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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0777.PDF
OCTOBER 6, 1927 THE BRITISH SCHNEIDER TEAM : This photograph, taken at St. Andrea, shows the two types of British machines in the race, the Gloster IV on the left and the Supermarine S.5 on the right. In front of the machines are seen, among others: First Row—L. E. Coombes, Capt. Forsythe (Air Ministry), Flying-Officer Schofield, Flight-Lieut. Kinkead, Wing-Commander Fletcher, Flight-Lieut. Worsley (second in the race), Air Vice-Marshal Scarlett (Commander of the R.A.F. team), Flight-Lieut. Webster (winner of the race), Sqdn.-Ldr. Slatter, Flying- Officer Moon (Technical Officer of the team), Maj. Buchanan (Air Ministry) Mr. Ransome, and Mr. Reason. Second Row Mr. E. Scott, Sir Harry Brittain (Director of Napiers), Mr. Vane (Managing Director of Napiers), Mr. Folland Idesigner of the Gloster IV), Mr. Mitchell (designer of Supermarine S.5), Commander Bird (Man- aging Director of the Supermarine firm) and Mr. R. E. G. Smith. was able to " keep her going " with no appreciable loss of speed. Fit.-Lieut. Worsley, running a very consistent race, swept right over the heads of the crowd at a height of only 30 ft., and incidentally gave a truly awe-inspiring impression of the terrific speed of which his Supermarine-Napier S.5 is capable. At about this period, the most thrilling incident of the whole race occurred. Out at sea, on the long Chioggia to Porto di Lido leg of the course, the crowd suddenly realised that Capt. Guazzetti (Macchi Fiat No. 5), and Fit.-Lieut. Webster (Supermarine-Napier S.5 N 220) were having a " dust-up " •on approaching the Porto di Lido turn, both going " all out." It was at once evident that a terrific race actually on the turn would be witnessed, and it was extremely interesting to •compare the methods of the two pilots. About half a mile from the pylon, Fit.-Lieut. Webster was some three or four hundred yards behind the Italian, and then the Supermarine- Napier appeared to cut in sharply directly towards the pylon, travelling at a tremendous pace, and gaining ground on his •opponent. The Macchi-Fiat, however, actually reached the turn first, a bare half-second before the British machine began to bank. ( np. Guazzetti sturted on the long climbing turn that one had come to expect, and was obviously losing speed as he reached a height of perhaps two hundred feet. Meantime, the Supermarine-Napier monoplane swept round in a beautiful fast banking turn, and it was quite a breathless moment to see him " flatten out " a fraction of a second before the Italian. The latter than came down in a terrific dive in an endeavour to regain his lost momentum, and the two machines came down the straight past the Excelsior amidst tumultuous excitement. As they shot by it was seen that Fit.-Lieut. Webster had gained an advantage, and to everybody's astonishment, the scarlet Italian monoplane steered a course right round at the back of the " Excelsior " Hotel, and about 150 yards inland. By the time the two machines reached Malamocco the Englishman had gained a considerable lead. The times for the fifth laps were as follows : Fit.-Lieut. Kinkead, 6 mins. 55 sees. ; Fit.-Lieut. Webster, 6 mins. M sees. ; Capt. Guazzetti, 7 mins. 27 sees. ; Fit.-Lieut. Worsley, 6 mins. 48 sees. It will be seen from these times that Fit.-Lieut. Kinkead and Capt. Guazzctti were both .-siowing-up a trifle, and their sixth laps brought disaster to them both. The Gloster-Xapier IV was unfortunately forced to retire (the actual cause is not definitely known), but Fit.-Lieut. Kinkead was able to make a good landing within the Canale Tre Porti. Upon just completing his sixth lap, Cap. Guazzetti (Macchi- 1'iat No. 5) was compelled to make a forced landing owing to engine trouble, and this, of course, put him out of the race. The times for the sixth laps were :—Fit.-Lieut. Webster, •6 mins. 37 sees.; Capt. Guazzetti, 7 mins. 18 sees.; lit.-Lieut. "Worsley, 6 mins. 47 sees. In their last laps both the Supermarine-Napiers put up a wonderfully consistent performance, and after finishing across the timing line, Fit-Lieut. Webster did a further lap before returning without a hitch to Canale Tre Porti. Fit.-Lieut. Worsley crossed the finishing line at tremendous speed, and wheeled round immediately to make a perfect landing over the mole. The times of the two Supermarine-Napiers on their seventh and last lap were :—Fit.-Lieut. Webster, 6 mins. 37 sees. ; Fit.-Lieut. Worsley, 6 mins. 45 sees. It was at once apparent that the winner was Fit.-Lieut. Webster, on Supermarine-Napier S. 5N 220, with Fit.-Lieut. Worsley on the S. 5 N 219, a splendid second. SCHNEIDER ITEMS JUST before the British team left Venice for home on Sep- tember 29, they attended a reception by the Provincial Fascist Federation. Fit.-Lieut. Webster was presented with a gold plaque, and Fit-Lieut Worsley—the only other com- petitor to complete the course—w7ith a silver plaque. Gold medals were also presented to each of the other entrants, British and Italian. The secretary of the Fascist Federation %vhf> made the presentations, paid a tine tribute to the British Team and alluded to Anglo-Italian friendship. Walsall, Fit.-Lieut. Webster's native town, will give him a Civic Welcome to-day (Thursday). He will travel by road from Birmingham, arriving at Walsall Town Hall about mid- day, when an illuminated address will be presented, followed by a luncheon. In the evening there will be a torchlight pro- cession through the town. The Royal Aero Club, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Air League, and the Society of British Aircraft Constructors will give a banquet at the Savoy Hotel on Tuesday, October 11, to celebrate the British victory in the Schneider Trophy race. Lord Thomson will preside, and it is hoped that in addition to the British pilots, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff, will be present. When the representatives of the Supermarine Aviation Works, Ltd.,—including Conimdr. Bird, Mr. R. V. Mitchell, and Mr. Ransome (A.I.I.).)—arrived back in Southampton on Sunday, they received a great ovation from the Mayor, hundreds of townspeople and the Supermarine employees. A reception was also held in the Mayor's Parlour. In connection with the retirement of the Gloster-Napier IV in the sixth lap of the Schneider Race, which was generally attributed to a cracked spinner, a further examination of the machine and engine has since revealed the fact that other things may have been responsible. The matter is at present under investigation, and until the machine returns to this country and a detailed official examination is made, no definite statement on the subject can be made. 669
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