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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0066.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 23, 1931 altogether. If one examines with a little care last year's list of entries, it will be found that something like 50 per cent, of the entries would have been ruled out under this year's regulations, either because of the " professional " regulation, or on account of another stipulation made this year, to the effect that any aircraft entered shall have been registered in the name of the entrant and shall have had its Certificate of Airworthiness issued not later than May 30. For a great race like that for the King's Cup, it is inevitable that quite a considerable number of machines are not finished until about a Week before the race, and this must of necessity mean considerable extra work and hurry not only for the handicappers but also for the C. of A. department. We are by no means in favour of the time-honoured system of " finishing a machine on the starting line," but to insist that a machine shall have been registered in the name of the entrant by May 30 will prevent any machine from changing hands between May 30 and the day of the race. It is quite obvious that many a potential entrant of a machine for this race will not have made up his mind by May 30 which type he would like to enter, and so it is probable that by this regulation many machines will be kept out of the race. With the stipulation that a machine shall have had its C. of A. issued not later than May 30 we do not quarrel nearly so much. It is not quite fair to either the handicappers or the C. of A. depart- ment that a large percentage of machines should come along at the eleventh hour clamouring for a C. of A. and for the handicapper. But as the race will, presumably, be held towards the end of June or early in July, a month's grace does seem a generous allowance to handicappers and " stress merchants." It might have been thought that a fortnight would have sufficed. Any amateur owner of an aircralt, if he desires to " fake " his machine in any way, will have to start early in May, at the latest, to have his alterations made, and as he will naturally wish to save his engine as much as possible, this will mean that he will be debarred from using his machine for two months before the race. As the number of wealthy owners with more than one machine is limited, this means that many who would otherwise have been in the race will refrain from entering. A perusal of the regulations conveys very strongly the impression that the Royal Aero Club, when drafting the regulations, was chiefly concerned with ensuring that the entries list should be as short as possible. Last year 88 machines faced the starter at Hanworth, and some 61 finished the course. It will readily be granted that the efficient handling of so many machines calls for a large and skilled organisa- tion. But as the body governing the sport of flying in this country, the Royal Aero Club cannot escape its obligation to organise this race, no matter how large proportions it may assume. If the club desires to save itself trouble by reducing every aviation event to a little " suburban " affair, the outlook for British sporting flying is sad indeed. If it was desired particularly to encourage the amateur pilot and owner, this might quite well have been confined to entries for the Siddeley Challenge Trophy. To ensure the King's Cup entries list being short by keeping out the aircraft industry is a policy which cannot fail in the long run to damage the race itself by detracting from the importance which it was assuming. Italians have flown to South America; Italians have challenged Great Britain for the Schneider trophy ; Great Britain surrenders it without a contest ; shall Latin Americans buy British or Italian aircraft ? Schnefder Thoughts something like the above Position wm probably soon be running through the minds of visitors to the British Exhibition at Buenos Ayres. It is not hard to guess the probable answer to the final question. Thus does our Government help trade at a moment when ti ado needs help more than it has needed it for many a loiii' year. To economise on publicity and on profitable investments when in financial difficulties is an instinct of the worst type of company director, and in that class we must rank the present Government, at least so far as its Schneider policy goes. It is common knowledge that our two successive victories in the Schneider contests of 1927 and 1929 proved excellent investments. The publicity brought far more money into the country than was spent by the Air Ministry in organising the two winning teams ; and of that expenditure by no means all was unproductive. The research was profitable, and so was the experience oi the pilots. Had the officers and men not been em- ployed by the High Speed Flight, they would all have been engaged on some other form of flying which would only have been doing what the High Speed work was doing, namely, increasing the general efficiency of the Royal Air Force. A third British victory would have brought the series of Schneider contests to an end, and Great Britain would have won great kudos as the only country which thrice running put winning teams into the air. There was no suggestion of designing new types of seaplane or engine, so the expense for this year's contest would have been reduced by so much. On the other hand, a victory with machines and engines which were two years old over new types would have seemed to the world incontestable proof of the superiority of British design. Of course, our old machines might not have won; but air experts are well aware that machines which have been developed at leisure are far more efficient than they were when they had only just emerged from the factories, and that they might easily prove faster than new and untried types. So our hopes of victory were not too badly founded. Just as we were going to press we received a letter from Sir Philip Sassoon, chairman of the Royal Aeru Club, which is published in another column. From this it appears that the Cabinet was not actuated solely by motives of economy. The Royal Aero Club believed that it would not have been impossible to raise the sum of £80,000 which had been estimated as the cost to the Government of organizing the defence of the trophy. The committee of the club interviewed the Air Minister and asked whether the Government would undertake the defence of the trophy if the said sum were raised by the club. Lord Amulree has not appeared unsympathetic to the club's requests, and he referred the question to the Cabinet, which merely reiterated its refusal to do anything. The plea of saving the taxpayer'? pocket thus falls to the ground. What the i al motive of the Cabinet can be we must leave to siir readers to guess. We confess ourselves to be com- pletely baffled. 68
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