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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0733.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 17, 1931 THE KING'S CUP RACE, JULY 25, 1931 -N our issue of June 26 we published a list of 41 entriesfor the race for the King's Cup, which starts and finishes at Heston Air Park on Saturday, July 25.Since that time four more machines have been entered, but four of the original list have been scratched,so that the entries list still remains at a total of 41 machines The four machines which have been scratchedare: The D.H. Moth (Gipsy I), entered by "Lionel Hooton"; the Blackburn Bluebird (Gipsy I), entered byMrs. C. W. Slack ; the Blackburn Bluebird (Gipsy III), entered by the Hon. Mrs. Victor Bruce ; and the AvroAvian (Hermes II), entered by Mr. J. R. Chaplin. The four new entries are: A Westland Widgeon III(Cirrus III), entered by Squad.-Ldr. the Hon. Ralph A. Cochrane, A.F.C., and"to be piloted by J. R. Ormston ;a Ue Havilland Puss Moth (Gipsy III), entered and to be flown by the Hon. Lady Bailey ; a Comper Swift (Pob-iov R.I), entered by Captain Gerard Fane, D.S.C., and to" be piloted by Squad.-Ldr. J. M. Robb, D.S.O., D.F.C. ;and a De Havilland Moth (Gipsy I), entered and to be piloted by Miss F. J. Crossley. A full list of entries will be published in our issue ofJuly 24, in which it is hoped to include the handicap allowances, racing numbers, etc. In the meantime it maybe of interest to analyse the entries in order to discover how many different aircraft types will take part and howmany of each type. The De Havilland Moth with Gipsy I engine heads thelist, with 10 machines entered. The De Havilland Puss Moth with Gipsy III engine comes next with five machinesentered. Then follows the Blackburn Bluebird (Gipsy I) with three, while two each are entered of the followingtypes: Avro Avian (Cirrus III), Blackburn Bluebird (Hermes I), De Havilland Moth (Gipsy II), Southern Mart-let (Genet II), Spartan (Hermes II), and Spartan (Cirrus III). Of the following types, one each is entered: ArrowActive (Hermes II), Avro Avian (Genet Major), Avro Avian (Gipsy I), Avro Sports Avian (Hermes II), CivilianCoupe (Genet Major), Comper Swift (Pobjoy R.I), Curtiss- Reid Rambler (Gipsy III), Westland Widgeon (Gipsy IKWestland Widgeon (Genet II), Westland Widgeon (Hermes II), and Westland Widgeon (Cirrus III). Of new machines there are lamentably few. This isdoubtless largely due to the decision of the Royal Aero Club to confine this year's race to amateurs, a decisionwhich has removed the " Trade " interest from the race to a very large extent. FLIGHT'S views on this subjecthave already been set forth, and need not be repeated here beyond stating that we consider that the Royal Aero Clubmade a very serious mistake. The Course The course for this year's race for the King's Cup isshown in the accompanying sketch map. Starting from Heston Air Park, London, there are turning points atLeicester (Desford), Nottingham (Tollerton), Brough, Bir- mingham (Castle Bromwich), Manchester (Woodford),Shoreham, and Hamble, while at the following controls landings are compulsory: Norwich (Mousehold), Leeds(Sherburn-in-Elmet), Liverpool (Hooton), London (Heston), and Bristol (Whitchurch). The Royal Aero Club has notyet announced how long is the compulsory stop at these places. The whole course is one of 982£ miles. A glance at the sketch map shows that at several pointsthe course makes a very sharp turn. For example, at Norwich the angle between the course of machinesapproaching Mousehold and machines leaving Mousehold for Tollerton is very small. If the visibility is good on the day of the race, this will not matter much, but if itis bad, as it well may be, there will be very considerable risk of collision. In bad visibility it is likely thatmachines will at times be well off their course, and in that case a machine approaching Norwich north of its propercourse may easily meet another machine which has left Norwich some time before and has got well south of itscourse. The angle at Heston is also bad, but does not mattermuch, as the last machine will have left Heston long before the first one can be approaching Heston from Hooton.At Castle Bromwich, however, there appears to be quite a possibility of machines en route for London from Hootonbeing mixed up with machines rounding the Castle Bromwich turning point en route for Hooton. It is truethat on a large scale map the points do not lie quite so alarming close together, but in bad visibility machinesmay easily be many miles off their course. Arrangements at Heston This is the first time in the history of the race thatthe starting and finishing point is also an intermediate control, and Heston Air Park is making great preparationsfor dealing with the crowds which are expected. An unusual car parking arrangement is being tried for therace, by which visitors who wish to view the race from their cars will be able to reserve parking positions aroundthe aerodrome boundary. During the day there will be flying demonstrations tokeep visitors interested while the King's Cup machines are away. Among the attractions will, it is hoped, bethe famous German pilot Herr Udet, who, it will be remembered, made some sensational flights in the film" The White Hell of Pitz Palu." Jifti-S-S 0 B » 30 40 50 60 VI &$$$!£ Q'CONTROLS * "''"g& V'WRNING «WW5 THE KING'S CUP AIR RACE: Sketch Map of theCourse. Heston (London) is the starting and finishing point, and is also an intermediate control. •a. 687
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