| High Speed Flight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1927-1931 |
| Country | UK |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Role | Special unit competing for the Schneider Trophy |
| Size | Flight |
| Base | RAF Calshot |
The RAF High Speed Flight, sometimes known as 'The Flight' , was a small flight of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed for the purpose of competing in the Schneider Trophy contest for racing seaplanes during the 1920s. The Flight was together only until the Trophy was won outright, after which it was disbanded.
In the Schneider Trophy race of 1926 both competing countries, Italy and the United States, had used military pilots. There had not been time to arrange a British team to compete. The British defeat of 1925 was held to be the result of technical inferiority and lack of organisation. [1] The Air Ministry therefore agreed to support a British team, with pilots drawn from the RAF, and so the High Speed Flight was formed at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment Felixstowe in preparation for the 1927 race. [2]
For the 1927 competition, six aircraft, from three manufacturers, were taken to Venice: a pair of Supermarine S.5s, three Gloster IVs and a single Short Crusader. The Crusader was slower than the others, and was intended for training, but crashed on 11 September 1927. The cause was later identified as a control rigging error, following re-assembly after the journey from the UK to Venice. [2] [3] [4]
The Supermarine S.5s came in first and second, with neither the Gloster nor the three Italian aircraft completing the race. As the winning nation, the UK would host the following event. This was the last annual competition. Subsequently, the race was held on a biannual schedule, to allow more time for development between races.
| Pilot | Aircraft | Race position |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Lieutenant Samuel Kinkead | Gloster IVB N223 | did not finish |
| Flight Lieutenant Sidney Webster | Supermarine S.5 N220 | 1st place, at 281.65 mph |
| Flight Lieutenant Worsley | Supermarine S.5 N219 | 2nd place, at 272.91 mph |
| Squadron Leader Leonard Slatter | Short Crusader N226 | |
| Flying Officer Harry Methuen Schofield | Short Crusader N226 | did not compete, injured in Crusader crash |
The High Speed Flight was disbanded after the race. The Treasury agreed to fund the aircraft for the next event but the Air Ministry objected initially to the use of serving pilots. This was sorted out and the High Speed Flight reformed. In March 1928, Samuel Kinkead made an attempt on the air speed record using a Supermarine S5. At the approach to the start of the course, however, the aircraft plunged into the water, killing him. [6]
The 1929 Trophy race was to be held at Cowes. With little money forthcoming from the Ministry aircraft and engine development had to be private ventures, with government money only being used to purchase the completed product. The costs of the 1927 and 1929 meetings was stated to be £196,000 and £220,000 respectively. [7] Rolls-Royce had now developed the supercharged R engine, giving Supermarine's designer R.J. Mitchell far more power for his new S.6 than the naturally aspirated Napier Lion VIIB of the S.5. Gloster's first racing monoplane, the Gloster VI, had stayed with the Lion, but was also now supercharged as the Lion VIID.
S.6 N247 came first, piloted by Waghorn, with Atcherley and N248 disqualified for cutting inside a turn. The Gloster VI had been withdrawn before the race, but Stainforth used it to set a new speed record the following day. [8] A record which soon fell in turn to one of the S.6s.
| Pilot | Aircraft | Race position |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Lieutenant Samuel Kinkead | killed 12 March 1928 in accident attempting speed record attempt flying Supermarine S.5 | |
| Flying Officer Henry Waghorn | Supermarine S.6 N247 | 1st place, at 328.6 mph |
| Flying Officer Moon | Engineering Officer | |
| Flight Lieutenant D D'Arcy A. Greig | S.5 | |
| Squadron Leader Augustus Orlebar | Flight Commander Record 357.7 mph in N247 | |
| Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth | Gloster VI N249 | |
| Flying Officer Richard Atcherley | S.6 N248 |
Under the rules of the Schneider Trophy, a third win would be an outright win in perpetuity. The official attitude after the 1929 victory was summed up by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, "We are going to do our level best to win again." [6]
However official support was withdrawn because of the need for economies following the Wall Street crash of October 1929. The Cabinet vetoed RAF involvement and Government funding in a sporting event. Trenchard's view that there was no advantage as aircraft development would continue whether or not the UK competed. [7] The public however had other ideas and backed the idea of a national team. A wealthy benefactor, shipping heiress Lady Lucy Houston, offered to pay £100,000 towards its cost. With the financial burden removed, the Government allowed the RAF to compete again.
The delay in funding meant that there was no time to design a new aircraft to compete; instead, the S.6 design was modified: the output of the R engine was increased by 400 hp to 2,300 hp and the airframe was strengthened, producing S.6B. Two new aircraft were built to this specification and the two existing S.6s were upgraded and renamed S.6A.
In the event, the race itself was an anti-climax - no other countries entered a team. All that had to be done was for one of the aircraft from the flight to complete the course. The plan was thus to attempt to beat the previous race time with one of the S6.Bs, then to either go all-out for a new record attempt, or to use the S6.A to secure the Trophy. [7]
The first goal was met according to plan; Flight Lieutenant Boothman, won in S.6B S1595 at 340.08 mph, 12 mph faster than the 1929 time. [9]
Work then began on the record attempt, which suffered a setback when a minor accident led to S1596 sinking. As a result, both the race and the record were flown by S1595 (now in the Science Museum, London). The engines were swapped for this attempt though, from the "reliable" race tune to the ultimate performance "sprint" engine and its special fuel. Flight Lieutenant Stainforth then achieved a record of 407.5 mph, the first person to travel faster than 400 mph; "the mark that matters", in the words of Ernest Hives. [10] In comparison, land speed records didn't achieve this for 15 years, until after the Second World War and John Cobb's Railton Mobil Special.
