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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 1318.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 18, 1931 FINALE TO THE SCHNEIDER TROPHY CONTEST W(EDNESDAY, December 9, 1931, marks a nichein the annals of aviation. On the evening ofthat day a banquet was staged at ClaridgesHotel by the Royal Aero Club to celebrate the British victory in the Schneider Contest, 1931, whereby thetrophy, originally dedicated in 1910 to the cause of aviation by M. Jacques Schneider, came into possession ofGreat Britain for all time. Upon this unique occasion, when some 350 guests were present, the chair was occu-pied by the Duke of Atholl, the President of the Royal Aero Club, and the guests of honour were the SchneiderTeam of R.A.F. pilots, Sqd. Ldr. A. H. Orlebar, Fit. Lts. G. H. Stainforth, J. N. Boothman, F. W. Long,E. J. Hope and W. r. Dry, and F/O. L. S. Snaith. In addition, to share the honours of the evening, were Mr.R. J. Mitchell, of the Supermarine Co., the designer of the Schneider seaplanes, and Mr. A. F. Sidgreaves,managing director of Rolls-Royce, Ltd., whose engines enabled the record-winning speeds to be obtained.Another guest who was welcomed with rapturous applause was Sqd. Ldr. Bert Hinkler, who had only on Mondayarrived in England at the conclusion of his remarkable flight of 10,000 miles or more from New York to Londonvia the South Atlantic on an all-British small craft—a " Puss Moth." The loyal toasts haying been honoured, SIR PHILIP SASSOON (Under-secretary of State for Air and Chairman of the Royal Aero Club), in proposing the toast of " The Schneider Team " first read a telegram from Lady Houston,who was unfortunately too ill to attend personally, in the following terms: " To a company of gallant gentlemen, Lady Houston sends her heartiestgreetings." Sir Philip then said that he thought he was justified in claiming that theachievement of Great Britain in winning the Schneider Trophy this year, and thereby securing it for all time, could not be lessened by the fact that this yearthey had no other team competing. It detracted in no sense from the splendid performance of the British Schneider flight that the French and Italian teamswere not able to compete against them. He ventured to believe that if they had been, the result would have been the same. It was by the team workthat the. pilots were able to achieve the victory and to put up the speed record of the World. At the same time it was entirely due to the great generosity ofLady Houston that it was possible for the Trophy to be secured by Great Britain. Following her splendid offer, the engineers and builders of the Britishaircraft had only six months in which to turn out the wonderful machine which gave Britain the victory. It was a feather in the cap of the Britishaircraft industry, and the victory was a proof of the general excellence of the organization, technical material and craftsmanship, and a proof of the strengthand sureness of our resources. The contest had raised the speed of mechanical flight from 45 miles an hour in the first contest to over 407 miles an hour in thelast contest. It had added greatly to man's knowledge of the diverse problems of aviation, and M. Schneider, when he created the Trophy in 1912,could hardly have foreseen the great progress to which it would contribute. Its scope had far outgrown the original intention. He was proud to be ableto give welcome that evening to the pilots who had steered the machines to success. THE DUKE OP ATHOLI. then presented an engraved silver salver to each of theteam in appreciation of their individual work. He then said that he was also glad to be in a position to recognise the meritorious work of Mr. R. J. Mitchell,of the Supermarine Co., who had designed the machines which had won the Trophy and Mr. A. F. Sidgreaves, the Managing Director of Rolls-Roy^e,Ltd., who had built the wonderful engines, by presenting each with a similar salver. In addition, he also gave to each and to the pilots, certificates of theperformances of the various records they obtained. After reviewing the increase in speed from the early days when Howard Pixton first secured thecoveted Trophy for Britain, the Duke called upon Squadron-Leader Orlebar and his team to respond. Prior to this a similar presentation of a salver was made to the relatives ofFlight Officer Bnnton who was killed during practice flight, F/O Brinton's brother receiving it on behalf of the family. AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR JOHN M. SALMOND (Chief of the Air Staff), reply-ing for the R.A.F. said that on their behalf he would express their deep appreciation of their receiption and entertainment by the Royal Aero Club,but he was loth to make a lengthy speech as he might suggest " the longer the spoke the bigger the tyre," and he proposed therefore to be brief. TheAir Ministry realized that if in the future there were to be international contests initiated with or without Government support no British pilotwould turn away from a machine, however dangerous, if it was to be flown forlthe honour of his country. Therefore