The victory in 1927 ensured that the next race would be held over British
water, the location again being Cowes. This was not to be until 1929, as the
various participants and the FAI agreed that the increasing costs and
technological advances were prohibitive to an annual event.
Following its 1927 victory, the High Speed Flight had been disbanded and
it was expected that no Treasury money would be made available to finance a
British team for the 1929 meeting. This did not happen, but the Air Ministry
objected to the use of its pilots, but agreed to supply the aircraft. That
said, the High Speed Flight reformed in February 1928 and the following month
an attempt on the world speed record would be made by Flt Lt S Kinkhead in one
of the S5s. During the attempt, Kinkhead plunged into the sea during the steep
approach to the start of the course and was killed. He was replaced by Flt Lt
D D'Arcy A Greig who was joined by Flt Lt GH Stainforth, Fg Offs RLR Atcherley
and HRD Waghorn. Flight Commander was Sqn Ldr AH Orlebar.
The 1929 British Team - left to right:
Waghorn, Moon (Engineering Officer), D'Arcy Greig, Orlebar,
Stainforth & Atcherley
Air Ministry funded was not forthcoming for new engines and so Rolls Royce
financed the building of a military engine with 'racing capabilities'. Whilst
the engine was still a paper design, RJ Mitchell of the Supermarine Company
began work on the S6 aircraft which would be used by the British team. The
basis of the design was the successful S5 airframe and two S6s were ordered.
The designers at Glosters were not idle and soon their next design, the
Gloster V biplane racer, was taking shape. This eventually saw the light of
day as a monoplane and was designated the Gloster VI. Two of these were
ordered at a cost of £25,000. The design was fated never to compete in the
race. During trials, many unexplained failures of its Napier Lion engine
occurred and the type withdrawn.
Supermarine S6
The only challengers to make the race meeting were Italy who brought a
further development of the M52 airframe, the M52R, and a new aircraft, the
Macchi M67. It had been intended that France would compete after a six-year
absence but the two designs chosen for the 1929 race were not completed in
time and the team withdrew. As for the Americans, it was a familiar tale. The
government still refused to support an entry for the Schneider Trophy and left
any finances to be raised privately. This did happen, but the intended
aircraft, the Kirkham-Williams Mercury, which was to have been powered by a
secretly-built US Navy engine, was barely capable of sustained flight and
again the US did not attend. Neither did the Germans who had hoped to race,
but their Dornier project never got off the drawing board.
On the eve of the race a small piece of metal was found in the engines of
one of the S6s and after further investigation it was found that one of the
pistons was damaged necessitating a cylinder block change. A sweep of the
local hostelries and pubs raised enough Rolls Royce engineers to carry out the
task, and after a full night's work and ground running, the aircraft was ready
at 0800 on the day of the race.
The race weather was perfect and the first aircraft airborne was the S6 of
Flt Lt Waghorn. The aircraft performed beautifully until Waghorn reached the
sixth lap the engine began to misfire forcing the pilot to climb in the hope
that should it fail completely, he could glide to the end. The engine duly
failed, but Waghorn had insufficient height to carry out his plan and landed
on the water short of the finish, cursing his luck. When he sighted his
engineers approaching the becalmed aircraft, he noticed that they had broad
smiles on their faces - having miscounted his laps, he had, as Webster had at
the previous meeting, flown one extra lap. It was on this lap that the engine
had failed.
D'Arcy Greig in the sole S5 and Warrant Officer Dal Molin of Italy in the
M52R were caught up in a furious battle in the skies above, both at full chat
in the event that Waghorn had failed to complete the distance. The remaining
pilots and aircraft suffered a variety of problems. 'Batchy' Atcherley in the
second S6 lost his goggles in the slipstream and flew the remainder of his
race crouched inside the cramped cockpit, but was disqualified after
misjudging a turn and going inside a pylon. The final realistic challenge to
Waghorn's time ended when a coolant pipe broke on the second Macchi M67,
scalding its pilot who successfully landed his aircraft before being taken to
hospital for treatment.
Flt Lt Waghorn's average speed of 328.63 mph (528.77 km/h) was some 44mph
(71 km/h) faster than second-placed Dal Mollin in the M52R who just edged
D'Arcy Greig into third by barely 2mph.
The win set up, for the third time, the chance for a team to win the
Schneider Trophy outright. As no less a person than Prime Minister Ramsey
MacDonald commented, "We are going to do our level best to win
again."
 
|
