Challenge International de Tourisme 1930 - Circuit Over Europe

Circuit Over Europe

The contest in 1930 was the only Challenge, in which a rally was the opening phase. It was a 7560 km circuit over Europe, with compulsory stops at: Berlin - Braunschweig - Frankfurt - Reims - Saint-Inglevert - Bristol - London - Saint-Inglevert - Paris - Poitiers - Pau - Zaragoza - Madrid - Seville - Zaragoza - Barcelona - Nimes - Lyon - Lausanne - Bern - Munich - Vienna - Prague - Breslau (Wrocław) - Poznań - Warsaw - Königsberg (Kaliningrad) - Danzig (Gdańsk) - Berlin. Distances ranged from 77.5 km (Lausanne - Bern) to 410 km (Danzig - Berlin). In spite of attempts of many pilots at being the first man home, it was not a race, but rather a reliability test. A regularity of flights was the most important factor, the second was a cruise speed (minimal cruise speed had to be 80 km/h for Class I aircraft or 60 km/h for lighter Class II aircraft. Cruise speeds above 175/155 km/h respectively did not give extra points). The average speed was judged on flying time, so a competitor had to have his log book signed as soon after landing as possible. A competitor was given 75 points for regularity, which were mulcted for spending nights off the control airfield or not covering any stage in a day. One night outside the control or arrival after the official closing time (8 p.m.) costed 15 points, two nights - 45 points, and three failures to reach the control caused a disqualification. Also, for failing to fly any stage in a day, a competitor would loose 10 points, and for the second time - another 20 points. The original time limit for the return to Berlin was 4 p.m. on July 31, but it got extended later for some crews, due to bad weather in Pau. Apart from 75 points for regularity, up to 195 points could be gained for a high cruise speed. Comparing with 1929 competition, the rally could bring only 54% of maximum number of points (in 1929 - 72%), what meant more stress on technical trials.

The crews took off between 9 and 9.59 AM on Sunday, July 20, from Berlin-Tempelhof. Despite a poor weather, on the first day, fifteen crews reached Saint-Inglevert near Calais, 1058 km away (among them, 6 British crews, 4 French, 3 Polish and only 2 German). One Spanish and one Polish crew damaged aircraft (CASA C-1 and PWS-52) and had to withdraw, the other Pole from the fastest group Tadeusz Karpiński (RWD-4) got ill from appendicitis. On July 21 the weather enabled flying only about mid-day, but then most crews flew over the English Channel, and the fastest 23 planes managed to return back to France. Three British and three French crews reached Paris that day, flying 843,5 km. One French crew destroyed the plane during forced landing (PM XI), several other planes got damaged on that or previous day, but could be repaired.

On July 22 – the third day of the rally, the fastest pilots reached Madrid, 3019 km from the start. They were five British crews: Hubert Broad, Alan Butler (both DH-60G), Sidney Thorn (Avro Avian), John Carberry (Monocoupe 110) and H. Andrews (receiving penalty points for landing after closure), three Germans (Fritz Morzik, Willy Polte - both BFW M.23c, Reinhold Poss - Klemm L.25E) and two Frenchmen (François Arrachart, Maurice Finat - both C.193s). Four more aircraft, including Prince de Habsburgo-Borbon and Georg Pasewaldt, managed to fly to Zaragoza over the Pyrenees, but the French crews of Cornez (C.193) and MacMahon (C.232) crashed their aircraft, while trying to fly farther. The rest was spread out on the whole track, the slowest pilots being only 800–1000 km away from Berlin. Five crews dropped out on that day - apart from the mentioned ones, also one German and Spanish crew damaged their aircraft during flight to Pau. Another German pilot von Oertzen withdrew, when his passenger von Redern got killed by a propeller of their Albatros L.100 in London.

Twelve fastest crews were the lucky ones to get to Spain, because on July 23 and 24, the whole rest of crews were grounded in Pau due to bad weather over the Pyrenees. Lady Bailey was the last to try to fly to Zaragoza, but she was forced to return to Pau. Due to flight prohibition, there were no penalties for not flying farther, and the return time limit was extended by 24 or 48 hours, depending on time when the crew arrived at Pau. Five crews reached Barcelona on the 23rd, and Lausanne on the next day. On July 25, the weather improved and the rest of crews was allowed to fly to Zaragoza. Meanwhile, 4 fastest pilots: Hubert Broad, Sidney Thorn, Alan Butler and Reinhold Poss, reached Breslau, and Fritz Morzik - Prague. Four crews dropped out that day, among them the best Polish pilot Franciszek Żwirko, flying RWD-4 (due to engine failure), also two German and the only Belgian crew of Jacques Maus (St. Hubert G.1). On July 26, four crews reached Warsaw (Poss, Broad, Thorn and Prince de Habsburgo-Borbon). The fastest of crews, that had been halted by the weather, reached Bern (the Pole Jerzy Bajan and two Germans Aichele and Dinort), being 700 km behind last crews of the first group, resting in Viena. On that day two German crewmen Erich Offermann and E. Jerzembski (BFW M.23c) were killed in a crash landing in Lyon, hitting an aerial mast, while the other German crew of Rudolf Neininger (Darmstadt D-18) fell into the Gulf of Lyon, but were salvaged by a passing ship.

On July 27 the first pilots finished in Berlin. The first came Hubert Broad, then Sidney Thorn followed closely by Reinhold Poss. In an hour, there flew also Fritz Morzik, Maurice Finat, prince Antonio de Habsburgo-Borbon, Georg Pasewaldt, H. Andrews and A.S. Butler. The fastest on the whole track was Alan Butler (DH-60G - average speed 179 km/h), but due to a propeller exchange in Poznań, he was disqualified and finished the rally off the contest. The fastest of qualified crews and the only one to gain full points, was Hubert Broad (176 km/h). On that day, 35 crews were still on the track. On July 28 seven crews reached Berlin (Willy Polte, Oskar Dinort, Winifred Spooner, Mary Bailey, John Carberry, François Arrachart, Stanisław Płonczyński), on July 29 - 9 more (among others, Theo Osterkamp, Jerzy Bajan, Johann Risztics, Robert Lusser, Oskar Notz), and the rest - on next days. The last crews finished the rally on August 1. Some crews dropped out or were disqualified in these last days as well.

The circuit over Europe appeared to be quite difficult for aircraft and pilots. Only 36 crews out of 60 finished in time. Further 6 crews completed the circuit in spite of being disqualified due to time infringement or propeller repairs, in case of not carrying a spare propeller. Among those, who dropped out, were 9 German crews (3 of them completed the circuit), 8 Polish (3 completed the circuit), 4 French, 2 Spanish and 1 British (completed the circuit). After the rally, a leader in the general classification was Hubert Broad (DH-60G, 270 points), behind him: John Carberry (Monocoupe, 268 pts), Reinhold Poss (Klemm L.25E, 264 pts), fourth was Fritz Morzik (BFW M.23c, 263 pts). The fastest German pilot was Dietrich von Massenbach (151 km/h), but he lost 10 points for regularity.

Top results of the rally:.

Note, that lighter aircraft, like Klemm L.25, BFW M.23, RWD-2 (below 322 kg empty weight), were in the Category II, with lower cruise speed demands.