December 2018 FLYPAST 65Spotlight on British
Schneider racersvictory was recorded by France, in 1913, the rst year of the competition
Event Engine Span Length Empty weight Max speed
hp (kW) ft-in (m) ft-in (m) lb (kg) mph (km/h)
Sea Lion 1919 Napier Lion 1A 35-0 (10.66) 26-4 (8.02) 2,000 (907) 147 (236)
450 (335.7)
Sea Lion II 1922 Napier Lion II 32-0 (9.75) 24-9 (7.54) 2,115 (959) 160 (257)
450 (335.7)
Sea Lion III 1923 Napier Lion III 28-0 (8.53) 28-0 (8.53) 2,400 (1,088) 175 (281)
525 (391.6)
S.4 1924 Napier Lion VII 30-7 (9.33) 26-7 (8.12) 2,600 (1,179) 231 (372)
680 (507.2)
S.5 1927 Napier Lion VIIA 26-9 (8.15) 24-3 (7.4) 2,680 (1,215) 319 (514)
900 (671.4)
S.6 1929 Rolls-Royce ‘R’ 30-0 (9.14) 26-10 (8.17) 4,471 (2,028) 357 (575)
1,900 (1,417.4)
S.6B 1931 Rolls-Royce ‘R’ 30-0 (9.14) 28-10 (8.79) 4,590 (2,082) 407 (655)
2,300 (1,715.8)Supermarine Schneider Racers11
Nearing perfection
Italian fascist dictator Benito
Mussolini threw all his country’s
assets at the contest, held at
Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA,
in 1926. Britain did not enter; it
was keeping its powder dry for the
following year. The USA and Italy
slogged it out, with the latter taking
the laurels in a Macchi M.39.
This must have helped the British
Air Minister, Sir Samuel Hoare,
decide not only to absorb the cost
of the aircraft, but to turn to the
RAF. In 1926, the High Speed Flight
(RAFHSF) was formed at Felixstowe,
Suffolk, and
began training
pilots for an assault
on the coveted
Schneider Trophy.
Marshal of the RAF
Hugh Montague
Trenchard was less than
impressed: “I can see
nothing of value in it.”He was battling expenditure cuts
and disliked making ‘personalities’
out of his men. But Hoare had
got the message: “A victory meant
greater prestige of British industry
and, even if we did not win, the
making of the machines and
the engines was certain to add
considerably to our knowledge
about speed and its effect upon men
and materials.”
The government Air Estimates for
1926-27 included £100,000 outlay
for the race, which was to be held in
Venice. Three Supermarine S.5s, a
trio of Gloster IV biplanes and a
single Short-Bristow Crusader
monoplane were ordered.
While the S.4 did not get to
compete, it was a record-holder and
taught Mitchell all he needed to
know to create the S.5. Its mixed
construction, semi-monocoque
duralumin fuselage and low-
set wooden wings with wire
bracing were proven in windAircraft Establishment (RAE) to
perfect the wing section.
Early in 1925, Supermarine had
flown the prototype Southampton
five-crew, twin-engined biplane
patrol flying-boat. It was hard to
believe that both it and the S.4 were
born on the same drawing boards.
Henri Biard took the S.4 for
its maiden flight on August 25.
Nineteen days later, he clinched
a world air speed record of
226.75mph in it. But portents for
the race were not good. Biard broke
his wrist on the voyage across the
Atlantic and was then struck by the
flu. On October 23, the S.4 side-
slipped violently and plummeted
into the water; Biard was swiftly
rescued. James ‘Jimmy’ Doolittle
clinched the trophy for the USA in a
Curtiss R3C-2 biplane.
Left
Calshot Spit fl ying-boat
base looking northeast
into Southampton Water,
in the late 1920s. The
castle can be seen beyond
the large, white hangar to
the right. KECBelow
If the wooden fl oat stand
is anything to go by, this
is S.6B S1595 receiving
attention on the ramp
at Calshot, in
September 1931. KEC