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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1407.PDF
FLIGHT, 27 July •-?.<.• > All the winners : Left to right : Lithgow, who secured theS.B.A.C. Cup at 533 m.p.h.; S/L. W. I. Lashbrook receiving the Air League Cup from Mr. Frank Beswick, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; and S/L. W. Evans with the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club Trophy. scoop on top of the cowling, the standard port wing root entrybeing faired over. The dive brake hinges were faired off. A contender—successfully, as it turned out—for the world'samphibian ioo-km closed-circuit record was the Supermarine Seagull I (Rolls-Royce Griffon 29), flown by L. R. Colquhoun. In the first lap of the race S/L. W. I, Lashbrook (Proctor)managed to pass the Nighthawk, which had a minute's start. Somers was having a neck-and-neck duel with Alington'sSparrowhawk, now going very well. The gawky Seagull, with about eight minutes' start on the Firebrand, surprised mostpeople by its fine turn of speed as it raced on alone. Paine failed to appear on his first lap, and it was ascertainedthai a burned-out No. 4 exhaust stub had caused him to use Linton-on-Ouse for a precautionary landing while com-pleting the fourth leg of the six-sided course. R.A.F. ground ciew had it welded and replaced in a matter of minutes, andPaine was back at Sherburn shortly after the finish. The finish was marked by a great rush and dive for the line,gained fairly easily by Lashbrook—a popular and well-deserved victory for a regular race competitor. The Sparrowhawk camesecond, just beating the Sea Fury Trainer (F. Murphy), which had been performing very well indeed. The Seagull dronedin as No. 4, a length or two ahead of Somers' Gemini, which had slowed up somewhat •- after losing a starboard windowpanel and some fairing strips. The Sea Fury Trainer established a new British piston-engined record at 378 m.p.h. for the ioo-km closed circuit; Jike that of the Seagull, the record is, of course, subject toCf.ufirmation. Before the final race the French Air Force Patrouilled F.tampes gave its now classic display of formation and indi- vidual flying all ways up. The gusty wind tossed the littleStsmpe biplane trainers about but never caused them to lose station, either inverted or otherwise—a truly remarkable per-formance which caused many a gasp from the crowd. And so "~ the big moment for the S.B.A.C. jet handicaparrived and the scream of turbines running-up caused the AIR LEAGUE CUP RACE ir • -7 I'is Among the non-racing events, formation flying by Spitfire 16s of No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron, R. Aux. A.F. earned praise. Pot. Start Competitor, Aircraftand engine i Handicap Speed! m. s. • m.p.h. 2 + W. I. Ushbrook (Proctor IN, G. Queen II) 4 C. G. Alington (Sparrowhawk, G. Maj. Ic 8 F. Murphy (Sea Fury Tnr., Centaurus 18 6 --L R. Colquhoun (Seagull I, Griffon 29) 3 J. N. Somers (Gemini III, Gipsy Maj. Ic) I Miss J. Bird (Nighthawk. Gipsy Six II) 7 '-"P. G. Lawrence (Firebrand, Centaurus 57) 0003 2716 0300 24 5836 3619 0200 46 161.5170.0 366.0235.0 166.0155.0 301.0 Records (subject to confirmation).—L. R. Co'qjhoun (Seagull I) gains world's 100-km closed-circuit record for amphibian aircraft at 241.9 m.p.h. ; previous holder, Mai. A. P. de Seversky (Seversky amphibian), 337.079 km/hr (209.46 m.p.h.). F. Murphy (Sea Fury Trainer) establishes British 100-km closed-circuit record for piston-engined aircraft, S78.8 m.p.h. Prizes.—Winner holds Air League Challenge Cup for ten months. Cash pr;zes, 1st, £100; 2nd, £50; 3rd, £25. Fastest lap, £50 (Murphy, 378.8 m.p.h.); fastest by aircraft under 1,750 kg, £25 (Alington, 171.8 m.p.h.). disappointment over the withdrawal of the Venom to be for-gotten. Apparently the very high speed oi the Venom ;n practice was no surprise to the handicappers, who had. placedit a^ scratch with the Sea Hawk, for which the handicap speed was over 6oo m.p.h. No external tanks were fitted and all themachines were smooth and polished. There was only 2 min 11 sec between the four productionaircraft and it was certain that all would be expertly handled Derry was away first in the Vampire ^ and Lithgow followed,in the Attacker—newly back from its tour abroad—as the Vampire, having rounded the scatter-point, disappeared to thesouth-east. Zurakowski coaxed the Meteor 7 into the air before thefirst runway intersection and accelerated away very fast. Wade was on his tail in the Sea Hawk as he straightened awayfrom the scatter-point turn. On the first lap there was no change of order, but theAttacker was obviously pulling up well and justifying its pre- tske off position as favourite with those " in the know." In a very short time, as it seemed, the Attackei wasseen streaking for the line with the Vampire quite close behind and the Meteor 7 and Sea Hawk progressively close behindagain. Thus they screamed past the post, with occasional shivers of vapour appearing over their cockpits and leadingedges. With a few minutes' Auster crop-dusting, and the distribu-tion of the prizes by Mr. Frank Beswick (deputizing foi Lord Pakenham, who was ill), a very successful day thus came to aclose except for joy riding—in the rain, which now set in. S.B.A.C. CHALLENGE CUP flACE Pot. Start Competitor. Aircraft and engine j Handicap; Speed . 1 m. s. I m.p.h. 1 2 . M. J. Lithgow (Vickers Supermarine j Attacker I, R.-R. Nene) I 34 J. D. Derry (D.H. Vamp:re 5, D.H. Goblin 2) 0 00 3 - J. Zurakowski (Gloster Meteor 7, R.-R. Derwent 5) 05 T. S Wade 'Hawker Sea Hawk, R.-R. j Nene) I 2 II 533.0 472.0 536.0 536.5 Prizes.—Winner holds S.B.A.C. Challenge Cup 'or ten months Cash prizes, 1st, £100; 2nd, £50; 3rd £25 Fastest lap, £50 (Wide. 584 m.D.h.V
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