WesWorld

This report is brought to you from Il Mundo’s Aviation Correspondent, Marco Gianco.

This year I’m here in Venezia to report on this year’s Schneider Trophy Race. The biennial event has returned again to Italy following our winning of the 1932 event in Cowes. Sadly the event had to be postponed following last years events but here we are again for this spectacle of aviation. The course is similar to the 1927 event consisting of a triangular course made up of three poles with a 50km length and seven laps. The pilots will race down the coast of the Venice lagoon before turning back on themselves towards Lido where they’ll head round the pole mounted on the boat a few hundred metres off the shore and back down the course. Lets get onto the teams, there are three entries this year: Italy, the defending champions, Great Britain, previous champions, and Australia making up the pack.



The course

First the Italian team. I’m allowed special access to their facilities for this race and so have been able to talk extensively with the pilots. They are very optimistic following last years successful attempt to get the world speed record (709km/h) in their aircraft. I’m lead to understand that the RAV (Reparto Alta Velocita) team has been practising heavily around Lake Garda from their base at Desenzano. The entries are made from two aircraft, both veterans of the 1932 race but with modifications. The Macchi MC.72 is a elegant floatplane, painted in Italian racing red. There’s no lack of power either, with the engines giving up to 3500hp for short periods. There may be mechanical problems though, so one of the aircraft will be restricted in order to make sure we have a finisher. There’s very little difference in the actual planes themselves, they are the same that raced in 1932 but with some added polish. Most of the RAV budget has been spent on the sleek new landplanes used to gather data for high speed research.



Macchi MC.72 under tow

The British team this year consists of two more Supermarine entries that are based heavily on the previous S.6b. The bright blue S.7s have the same arrangement, with twin floats but feature a new enclosed cockpit and a high activity propeller that is more efficient. The engine is still the Rolls-Royce R, this time running on ethanol and producing almost 3000hp. It is rumoured that speeds of over 430mph have been reached on tests but it remains to be seen whether this’ll prove fast enough to keep up the MC.72s.

insert pic of S.7 here

The Australian team has had by far the most distance to travel and is considerably smaller than the European teams. Most of their funding has been spent on building and testing their new aircraft, but they also bring a Gloster VI with them. This veteran of the 1927 event cannot hope to beat other entries, its Lion engine struggling to produce half the power. Their new aircraft is a strange mix and seems have been copied from Savoia-Marchetti’s SM.65 design, having the same general arrangement. A slim fuselage holds an engine at either end and booms project aft from the wing to carry the tailplane. The really novel feature is the retractable float which makes up the lower part of the fuselage. Stability is provided by two outriggers which able to be jettisoned. The two Rolls-Royce engines provide plenty of power, but the small size makes cooling problematic and has a high wing loading giving poor manoeuvrability.



The CAC Special from Australia

The event is proving to be as popular as ever with an estimated half a million people coming to Venice to witness the spectacle. The new electrified track in the surrounding region has really helped people to get here cheaply. Saturday saw overcast weather but it was judged well enough for the first tests to start. These comprised the taxiing tests where the pilot has to take the plane over a set course to test the manoeuvrability and water handling. All the competitors completed the course with the pilot’s eyes keenly set on the temperature gauge to mind that the engines didn’t overheat. The S.7 had rather a lot of problems on the water, the massive torque from its engine always trying to force the right float under. By contrast, the contra-rotating propellers on the MC.72 give very little torque effect. Next came an aerial display from the Aeronautica Italiana, a formation of Fiat CR.35s being thrown through the air in a series of death-defying stunts. After a cursory check over the competitors, they were towed out onto the lagoon for the seakeeping tests. For this, the aircraft are left moored for 6 hours without assistance. This doesn’t give the spectators much to look at but they were entertained by the array of seaplanes on display in the lagoon with many guided tours on small boats being carried out.

A bit of a storm blew up during the afternoon, with winds coming down from the Alps and setting up a lively chop, making the aircraft bob up and down like ducks. Problems struck around 4 in the afternoon when one of the MC.72s lost its mooring and started drifting towards the spit. It was hurriedly reattached gathered and reattached. Tragedy struck the Australians soon after when one of the outrigger floats broke from its wingtip. The aircraft began to slowly sink and looked to be sustaining damage to its wing when it was rescued by the officials. The Australian team had quite some water damage to sort out before the race on Sunday. Both machines disqualified because they had required assistance but it was decided that they would compete in the race anyway. Overhaul of the engines after the tests found a crack in one of the pistons of the R engines in the British team. The Roll-Royce team of fitters that accompanied the RAF worked through the night to replace it.