it was incumbent upon those whowere responsible for drawing up the regulations for any future contest to protect the pilots by ensuring that the factors of safety were not too low andthe landing speed not too high. It was, he said, by the concentrated effort of the teams of the Supermarine Co. and the Rolls-Royce Co., that theywere able to win the Trophy for this Country. He wished to express to the French Ambassador and their friends the Italians, their great disappointmentat their being unable to take part at the last minute. He wished to register the appreciation 0$ the Air Ministry of the organisation and help given by theRoyal Aero Club throughout the preparations and the contest itself. The thousand-and-one things of details they had to look after could hardly bemeasured or expressed in words, right up,to this the final banquet. 11 was their duty to congratulate the Club and all the members of their hard-workingCommittee upon the success of their great organisation. He also offered thanks to the Navy for the great assistance they gave to them, amongstother'things, by keeping the course, etc. In addition, he registered the appreciation of the R.A.F. of the members of the Supermarine Co. and theRolls-Royce Co. for their untiring efforts day and night; and finally the munificence of Lady Houston, without which our aircraft constructors andengineers would not have had an opportunity of showing what they could accomplish. Lady Houston's gift in token of her love for her country hadinspired the Air Force and on their behalf he wished to thank her. SQD. LDR. ORLEBAR said they were very lucky to be chosen to representthe Air Force, and to work in conjunction with two such competent firms. It was naturally a great disappointment to them that France and Italy wereunable to compete, and it must have been equally disappointing to their pilots in not being able to come over, owing to the difficulties and the casual-ties which they had had. The speaker then called upon the other pilots of the team to help him in bis nervousness by standing up and supporting him.He pilots, he continued, had a very great deal to Uvo up to, but all went ready and equally able to pilot their machines when called upon. In com-paring pilots to jockeys, he said the latter were not much use without a good horse, and in their own case he thought RR. out of Supermarine was a wonder-ful two-year old for their pilots to ride. They could not have been better served than by the RR. and Supermarine. One after another, as theyrequired them, other engines and machines were produced, and they were then asked was there nothing more they could produce for them. Afterpaying a tribute to Lady Houston, he thanked everyone for the very kind way they had been received. SIR ROBERT MCLEAN, replying on behalf of the Supermarine AviationWorks (Vickers), Ltd., reminded them that the beginning Of the team work lay with Tommy Sopwith and Pixton, next Paine, etc., and he desired tohave Commander James Bird associated with this toast, as he laid the foundation for the first victory, and again, in 1929, as Chairman of theSchneider Trophy organisation. He also wished to mention Mr. Mitchell, of their company, and others who had so helped to the success achieved. MR. A. F. SIDGREAVES, for Rolls-Royce, Ltd., said he was at a disadvantagein being the fourth speaker to the same toast, as the ground was all cut away, one might say, by being forestalled by previous speakers. But hewould express, on behalf of the R. R. Co., their appreciation of the wonderful spirit of co-operation of the R.A.F. pilots ; also of the R.A.F. as a whole,and the Air Ministry, as no serious effort to secure the trophy without such co-operation could have been made. The absence of other countries' pilotswas sincerely regretted by them all, although their preparations were in hand before ours, we being left with but a few months to complete ourpreparations. He was inclined, however, to thank them for the late notifica- tion of non-participation, as the fact of their withdrawal at the last moment,he thought, helped to keep up the keenness of all concerned in Britain to ensure the winning of the Trophy. He would give high praise to hundredsof their employees who had worked wholeheartedly towards the success, and finally he thought it was a wonderful gesture of their interest whensome 600 of them went, at their own expense, to witness the fly-over as a finale to their grand team work. It was, he continued, a cause for con-gratulation that the Trophy was obtained by us, and he then expressed the view that the Schneider Trophy contest had almost outrun its usefulness.Its value to British aviation had been greatest in connection with the develop- ment of the machines which were so necessary, but apart from the questionof expense, which had become immense, there was the great and serious question of danger because of the absence of any limit in the landing speed.He put forward the suggestion that someone should give another trophy with conditions carefully drawn up, but said that he would not suggest theconditions. Speed, one felt, must still be the main factor, but it should not be at the sacrifice of safety. A reasonable limit, he considered, should befixed as to landing speed. LORD LONDONDERRY, Secretary of State for Air, in proposing the toast of" The Royal Aero Club," reminded his hearers of the early association of their President, the Duke of Atholl, with aviation, when Mr. Dunne wasdeveloping, " in the long ago," the first tailless machine. After giving a resume of the important work and functions which devolved upon the Cluband referring to early pilots from Lt.