The 1926 race was the first where all the teams fielded pilots from their
armed forces, and Britain was not to be caught out. Shortly before that race,
the RAF formed the High Speed Flight at Felixstowe to provide a dedicated team
to provide the British team at the 1927 race which was held at Venice in
September of that year.
The Italians, confidant that a development of the 1926 winner, the Macchi
M39, would beat all-comers began work to this end. However, problems with the
engines saw one of the training flights end in the death of one of the Italian
team members and these problems were never fully cured before the race. The
United States entry did not gain any backing from the government and it was
left to several individuals and generous donations from companies to fund the
team's entry. This failed to materialise as trials had shown that the aircraft
would not provide any serious competition to the European nations and the team
withdrew.
Britain however, was in a very strong position. Having missed the 1926
event, the High Speed Flight had carried out many training flights on a
Gloster I, but a number of differing designs were ordered to equip the team -
a pair of Supermarine S5s, 3 Gloster IVs and a further type, the Shorts
Crusader.
Gloster IVa
This latter aircraft featured a very distinctive 'helmeted' cowling to
cover its Bristol Mercury engine, and this gave rise to its name. All six
aircraft were taken to Venice, the Crusader as the slowest being used as a
training aircraft until it was written off in a crash when one of the wings
caught a gust of wind and hit the water, spinning the aircraft round and
splitting the fuselage. The pilot, Flt Lt H M Schofield was fortunate to escape
with bruising and facial injuries. The cause of the accident was later
identified as crossed control wires being refitted when the Crusader was
rebuilt after its journey.
Please note that according to the official archives
Sqn Ldr LJ Slatter was piloting the Crusader. I have
it on good authority, Flt Lt Schofield's grandson, that it was in fact he that
piloted the aircraft and this is supported by newspaper and other copies of
cuttings that have been provided to me. (With grateful thanks to Michael
Dossett)
The first aircraft to become airborne for the race was the Gloster IVB
piloted by Flt Lt SM Kinkhead. This was followed at five-minute intervals by
the first Italian Macchi M52s, Flt Lt SN Webster in his Supermarine S5, the
second M52 and finally Flt Lt OE Worsley in the second S5 trailed by the third
M52. This aircraft had barely crossed the start line when its engine gave up
forcing it's pilot to retire. At the completion of the first lap, the leading
Macchi pushed one of its pushrods through the crankcase and became the second
retirement. This was followed a few laps later by the little Gloster which
began to lose speed. After coaxing the stricken aircraft back to it's hangar,
an inspection of the engine revealed a split some 3/4 of the way round the
shaft.
Flt Lt O E Worsley and the S5
The forceful flying of the remaining Italian pilot, attempting to keep up
with the two Supermarines, came to no good as, on the sixth lap, a fuel pipe
broke, spraying the pilot with fuel and forcing him into retirement. This left
the British aircraft to finish first and second, but not without a scare for
Flt Lt Webster. To keep a tab on the number of laps completed, Webster punched
a hole in a sheet of paper as he crossed the start/finish line. But as he
punched a seventh hole, which would have meant the race was finished, he
calculated that the time was some five minutes less than anticipated and he
elected to continue and complete an eighth lap just to make sure he had not
miscounted. In the event, he had counted correctly and need not have
continued.
 
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