FlyPast 12.2018

Hawker

Typhoon

SPOT FACT Between 1913 and 1931 the

winning speed increased by nearly 300mph

76 FLYPAST December 2018

country had celebrated victory in

the Schneider Trophy. The RAV was

given three primary objectives; to

establish the absolute world speed

record, to break the absolute world

speed record over a 100km closed

circuit, and to secure victory in

the Coppa Blériot (Blériot Cup).

Developing and refining the engine

and aircraft took up most of 1932,

but thanks to the incredible efforts

of the RAV’s technical team, led by

Armando Palanca with the support

of fuel expert Rodney Banks, the

AS.6’s fuel issues were resolved

in early 1933, leading to an

impressive demonstration of the

MC.72 and AS.6 combination’s

exceptional potential.

Grasping for glory

In 1933 Maresciallo (Warrant

Officer) Francesco Agello was

selected for the attempt on the

world record (once again the Italians

placed more emphasis on the

technical and handling skill of their

pilots, rather than higher rank). On

April 10 after preparatory flights

over Lake Garda, Agello became the

fastest pilot in the world achieving

a speed of 682.078km/h. Intent

on doing even better, Bernasconi

and the RAV continued working

towards their ultimate goal of

breaking the 700km/h barrier. A

few months later, on September

23, 1933, Capitano Osvaldo Baldi

and Tenente Giovanni Buffa won

the 1,140km Coppa Bibesco

Rome to Bucharest air race flying

in a two-seat Fiat CR.30, covering

the route in 3hrs 12mins and

at an average speed of 221mph

(356km/h). On October 8, 1933,

Maggiore Guglielmo Cassinelli set

the absolute world speed record

over 100km at an average of

in tandem with a compressor,

thus arriving at the new AS.6.

This solution delivered numerous

benefits, including ease of working

with an already ‘known’ engine,

and the adoption of two reduced-

dimension contra-rotating

propellers. This layout counteracted

the torque produced by each engine

individually, as well as generating

a straight exhaust trail, rather

than a vortex, which alleviated the

chance of toxic gases entering the

cockpit. Another feature was that

the AS.6, in practice, comprised

two distinct 12-cylinder engine

blocks, mechanically independent,

in 60° V-shapes. In general, around

2,800hp was achieved but bench

trials ran to 3,000hp.

Macchi’s MC.72 was an

amalgamation of the best

technologies, but the engine

required considerable development

due to fuel-feed defects and a

dangerous backfire problem. The

latter issue was probably responsible

for two tragic accidents, which

cost the lives of pilots Monti and

Bellini. Finding a solution was

going to necessitate extended

development and trials time, and so

Italy asked the British to postpone

the contest. Faced with a refusal,

the Regia Aeronautica cancelled

its participation for 1931, leaving

Britain’s two Supermarine S.6Bs as

the only entrants. France had also

pulled out as its entry wasn’t ready.

Conscious of the technical and

professional achievements of the

Scuola, Italian Air Minister Balbo

tasked Colonnello Bernasconi’s

unit with breaking the world

speed record of 655.8km/h,

which had been established

by British pilot Flt Lt George

Stainforth, a few days after the

Below

Seen at the beginning

of its record-breaking

fl ight in 1933, the

Macchi MC.72 is

pushed into the water

by groundcrew.

629.730km/h, while on October 21,

Tenente Pietro Scapinelli easily won

the Coppa Blériot time trial (seen

as a replacement for the Schneider

Trophy event), performing the 30

minutes of flight required at an

average speed of 619.374km/h. So

concluded a year of rich success for

Italy and the RAV, but refusing to

settle with their achievements so

far, efforts intensified to go even

faster. It was annoyingly misty

on October 23, 1934 and the

conditions prevented Francesco

Agello, at the controls of MC.72

MM 181, from having full view

of the course. Despite completing

just four of the five laps required,

and possibly convinced the weather

had hampered his chances, he still

managed to exceed the benchmark

by recording an average speed

of 709.209km/h, a performance

verified by the Federation

Aeronautique Internationale in the

‘seaplane with internal combustion

engine category’ (sub-class C-2,

Gruppo 1).

The speeds recorded for

the successive passes were:

705.882km/h, 710.433km/h,

711.426km/h and 709.034km/h.

Although happy with the results,

both Bernasconi and Agello

were not totally satisfied. They

were convinced that with better

meteorological conditions they

could have recorded a higher speed

particularly as during a previous

unofficial flight, the MC.72 had

exceeded 730km/h. Nevertheless,

with the imminent arrival of

winter, and considering every

record attempt required complex

and expensive organisation, they

persuaded the leaders of the RAV

to accept the still-

impressive outcome.