The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying boats. In 1931 Britain met the conditions to retain the Trophy permanently; it was held at the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.
The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race took place in October 1934 as part of the Melbourne Centenary celebrations. The race was devised by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sir Harold Gengoult Smith, and the prize money of £15,000 was provided by Sir Macpherson Robertson, a wealthy Australian confectionery manufacturer, on the conditions that the race be named after his MacRobertson confectionery company, and that it was organised to be as safe as possible. A further condition was that a gold medal be awarded to each pilot who completed the course within 16 days.
Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previously estimated time.
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia. Of the six entries that started the race, the winners were pilot Ross Smith, his brother Keith Smith as co-pilot, and mechanics James Bennett and Wally Shiers, in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber.
The Miles M.77 Sparrowjet was a twin-engined jet-powered racing aircraft built by the British aircraft manufacturer F.G. Miles Limited. It was a one-off conversion, involving the fitting of Turbomeca Palas turbojet engines to the prototype Miles Sparrowhawk, enabling the aircraft to achieve higher performance than could be achieved with its conventional piston engine arrangement.
Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew from Heston to Germany three times in two weeks for talks with Adolf Hitler, and returned to Heston from the Munich Conference with the paper referred to in his later "Peace for our time" speech from 10 Downing Street.
The Percival Mew Gull is a British racing aircraft of the 1930s. It is a small single-engined single-seat low-wing monoplane of wooden construction, normally powered by a six-cylinder de Havilland Gipsy Six piston engine. During the second half of the 1930s Mew Gulls dominated air-racing in the UK, consistently recorded the fastest times until the outbreak of war stopped all civilian flying in late 1939. In addition examples set many long-distance records. Its top speed was 265 mph (425 km/h) on a modest 205 hp (153 kW) in its final 1939 form.
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.
Lympne Airport was a military and later civil airfield, at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returning from, France but was later designated as a First Class Landing Ground, RAF Lympne. It became a civil airfield in 1919 and saw the operation of early air mail services after the 1918 armistice. It was one of the first four airfields in the United Kingdom with customs facilities.
Flight Lieutenant Cyril Burfield Ridley was a British World War I flying ace, who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force, before being killed in a flying accident in 1920.
The Comper Mouse was a 1930s British three-seat cabin monoplane designed by Nicholas Comper, and built by the Comper Aircraft Company at Heston Aerodrome in 1933.
The de Havilland T.K.2 was a British 1930s single-engined monoplane, designed by students of the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School. It won two races before World War II, and afterwards set a class closed circuit speed record.
The European Air Racing Championship is a handicapped air race arranged by the Royal Aero Club Records, Racing and Rally Association.
The Cody Michelin Cup Biplane was an experimental aircraft designed and built in Britain during 1910 by Samuel Franklin Cody, a prominent showman and aviation pioneer. Cody had worked with the British Army on experiments with man-lifting kites and in October 1908 had successfully built and flown the British Army Aeroplane No 1, making the first officially verified powered flight in the United Kingdom. Cody broke the existing endurance record twice in the aircraft, the second flight, made on 31 December 1910, winning him the Michelin Cup for the longest-lasting flight made over a closed circuit in the United Kingdom before the end of the year.
In the early 1980s the British Air Racing Championship was developed with the reformation of the Royal Aero Club Competition Committee into the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association (3R), allocating points according to position in the field at the finish of each air race, accumulating throughout a racing season.
Air Commodore Arthur Edmond Clouston, was a New Zealand-born British test pilot and senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He took part in several air races and record-breaking flights in the 1930s.
Charles Douglas Barnard was a British pilot, who took part in 1920s air races and record-breaking flights.
The Grosvenor Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Grosvenor Cup, was a trophy presented by Lord Edward Grosvenor in 1923 to the winner of a light aircraft time trial competition. Entries were initially restricted to British designs using aero engines of less than 150 horsepower. The first competitions were held at Lympne Aerodrome in Kent. The contest continued until 1935 with a break to 1949 when the Royal Aero Club resumed the races at Elmdon where the entry was opened to British and international designs with a weight less than 1,000 kilograms.
Cramlington Aerodrome was a military airfield established in Northumberland during the First World War. It became a civil airfield serving the Tyneside area of north-east England and operated until 1935, when it was replaced by Woolsington Airport, now known as Newcastle International Airport.
Winifred Sawley Brown was an English sportswoman, aviator and author. She was the first woman to win the King's Cup air race. The race has been running annually since 1922.
