FlyPast 12.2018

64 FLYPAST December 2018

SPOT FACT Just one Supermarine Sea Lion II was

ever built – it won the 1922 trophy

and floatplanes found significant

employment. ‘Tommy’ Sopwith’s

faith in the Tabloid was more

than rewarded, and a string of

military biplanes carrying his name

followed. Here was a foretaste of

what investment in Schneider’s

competition could produce.

Sea Lion era

It was 1919 before the Schneider

competition was staged again, at

Bournemouth, Dorset. Supermarine

managing director, Hubert Scott-

Paine, was resolved that the event was

an ideal showcase for the company.

Assisted by Mitchell, designer F J

Hargreaves created the Sea Lion I

single-seat biplane flying-boat coded

G-EALP. It was Hargreaves’ last

venture for Supermarine, Mitchell

taking over the drawing office before

the end of 1919 (see panel for details

of Supermarine Schneider types.)

Test pilot Basil Hobbs had to

retire on the first lap, the Sea Lion

suffering a holed hull. But he was

not alone; the rest of the starters

either withdrew or crashed. Guido

Jannello managed 11 erroneous laps

and, on the strength of this, Italy

was awarded the right to host the

next contest.

At Venice in 1920, the Italians

had a walk-over with a Savoia S.12

and at the same venue a year later,

competed against themselves in

a variety of Macchi types. Scott-

Paine was determined the Italians

would not get the ‘triple’ and, with

the help of engine manufacturer

Napier, and Shell and Wakefield

Oil, entered the fray.

Mitchell conceived the Sea Lion

II biplane, G-EBAH. British-born,

Anglo-French test pilot Henri Biard

took the ’boat into the air for the

first time in July 1922. Soon he

was flying G-EBAH at more than

150mph and he could roll and

spin it; Britain had a winner on its

hands. So, on August 12, Henri beat

three Italian Macchis and won at

145.72mph.

Britain hosted the next

competition, at Cowes, Isle of

Wight, across the Solent from the

Supermarine works. The 1922

winner was redesignated the Sea

Lion III, but was outclassed by the

two streamlined American Curtiss

CR-3 biplane floatplanes.

Unsung S.4

The stakes were being raised

every time and ‘works’ teams were

being stretched to the limit. The

British aircraft industry could

not be expected to fund the next

generation of racers on its own.

Thankfully, the Air Ministry stepped

in, ordering a pair of Gloster III

biplanes and a single S.4 monoplane

from Supermarine for the 1925

tournament, to be staged in

Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore, USA.

FlyPast readers may be familiar

with the S.5 and S.6 racing

floatplanes, but the S.4 was the real

mould-breaker, pioneering the way

Above right

R J Mitchell (centre)

with RAF and Royal

Navy offi cers at

Calshot, 1931. KEC

Right

S.5s N219 and N220

dismantled and

trailer-mounted

either bound for,

or returned from,

Venice in 1927. PETER

GREEN COLLECTION

Below right

An advertisement

declaring the role

that high-grade,

ethyl-based fuel

• developed by
  Manchester-based
  specialist Pratts –
  played in the
  1929 win. KEC

for its more sophisticated successors.

Constructed largely of wood, the

S.4 had a mid-set cantilever wing,

a cockpit well aft, and tubular steel

struts supporting all-metal floats. Air

Ministry backing meant Mitchell

could tap the resources of the Royal