Overview
Germany organized the contest, because the German pilot Fritz Morzik won the previous contest in 1929. The regulation based upon the FAI rules, but details were worked out by the German Aero Club. The international Sports Committee was headed by the German Gerd von Hoeppner. 98 crews applied, but eventually 60 aircraft entered the Challenge in 1930, from six countries: Germany (30 crews), Poland (12 crews), United Kingdom (7 crews), France (6 crews), Spain (3 crews) and the Swiss (2 crews). In the British team there was one Canadian, and in the French team - one Belgian. It was the first major international event in which the Polish aviation took part, with second most numerous team in addition, equipped with own design aircraft. This time, Italy nor Czechoslovakia did not participate.
In the German team there was first of all Fritz Morzik - a winner of the Challenge 1929. Among the British team, there were pilots: Captain Hubert Broad (2nd place in 1929), the Canadian John Carberry (3rd place in 1929) and two women: Winifred Spooner and Lady Mary Bailey. In the Spanish team, there was prince Antonio de Habsburgo-Borbón. Many other known aviators of that time took part in the contest as well.
The contest was open on July 18, 1930, at Berlin-Staaken airfield. It consisted of two parts: a circuit over Europe and technical trials. Since one of the aims of the Challenge was to generate a progress in aircraft designing, it was not only pilots' competition, but technical trials also included a construction evaluation, to build more advanced and reliable touring planes. All planes flew with two-men crews, pilot and passenger or mechanic (apart from the Swiss Charles Kolp, who took two passengers, including one woman, into his Klemm VL.25).
Read more about this topic: Challenge International De Tourisme 1930