Sunday was the day itself and brought finer weather for the races. Lots were drawn for the flying order early on. 1st up was Orlebar in the S.7, 2nd was Agello in the MC.72, then Waghorn in the S.7, Richards in the Gloster VI, d’Agostin in the other MC.72 and finally Peters in the CAC Special. The race was to begin at 1000 with ten minutes between the starts.

The race started with the mighty roar of the Rolls-Royce engine in the S.7 as it was released from its lighter. Orlebar slipped into the Adriatic and quickly taxied towards the start line. His S.7 leapt into the air with a mighty roar and streaked off down the course only slightly climbing for height. Next came little Agello in the MC.72 to the cheering crowds, the difference caused by the contra-rotating propellers very noticeable at full power. Waghorn, Richards and d’Agostin soon followed, leaving only Peters to start in the CAC Special which had been hastily repaired. Its two engines shrieked in unison on takeoff, then suddenly the central float came up flawlessly and the two outriggers dropped away before flying away down the spit. Orlebar finished first with a respectable time and an average speed of over 400mph, things were looking worrying for the Italian team. This got worse when Agello’s machine started leaving a trail of smoke. This obviously indicated a mechanical problem and Agello pulled off a tricky landing in poor visibility before being picked up. Lap five brought more drama with d’Agostin overtaking Richards in the Gloster VI. D’Agostin gained height before the sharp corner at Lido, both machines taking the corner at the same time, before pushing the nose down and using the massive power of the Fiat engine to accelerate away from Richards who could do nothing to respond. d’Agostin finished shortly afterwards with an impressive time in the restricted machine of 30 minutes and 33 seconds and an average speed of 430mph, a big advance over Orlebar’s time. At this point Waghorn was still pressing on in his S.7 having miscounted the number of laps. When he finally landed he was greeted to cheers from the British team, having just pipped d’Agostin’s time at 30 minutes and 14 seconds. Richards in the Gloster made a valiant effort but was way off the pace, having an average of 330mph. This just left Peters flying the CAC. Things had started off well with initial laps giving him a competitive speed but on the third lap the temperature gauges began to rise dangerously into the red and he was forced to throttle back to stop the engines seizing up. With only the central float available, the landing was always going to be tricky put he managed to pull it off well, keeping it upright until the speed had bled off before it tipped over to the left and sat on the surface. Unfortunately Peter’s efforts weren’t enough with an average speed of 360mph.



The S.7 in flight

Waghorn had won in the S.7 giving the trophy back to Britain to the disappointment of the gathered Italian crowds. The Italian team were privately fuming that they hadn’t pushed the Fiat engine a bit further to provide the extra speed, but were magnanimous in defeat, with Italo Balbo personally presenting Waghorn with the trophy. RAV already has big plans for the next race providing they can get the funding and the assistance. We shall have to see what they come up with. This is your correspondent signing off from Venice.

What?! No sightseeing pictures from Venice?! Nice article.

Congratulations to Waghorn for getting the Schneider Trophy back to Britain.

congratulates British team on their achievement, and admires temendous technical achievements of Italian engine designers!

The Australians congratulate the Limeys for their victory.

There was to be a Brazilian plane flying a specially modified TNCA Aguila on floats. But apperantly the war prevent them from competing.

A minor nitpick, the Gloser VI would have been improved considerably, but it would have lost anyway.

-...plots-

The Napier Lion reached the end of the road some time ago. It would be extremely difficult to further increase power from the last 1320hp level. The comments on that particular engine are "unreliable and overweight"

Quoted

and admires temendous technical achievements of Italian engine designers!

Displacement and high revs helps a lot. Theres nowhere near as much boost as for the Rolls-Royce R running on ethanol. Lots of power from a smaller engine.

So looking at what Adm.K and Shinra typed, can we expect Russian and Canadian Schneider Trophy participants the next time?

Quoted

Originally posted by Rooijen10
So looking at what Adm.K and Shinra typed, can we expect Russian and Canadian Schneider Trophy participants the next time?

I'd like to, and I believe Canada's aircraft industry is up to the task nowadays...but my own lack of knowledge in the area might be a problem.

Quoted

...but my own lack of knowledge in the area might be a problem.

