The Schneider Cup racers

Nico — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:10:06 +0000

At a time floatplanes and flying boats were barely capable of leaving the water, the Frenchman Jacques Schneider introduced in 1911 at a banquet following the 4th annual James Gordon Bennet race for landplanes the Schneider Cup for a similar race with seaplanes. One of the rules was, that the winning country had to organize the next race. The official name of the prize, in French was “Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider”. If an aero club won three races in five years they would retain the cup and the winning pilot would receive 75,000 francs. The races were supervised by the F.A.I. (Fédération Aeronautique International) and the Aero Club in the hosting country. Each club could enter up to three competitors with an equal number of alternates. Jacques Schneider, the son of a wealthy arms manufacturer, had a vision that the seaplane was the best and fastest way to span the big oceans. Without the need of airfields and runways and with all harbour and boat facilities this would in his vision be the only relevant way of air transport. It WAS indeed a vision that resulted not only in the fast development of the floatplane over the years, but also in the availability of a new generation of very powerful aircraft engines. It is very striking that the ultimate Schneider Cup racer, the Macchi-Castoldi MC-72, set a world speed record for seaplanes that is still unbeaten today, although it never participated in any Schneider Cup contest.

A colour postcard of the C-29 at Vigna di Valle

Sadly enough for Jacques Schneider himself, he died on 1 May 1928 at the age of 49 only as a poor man at a time vast amounts of money were spent for the trophy he had introduced! In this article, we will not only give an overview of the most important Schneider Cup racers, but also of the lesser known types that never qualified! One thing must still be said on the Schneider Cup: although it is mentioned so even in Italian, it actually was not a cup. It is more precisely described as a Trophy. In fact it was a sculpture of bronze and glass showing some ancient figures from the Greek and Roman mythology. It is now exhibited in the Science Museum in London. It can be seen at the same location where the Supermarine S-6B is also exhibited.

The locations and results

The first Schneider Cup race was held in 1913 in the Mediterranean Sea with the start and finish just outside the port of Monaco over a course of exactly 10 km. The course had to be flown 28 times. Since the race was won by a Frenchman, France was again the organizing country for the next year.
For the 1914 race, the same course was followed as in the preceding year. The British team won the race, but because of the outbreak of the First World War the next Schneider Cup race was held in 1919 at Bournemouth UK just outside Poole harbour. Because of very dense fog, only one plane flown by the Italian pilot Janello managed to finish the 20 miles triangular course ten times. However, since he used the spare marking boat lying ashore as a turning point, he was disqualified and the whole race was nullified by the organization. It was not until 1922 that Janello was as yet declared as official winner.

In spite of Janello’s initial disqualification, Italy was prepared to be the host for the race of 1920. It was held outside the port of Lido in the Adriatic sea where a triangular course of 37.117 km had to be flown ten times. Only one pilot, the Italian Luigi Bologna managed to pass all qualification tests for the race which he won flying alone in his Savoia S.12bis flying boat. Also in 1921 the race was held in Venice, although on a different course of 24.6 km. to be flown 16 times. Only the Italians managed to qualify for the race. The only French contender, Sadi Lecointe in a Nieuport-Delage racer, had to withdraw because he failed in the navigability test. The race was won by the Italian pilot Giovanni de Briganti in a Macchi M.7. The two other Italian pilots both failed to finish. The Italian victory meant that the next race in 1922 was also hosted by Italy. This time the contest was held in the Golfo di Napoli with start and finish at Napels harbour. A triangular course of 28.5 km had to be flown 13 times. Although the Italians had a very strong team, the UK won the race when Henry Biard finished in his Supermarine Sea Lion II races with a speed of 145.7 mph. Three Italians scored at the next places.

'SS-1' seaplane 'racer'. It was built by personnel of the English naval aircraft station near Colnbrook. With the approval of their superiors they built this 'smallest working floatplane of the world' as a child's toy. It was fitted with a 12 hp engine and everything on it was actually working. It could do eveything but flying!

Let Let Let - Warplanes » Bernard HV-41

The Schneider Cup racers