
contest' which was most generous.
 

        
Curtiss CR-3                                                   Curtiss CR-3


           
   Sea Lion III                                                       CAMS 38
 

October 26, 1925 - 7 laps of a 50km. course
 

Preparations at Baltimore for the Schneider Races were not good. No hangars had been
built and no crew quarters were available for the arriving British teams. The weather was
not good with heavy rains and strong winds to add to the many problems of setting up.
1925 would be the first year for monoplane racers and for R.J. Mitchell's first Schneider
design. The Supermarine designed by Mitchell employed a cantilever wing (the only one)
with  flaps  that could be operated also as ailerons. Supermarine pilot Henry Biard flying
 a navigability test went into a vertical bank and the racer stalled, crashing into the water.
  Able to escape the crash uninjured, Biard was convinced it was aileron flutter that caused
  the stall. This year the British team received government aid, but the Italian team received
    no  financial aid. Two used Curtiss D-12 engines were loaned to the Italian team by the US.
One of the US Curtiss fighters entered had several weeks before won the  Pulitzer Race.
US Army pilot 1st Lieutenant Jimmy Doolittle would fly the same plane now equipped with
floats. Doolittle was off the water first with Broad next in the Gloster III. Doolittle's ability
   to take very tight pylon turns at full speed was not matched by either by Cuddihy or Oftsie.
  Britain's Gloster III not able to match Doolittle's speed came in second. The other two US
   Curtiss  racers  retired with engine problems. Italy's  Macchi M.33  finished  in  third place.

              
Curtiss CR-3                                                      Gloster III       


                              
Macchi M. 33                                                   Curtiss R3C-2       

November 12-13, 1926 Hampton Roads, VA  7 Laps of a 50 km. course

                     
           Macchi M. 39                                                               Curtiss R3C-2      


                              

Boat Pylon

1927 Poster


Italy, produced  four  new monoplane  Macchi M.52 racers with improved engines.
The  M.52's  proved difficult to fly and were  plagued with engine cooling problems.
A  private US company was developing a plane with a 24 cylinder 1,250 hp engine
for Navy Lieutenant Al Williams to fly but was unable to complete the racer in time. 
Britain  entered  three  Gloster biplanes  and two Supermarine monoplanes all with
the same engine.  The Italian crowd of 200,000  spectators  were  disappointed to
 see  all  four Macchi  52's out due to engine failure. The two Supermarine's finished
the  race with  Sidney Webster's No 4 winning at close to 300 mph. The Schneider
Trophy racers with their streamlined floats were now flying faster than land planes.

September 26, 1927  Venice, Italy  7 laps of a 50km. course

September 6-7, 1929 Isle of Man, England  7 laps of a 50km. course

Jacques Schneider died in 1928 and the event was cancelled for the year.
France  built three aircraft  for this years race but soon realized they were
not going to be contenders. Germany displayed an interest but their racer
never  went  beyond  the  drawing board.  The Italian government made a
major effort to regain the trophy with several new innovative designs. One
  design called for the floats to be replaced with hydrofoils. This unusual craft
 was not popular with  pilots, several were  refusing to fly it. Another design
 mounted  two 1,000 hp  engines  mounted  in  tandem  back  to  back  with
very  long  floats to support the single tail. These  two  extreme  examples
 did  not  appear as starters.  The Macchi M.39  was  upgraded  to a  M.67
using  a advanced 1,800 hp Asso V-18 engine driving a three bladed prop.
This  hot  new engine had not undergone  sufficient  testing  and  the Italian
public  expressed  their  concern  when  several engines either exploded or
seized  during  test runs. However  three M.67's were built with 27 engines
  available to use. During a early test run the pilot of a M.67 reached a speed
of  362  mph but  a short time  later the racer went into a dive and crashed
killing  the pilot.  The Italian  government  asked  the  Royal  Aero  Club  to
postpone  the race till next year  but  was  refused. The first M.67's engine
  caught fire on the first pylon turn and the second one completed one lap and
 had to land.
 

September 13, 1931 - Isle of Wight, England  7 laps of a 50km. course

Sometime in the early part of 1931 the British Parliament decided not to enter
a  RAF team in the Schneider Race leaving the private sector to organize and
run  the  event. Lady Lucy Huston, perhaps the richest woman in Europe was
contacted for financial help. Lady Huston agreed to donate £100,00 to enable
Britain to enter the contest. The Prime Minister was quick to allow the RAF to
defend  the  Schneider Trophy. Supermarine and Rolls-Royce agreed to start
work  to  upgrade existing  aircraft and engines and Rolls-Royce managed to
increase  power  on the  R engine to 2,300hp. Two new  aircraft were built, a
S6B and two S6's were upgraded. Italy developed the MC. 72 two were sent
sending  it  to their  training base, however they were plagued with carburetor
 problems. During a training flight a MC.72 experienced a engine back fire and
 crashed  killing  the  pilot.  Only two  days before a second  MC. 72 on a high
speed run crashed  into high ground. The  two  crashes  and  other problems
caused Italy  to withdraw. France  and  Germany  both  had plans  but  were
 unable to complete any aircraft. With the British unopposed, the race became
a 'fly-over'. RAF pilot John Boothman would complete the race at the average
speed of 340.08  mph winning the Schneider Trophy for Great Britain.  On 29
  September George Stainforth in a S.6B set a world speed record of 407.5mph.


 

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