Yup.

Ernst Heinkel's thought once or twice of using the He-119 V3 as the basis for a racer, but is unlikely to take the time to try to get it ready for the next race. It's possible, though. Dornier, the other German aircraft company with large amounts of experience with seaplanes, is focused on larger aircraft at the moment.

I'm quite chuffed, still I never had any thoughts the Supermarine S.7 would ever lose...

1937 at Cowes then...

Quoted

I'd like to, and I believe Canada's aircraft industry is up to the task nowadays...but my own lack of knowledge in the area might be a problem.

For an entirely indigenous design probably not. An engine would be the real problem for Canada and a general lack of design staff. Manufacturing isn't so much of a problem though. Australia has problems with manufacture and design. Modern monocoques are a bit too advanced for Oz to produce, hence the tubular framed Boomerang et al. Still, I reckoned one special could be produced using Rolls-Royce engines.

Russia suffers from neither. The problem there is general lack of knowledge and experience. Getting the power shouldn't be a problem, but the result will be huge and heavy. Getting something thats lightweight and still works is a challenge.

High speed aerodynamics testing/theory (OTL); Italy with the best dedicated facilities, then UK at Farnborough, Germany in the late 30s and a sprinkling over the US at various universities and NACA.

I lack knowledge in that area as well so the one time that Japan did participate (back in November 1926) the plane never reached the finish.

The

Quoted

For the first time there was a Japanese entry to compete for the Schneider Trophy, which was held in Hampton Roads. The man, whose name has not been revealed, participated in a Mitsubishi K-1 floatplane specially made for the race.
This year’s winner was Mario de Bernardi from Italy flying a Macchi M.39 floatplane. The Japanese entry never made it to the finish and was last seen heading for Detroit

bit and the

Quoted

Wreckage of the Mitsubishi K-1 floatplane, which participated for the Schneider Trophy, was found south of Detroit. There was no sign of the pilot.

bit a few days later would make it obvious who was flying the plane during the race and why it never made it.

Quoted

Originally posted by Red Admiral

Quoted

I'd like to, and I believe Canada's aircraft industry is up to the task nowadays...but my own lack of knowledge in the area might be a problem.

For an entirely indigenous design probably not. An engine would be the real problem for Canada and a general lack of design staff.

Not entirely true anymore; Canada's yoinked a few before-their-time aeronautics experts and inventors, and put them to work for several years now. Engine development has been ongoing through CADRE and Orenda Engines, and various other testing through CADRE, CC&F, Avro Canada, etc.

There hasn't been much news items related to that beyond generics because of my personal lack of expertise in the area, but by now Canada should be at least up-to-speed (or better, in some areas) in the theoretical/prototype areas. Developing that into larger scale warplane orders is still taking some doing (Greatly hindered, again, by a lack of historical designs to 'yoink', and my inability to design from scratch)

It'll probably be better than historical but maybe only two main companies, Avro Canada and something else. I'd go for another pairing with an English firm rather than completely homegrown. There might be a lot of individuals with ideas but really it is the entire team that is needed to make a succesful product.

Avro Canada is spun out of Avro, and there are a few other Canadian branches of British firms as well. Canadian Car & Foundry is the only wholly homegrown company that's become moderately large as yet, which isn't far off from it's historical scope.

Most of the 'idea men' have been consolidated into the CADRE think tank to make the most of what Canada's got.

Canada doesn't intend to mass produce a lot of planes, but is preferring to field a smaller force of more advanced craft to make the most of limited resources.

A picture of the winning plane.



Expect an assualt on the world speed record in Britain's coronation year with this plane.

I reckon the MC. 72 can break 500mph with some more power. Boost is only 5lb at the moment and 92 octane fuel. Use Ethanol (around 112PN) and ~16lb boost and you can get up to 3750hp from 3100hp starting. Then increasing rpms to have similar piston speed to the Griffon ~ 3800rpm gives around 4300hp. Would need to be strengthened a bit probably and maybe desmodromic valves to take care of the extra rpm.

Heh. If Germany was going to get involved, one idea is to use a pair of the alcohol fueled DB-603s intended for the Mercedes T80 Schwarz Vogel, coupled together as a DB-613R. 6,0000 horsepower, , which would NEED a counter-rotating prop to keep the size of the prop down to something that could be used. Probably better to use either a single DB-603R, or a race-tuned DB-604.