| Pilot | Aircraft | Race position |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Lieutenant E.J.L. Hope | ||
| Lieutenant R.L. "Jerry" Brinton (Fleet Air Arm) | ||
| Flight Lieutenant Freddy Long | S.6BS1596 | |
| Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth | S.6B | record attempt planned with S1595, actually with S1596 after accident |
| Squadron Leader A. Orlebar | Flight Commander | |
| Flight Lieutenant John Boothman | S.6B S1595 | 1st place, at 340.08 mph. |
| Flying Officer Leonard Snaith | S.6AN248 | |
| Flight Lieutenant W.F. Dry | Engineering Officer |
The Flight was wound up within weeks of the 1931 victory, it having served its purpose. [9]
In 1946 the High-Speed Flight was re-formed, to attempt the World Air Speed Record. [11] [12] The Flight was under the command of Group Capt. E. M. Donaldson DSO, AFC and would include such notable pilots as Flt. Lt. Neville Duke DSO, DFC, Wing Cdr. Roland Beamont DSO and Squadron Leader W.A. Waterton AFC. Two Meteor IVs, EE549 and EE550, were prepared for the speed record attempts. [13] Their modifications were small, the significant ones being a small uprating to the thrust of the Derwent engines, an aluminium cockpit hood as the normal Perspex hood was softening in the heat at over 600 mph.
The course was set out over 3-km between Littlehampton and Worthing; over five laps Donaldson achieved 616 mph; Waterton 614 mph. [14]
Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE, FRAeS, was a British aircraft designer who worked for the Southampton aviation company Supermarine from 1920 to 1936. He is best remembered for designing racing seaplanes such as the Supermarine S.6B, and the Supermarine Spitfire.
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or Schneider Cup was a trophy awarded annually to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying boats. The Schneider Trophy is now held at the Science Museum, South Kensington, London.
The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963.
The Rolls-Royce R was a British aero engine designed and built specifically for air racing purposes by Rolls-Royce Limited. Nineteen R engines were assembled in a limited production run between 1929 and 1931. Developed from the Rolls-Royce Buzzard, it was a 37-litre capacity, supercharged V-12 capable of producing just under 2,800 horsepower (2,090 kW), and weighed 1,640 pounds (770 kg). Intensive factory testing revealed mechanical failures which were remedied by redesigning the components, greatly improving reliability.
The Supermarine S.6B is a British racing seaplane developed by R.J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931. The S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of the racing seaplane" and represented the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology for the era.
The Supermarine S.6 is a 1920s British single-engined single-seat racing seaplane built by Supermarine. The S.6 continued the line of Supermarine seaplane racers that were designed for Schneider Trophy contests of the late 1920 and 1930s.
The Supermarine S.4 was a 1920s British single-engined single-seat monoplane racing seaplane built by Supermarine to compete in the 1925 Schneider Trophy. It crashed and was destroyed before the competition started.
Mario de Bernardi (1893–1959) was an Italian World War I fighter pilot, seaplane air racer of the 1920s, and test pilot of early Italian experimental jets.
Wing Commander George Hedley Stainforth, was a Royal Air Force pilot and the first man to exceed 400 miles per hour.
The Supermarine S.5 was a 1920s British single-engined single-seat racing seaplane built by Supermarine. Designed specifically for the Schneider Trophy competition, the S.5 was the progenitor of a line of racing aircraft that ultimately led to the Supermarine Spitfire.
The Nieuport Nighthawk was a British fighter aircraft developed by the Nieuport & General Aircraft company for the Royal Air Force towards the end of the First World War. Although ordered into production before the aircraft first flew, it did not enter large scale service with the RAF owing to unreliable engines. Re-engined aircraft did see service in Greece, serving from 1923 to 1938.
The Gloster VI was a racing seaplane developed as a contestant for the 1929 Schneider Trophy by the Gloster Aircraft Company.
Air Vice Marshal Augustus Henry Orlebar, was a British Army and Royal Air Force officer who served in both world wars.
The Short Crusader also called the Short-Bristow Crusader and Short-Bristol Crusader was a British racing seaplane of the 1920s, built by Short Brothers to compete in the 1927 Schneider Trophy race.
The Gloster III was a British racing floatplane of the 1920s intended to compete for the Schneider Trophy air race. A single-engined, single-seat biplane, two were built, with one finishing second in the 1925 race.
The Macchi M.52 was an Italian racing seaplane designed and built by Macchi for the 1927 Schneider Trophy race. The M.52 and a later variant, the M.52bis or M.52R, both set world speed records for seaplanes.
The Gloster II was a British racing floatplane of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane, two were built to compete in the 1924 Schneider Trophy air race. However the crash of the first prototype during testing meant that it could not be made ready for the race, which was postponed. The second aircraft was also lost in a crash.
The Gloster IV was a British racing floatplane of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane, the Gloster IV was a development of the earlier Gloster III intended to compete in the 1927 Schneider Trophy race. One aircraft competed in the race, but retired part way through. The three aircraft built continued to be used as trainers by the High Speed Flight for several years.
The Fiat C.29 was an Italian racing seaplane designed by Celestino Rosatelli and built in the late-1920s by Fiat Aviazione especially for the 1929 Schneider Trophy air race. Unused in the race, of the three aircraft built, two were destroyed in flying accidents while the third is on display in a museum.
Air Vice Marshal Sidney Norman Webster, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force and an aviator who flew the winning aircraft in the 1927 Schneider Trophy seaplane race.