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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0875.PDF
370 FLIGHT. APRIL 9- 1936. MODERN RACING AIRCRAFT Some Notes on High-speed Machines which have Distinguished Themselves in Speed Events in Various Parts of the World During Recent Years : The Effect of Racing on Design in General By H. F. B RITISH export trade is in no small debt to these sports men who race English cars and motor cycles in inter national events and, in a lesser measure, to those who participate in races at home. By demonstrating our products they are acting as the best publicity agents the industries concerned could have, for it is generally agreed in these days that racing, be it of the road or track variety, can do a very great deal toward improving the quality of standard products. There are few aeronautical events of an international character, and domestic air racing has achieved no great popularity except in the U.S.A. The Schneider Trophy contest is no more. The Coupe Deutsch races, with a few exceptions, have been among French machines. It takes an event with a lucrative purse to arouse international interest, for the great majority of firms the world over feel that they have no money "to play with." With one or two notable exceptions, those rich sportsmen of whom we hear so much but see so little seem to be able to generate only a lukewarm enthusiasm. In pre-war days week-end "round the sticks" and closed-circuit racing achieved what seems now to have been a prematurely ripe success. Post-war attempts to popularise pylon racing in this country have brought about such financial and physical disaster that they have been counted not worth the candle. In these days we content ourselves with an annual private owner's field day—the King's Cup Race—a few events somewhat similar in character, but on a smaller scale, and one or two point-to- point races, which appeal only to a limited number of people. But the industry has derived much benefit from racing in the past. Supermarines, no doubt, have profited from their Schneider experience of a few years back in the designing of their new monoplane fighter, and De Havil- lands will freely admit that their forthcoming four-engined transport is developed from their Comet long-distance racer. There is but little, if any, more racing activity on the Continent than in this country. The Coupe Deutsch race, however, has served a distinctly useful purpose in stimu lating the design of engines giving a relatively high output for a small capacity and of small single-seater monoplanes. Now that the French Air Ministry is interesting itself in the small and comparatively low-powered fighter, manu facturers with Coupe Dcutsch experience can count them- KING selves fortunate. The genesis of the high performance Caudron touring and sporting types and, to a certain extent, the twin-engined commercial machines, can be traced through the Coupe Deutsch event. The American National Air Races provide ample scope for the private sportsman, and are conducted in a commendably efficient manner. Considering the. speeds attained and the fact that quite a large propor tion of the machines entered are home-made, the number of accidents is not unduly high. Certain Ameri can manufacturers, particularly of engines, are richer in experience as a result of these races. Britain's Contribution Space does not permit, in this short review of racing types, to indulge in reminiscences of such magnificent British racing machines as the Schneider Glosters and Supermarines, or yet another description of the Comet— without a doubt the finest example of a long-distance racing type in the world. Neither shall we recall the vic tories of the Mew Gull—another reason for national pride. All the well-known British racers have had their due place in past numbers of Flight, together with such outstanding foreigners as the Macchi-Fiat used by Agello to bring the world's speed record up to 440.67 m.p.h., so it is proposed 3£v:' •Sir v*» ' ZJ£~—-**WL ^^^^^^. w ^1 i~*tf» T*)e Laird biplanes achieved no little success in America a few years ago. This Wasp-powered model (left) broke the continental record in 1931. On the right is Roy Minor with Miss Los Angeles, the successful Brown monoplane.
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