History
The trophy was first competed for on 16 April 1913, at Monaco and won by a French Deperdussin at an average speed of 73.56 km/h (45.71 mph). The British won in 1914 with a Sopwith Tabloid at 139.74 km/h (86.83 mph). The competition resumed in 1919 at Bournemouth where in foggy conditions the Italian team won. They were later disqualified and the race was voided.
In 1920 and 1921 at Venice the Italians won — in 1920 no other nation entered and in 1921 the only non-Italian entry did not start. After 1921, an additional requirement was added: the winning seaplane had to remain moored to a buoy for six hours without human intervention.
In 1922 in Naples the British and French competed with the Italians and the British private entry, the Supermarine Sea Lion II, won. The French aircraft did not start the race which was between the Sea Lion and three Italian aircraft including a Macchi M.7 and a Savoia.
The 1923 trophy, contested at Cowes, went to the Americans with a sleek, liquid-cooled engined craft designed by Glenn Curtiss. It used the Curtiss D-12 engine. US Navy Lieutenant David Rittenhouse won the cup.
In 1924 there was no competition as no other nation turned out to face the Americans — the Italians and the French withdrew and both British craft crashed in pre-race trials.
In 1925 at Chesapeake Bay the Americans won again. The US pilot Jimmy Doolittle winning ahead of the British Gloster III and the Italian. Two British planes did not compete (R.J. Mitchell's Supermarine S.4 and the other Gloster III were damaged before the race). Two of the American planes did not finish.
In 1926, the Italians returned with a Macchi M.39 and won against the Americans with a 396.69 km/h (246.49 mph)} run at Hampton Roads.
In 1927 for Venice there was a strong British entry with government backing and RAF pilots (the High Speed Flight) for Supermarine, Gloster and Shorts. Supermarine's Mitchell-designed S.5s came first and second. 1927 was the last annual competition, the event then moving onto a biannual schedule to allow for more development time.
In 1929, at Calshot, Supermarine won again in the Supermarine S.6 with the new Rolls-Royce R engine with an average speed of 528.89 km/h (328.64 mph). Both Great Britain and Italy entered 2 new aircraft and 1 backup plane from the previous race.
In 1931 the British government withdrew support but a private donation of £100,000 from Lucy, Lady Houston allowed Supermarine to compete and win on 13 September against only British opposition, with reportedly half a million spectators lining the beachfronts. The Italian, French, and German entrants failed to ready their aircraft in time for the competition. The remaining British team set both a new world speed record (610 km/h (380 mph)) and won the trophy outright with a third straight win. The following days saw the winning Supermarine S.6B further break the world speed record twice, making it the first craft to break the 400 mph barrier on 29 September at an average speed of 655.8 km/h (407.5 mph).
Development of the other entrants did not cease there. The proposed Italian entrant (the Macchi M.C.72) which pulled out of the contest due to engine problems later went on to set two new world speed records. In April 1933 (over Lake Garda, in northern Italy) it set a record with a speed of 682.36 km/h (424.00 mph). A year and a half later in the same venue, in October 1934, it broke the 700 km/h barrier with an average speed of 709.202 km/h (440.678 mph). Both times the plane was piloted by Francesco Agello. This speed remains until today the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane.
Read more about this topic: Schneider Trophy
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