-Col. Moore-Brabazon (No. 1), Charlie Rolls, etc., he concluded by saying the Club could look back with pride uponwhat it had achieved in 30 years and with this work he was happy to associate the name of their Secretary, Commander Perrin, during all that period.THE DUKE OF ATHOLL, in reply, recorded the various moves by stages of the club, commencing with a single room at 110, Piccadilly, to the presentfine premises at 119, Piccadilly. LT.-COL. MOORE-BRABAZON, in proposing " The Guests," remarked thatalthough the speed of aeroplanes increased vastly, not so with speeches. From the speeches he had listened to, he had gathered the knowledge thatwe had won a trophy termed the Schneider Trophy. That was by the way. He then referred to a guest amongst them—Bert Hinkler—our Bert—he saidhad forgotten more about practical aviation than they, all combined, knew, but he was weak on the publicity side—but he thought there were plentypresent who could give him some practical lessons upon that subject. They were glad to pay great honour to Bert Hinkler, and on behalf of the RoyalAero Club he was pleased to announce that they had conferred upon him the gold medal of the Club, the highest honour in their power to bestow.THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR, in response, expressed his congratulations upoa the victory in the Schneider Contest. SQDN.-LDR. HINKLER said he did want them to know how much he appre-ciated the honour done him by the Club, and the welcome given him, almost an exile, upon his return. He had little to say about himself, except,perhaps, that he would be proud if his " tour " had supplemented the achieve- ments of the Schneider team in demonstrating the supremacy and value ofBritish aircraft; but some time ago he found himself in possession of a good English " ship," and the rest followed naturally. He modestly describedhow he simply kept the nose of his Puss Moth pointed in the right direction and he thus landed here. Having arrived, he found his " ship " as good asever and it was impossible for him to express in words the satisfaction and pride which he felt in British aircraft. Before he obtained his 'plane, hehad earned the confidence of Lord Wakefield, which enabled him to exhibit the great reliability and usefulness of British aircraft. He thanked all forthe wonderful welcome given him upon his return. COMMANDER BIRD, after proposing a vote of thanks to the Chairman, thankedthe Duke most sincerely for presiding at that banquet. Although now at the end of the evening's proceedings there, he would say there was the floor inthe next room where dancing awaited them. And thus was the end of the Schneider Trophy celebrated. Amongst those present were :—His Grace the Duke of Atholl, The French Ambassador, Lord Londonderry (Secretary of State for Air), Lord and Lady Wakefield, Lord Herbert Scott,Maj.-Gen. Lord and Lady Loch, Sir Philip Sassoon (Under Secretary of State for Air), Fit. Lt. J. N. and Mrs. Boothman, Fit. Lt. F. W. and Mrs. Long,Sqdn. Ldr. H. J. L. and Mrs. Hmkter, Lt.-Col. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, Mr and Mrs. R. J. Mitchell, Sqdn. Ldr. A. H. and Mrs. Orlebar, Fit. Lt. G. H. andMrs. Stainforth, Fit. Lt. E. J. L. and Mrs. Hope, F/O. L. S. and Mrs. Snaith, Fit. Lt. F. W. and Mrs. Dry, Com. James and Mrs. Bird, Lt. Col. W. A. andMrs. Bristow, Sqdn. Ldr. C. G. Burge, Fit. Lt. H. A. and Mrs. Castaldini, Sir Edward Crowe, Lt. Col. M. O. and Mrs. Darby, Air Vice-Marshal H. C. T.Dowding, Lady Drogheda, Lady Elibank, Sqdn. Ldr. T. H. and Mrs. England, Lt. Col. L. J. R. Fell, Group Capt. and Mrs. G. B. Hynes, Count and CountessJohnston-Noad, Dr. Bruce Jones, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Charles and Lady Lambe, Air Vice-Marshal C. A. H. and Mrs. Longcroft, Lt. Col. F. W.Lucas, Wing-Corn. R. L. G. Marix, Com. and Mrs. George Murray, Lt. Col. Sir Francis and Lady McClean, Sir Robert and Lady McLean,Group Capt. E. R. C. and Mrs. Nanson, Lt. Col. M. O'Gorman, Mr. and Mrs. F. Handley Page, Fit. Lt. C. H. and Mrs. Potts, Air Marsha;Sir Geoffrey and Lady Salmond, Air Chief Marshal Sir John and Lady Salmona Mr. H. Gordon Selfridge, Wing Com. and Mrs. P. C. Sherren, Mr. and Mrs.J. D. Siddeley, Mr. A. F. Sidgreaves, Sqdn. Ldr. F. O. Soden, Admiral Sir Arthur Waistell, Com. and Mrs. Whyham, Mr. and Mrs. F. R. Banks, Mr. andMrs. A. J. A. Wallace Barr, Messrs. E. C. Bowyer, Griffith Brewer, Group Capt. and Mrs. E. F. Briggs, Capt. H. S. Broad, Maj. J. S. and Mrs. Buchanan,Mai. G. P. and Mrs. Bulman, Mr. and Mrs. H, Burroughes, Mr. and M15- 1240
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