FlyPast 12.2018

December 2018 FLYPAST 71

SPOT FACT Only Italy entered

the 1920 competition

Spotlight on Italian

Schneider racers

mph (528.80km/h) was the average speed of the winning Supermarine S.6 in 1929

328.64328.64

allions

1928, the Ministero dell’Aria (Italian

Air Ministry) asked manufacturers

to build aircraft which, having been

assessed by company test pilots,

would then be operated by the Regia

Aeronautica and flown by pilots

chosen from its ranks. The merit

of the aviators aside, Italy’s strategy

for these increasingly technical and

sophisticated competitions was

shown to be lacking when its team

suffered a bitter defeat in Venice,

in 1927. It was realised then that

a co-ordinated effort was required,

combining pilot training, support

personnel and aircraft development

into a single operational entity, and

the High Speed School was seen as

the answer.

Sprung

from adversity

First we need to go back to 1925

following the Italian defeat at

Baltimore. The Macchi M.3, a

seaplane with a conventional hull,

had been designed specifically for

that Schneider Trophy race and when

it failed to win, the Italians threw

everything they had at preparing for

the following year’s event in Norfolk,

Virginia, USA. They were supported

by the Ministero dell’Aeronautica,

which recognised that the event’s

increasing popularity presented an

exceptional propaganda opportunity.

And so Macchi’s designer Mario

Castoldi was tasked with designing

an improved seaplane powered

Luigino Caliaro outlines Italy’s most

successful Schneider Trophy races, and

world speed record attempts