FlyPast 12.2018

Hawker

Typhoon

SPOT FACT John Boothman, who won in 1931,

became a post-war RAF Air Chief Marshal

66 FLYPAST December 2018

tunnels at the RAE and the National

Physical Laboratory at Teddington,

Middlesex. The wing surfaces carried

radiators, and fuselage-mounted

corrugated oil coolers helped to tame

the tightly cowled 900hp (671.4kW)

12-cylinder Napier Lion VII.

Flt Lt Oscar Worsley carried out

the maiden flight of the first S.5,

N219, on June 7, 1927. In Venice,

Worsley took second place, N219

averaging 273mph. The race was

won by Flt Lt Sidney Webster in S.5

N220 at 281mph.

The RAF flying-boat base at

Calshot Spit, where Southampton

Water flowed into the Solent, was

the venue for the next bout, which

was delayed until 1929. Meanwhile,

the RAFHSF had a crack at the

world air speed record. On March

12, 1928 Flt Lt Samuel Kinkead was

killed when the third S.5, N221,

failed to pull out of a dive at the

beginning of the attempt.

Ultimate racer

Newly elected Labour Prime

Minister Ramsay MacDonald

attended the 1929 contest. The

Italians fielded Macchi M.52s and

M.67s, but Britain introduced the

ultimate Supermarine racer, the S.6

and it was in this machine that Fg

Off Henry Waghorn seized victory

at 328mph.

At Supermarine, Mitchell took

all he had learned to produce the

all-metal S.6, which adhered to

the S.5’s winning format but was

slightly larger. Again, he made every

inch of the airframe work hard for

its living. The wing surfaces acted as

radiators, the fuselage sides helped

to cool the oil, the floats were fuel

tanks and housed engine coolant,

and the forward struts supported the

engine as well as the floats. Even the

fin was used as an oil tank

and cooler.

But the masterstroke was to forsake

the Napier Lion, which had run out

of ‘growth’, and adopt the untried

Rolls-Royce ‘R’ (for ‘Racing’). This

was a geared development of the

Buzzard V-12 that powered the

Blackburn Perth and Short Singapore

flying-boats, among others.

The Derby engine manufacturer

used high-duty alloys, a back-to-back

supercharger for minimal frontal area,

the latest in propeller technology and

innovative fuel mixtures. The first ‘R’

was bench run on April 7, 1929.

Sqn Ldr Augustus Henry Orlebar

first flew S.6 N247 on August

10, 1929, just 28 days before the

competition began. Sister-ship N248

took to the air a mere 13 days before

the ‘off ’. After the race, on September

12, Orlebar, also flying N247, seized

the world absolute speed record

at 357.7mph.

British triple

Pleased with the 1929 win, the Prime

Minister pledged there would be a

British team for the next Schneider,

scheduled for 1931. But, when push

came to shove, the funds were not

made available and the RAFHSF was

stood down.

It was time for Lady Lucy ‘Poppy’

Houston to step forward. A former

music hall dancer and suffragette,

she was the widow of a shipping

magnate and no lover of Ramsay

Macdonald’s government.

The sum of £100,000 was needed

to fund the RAF element of the

race and Lady Houston was happy

to sign a cheque. On January 13,

1930 the RAFHSF was re-formed at

Felixstowe and preparations for what

could well be the last-ever Schneider

went ahead.

As it transpired, Britain was the

only competitor at Calshot in 1931.

Just turning up was not enough,

though, as the course had to be flown

flawlessly to secure the ‘Flying Flirt’.

On September 13, 1931 Flt Lt John

Boothman put the throttle forward

to 3,200rpm as all 2,350hp of S.6B

S1596’s Rolls-Royce ‘R’ kicked in.

He worked hard to correct the swing,

then suddenly boat turned into

aircraft and he climbed for height.

Blasting past the start and finish

line, the pier at Ryde on the Isle

of Wight, he turned left abeam

Bembridge Harbour and headed

northeast for West Wittering on

the Hampshire coast. Reaching

the shoreline, he hauled hard on

the stick for the longest leg of the

course, sharp left due west passing

Hayling Island, Portsmouth and

The RAF flying-boat base at

Calshot Spit, where Southampton

Right

Gloster VI N249 at

Calshot for the 1929

contest. The type’s

troublesome 1,320hp

Napier Lion VIIDs

forced the pair to be

withdrawn. KEC

Above

Third in the 1929

contest, Flt Lt David

D’Arcy Greig of the

RAFHSF poses with a

model S.5. KEC

Above right

S.6 N248

masquerading as

‘S1596’ at Horse

Guard’s Parade,

London, September

1968. Today, it is on
      show at Solent Sky
      in Southampton.
      ROY BONSER