Challenge International de Tourisme 1930 - Technical Trials

Technical Trials

The first was a trial of quick wings' folding, which was a feature to save place in hangars. The quickest were the crews flying DH-60s (Hubert Broad's crew folded and unfolded wings in mere 48 sec), awarded with 19 points. Crews of the German BFW M.23c scored 17-18 pts, of the Klemm L.25E - 16-17 (F. Morzik - 18 pts, O. Notz and W. Polte - 17 pts, R. Poss - 16 pts). John Carberry's Monocoupe, the Polish RWD's and the Avro Avian lost a number of points, not having folding or dismounting wings at all.

The next was quick engine starting test, in which equipping with a starter was extra awarded. The best Klemm L.25Ia of Theo Osterkamp, with Salmson AD.9 engine, earned 11 points. The British aircraft were handicapped by lack of starters, and the best crews - Miss Spooner and Lady Bailey, got 6 points, while H. Broad got 4 points. On the other hand, F. Morzik and R. Poss got only 7 points. On August 3 there was a fuel consumption trial on a 304 km distance. The best in fuel consumption were light RWD-2s, then German Klemms and BFWs, but 17 aircraft scored maximum of 30 pts and point differences between most of other aircraft were not big. The German Walter Spengler (Klemm L.25) was disqualified for not carrying his spare propeller aboard during this trial. Hubert Broad was still the leader, but F. Morzik was only one point behind.

On August 4 there took place a technical evaluation of competing planes' construction. Since it was a touring plane contest, such features, like comfortable cabs, side-by-side seats, rich set of controls, twin controls, safety devices (anti-fire devices and places for parachutes and water safety equipment) were also awarded. In a technical evaluation, a maximum of 104 points could be won, of a total of 230 points for technical part. Most important feature was a comfortable cab (up to 42 points). Most points was given to the American Monocoupe of John Carberry (74 pts), then to three German Junkers A50s (67-69 pts), then Breda Ba.15S and Arado L IIa (65 pts). 62 points were given to Klemm L.25E of Reinhold Poss, the same to Polish RWD-4 of Jerzy Bajan. DH-60G's of Hubert Broad and Winifred Spooner were awarded only with 56 pts, while the BFW M.23c of Fritz Morzik with 54 pts. The worst was evaluation of Hans Böhning's BFW M.23b, with 39 pts (a winning type of the previous Challenge), the second worst was Sidney Thorn's Avro Avian - 43 pts.

Additionally, in a meantime, the sports commission evaluated possibilities of dismantling the aircraft for transport (the points were added to results of wings' folding and unfolding). The German crews, flying BFW M.23c, along with F. Morzik, received additional 6 points, and Klemms L.25E, along with Poss and Notz - 3 points. No points were given to the British, Polish or French aircraft.

After these trials, leaders in a classification became the Germans: Reinhold Poss (382 pts), Oskar Notz (380 pts), Fritz Morzik (378 pts), then John Carberry (377 pts), Hubert Broad (375 pts) and Winifred Spooner (370 pts). Last trials however brought some changes to this classification.

From evening August 5 until August 7 there were carried short take-off and landing trials. Short take-off trial demanded flying over an 8.5m-high gate, which consisted of two masts with a stretched tape. Each crew had two training attempts and two trials. The German pilot Ernst Krüger was the best, starting from the lowest distance of 125.5 m, then Fritz Morzik (126.4 m) - both flying the BFW M.23c, and awarded with 30 pts. Next places were occupied also by the Germans, the sixth was Winifred Spooner flying DH-60 (142 m - 25 pts). Hubert Broad was given only 12 points (198.4 m), and John Carberry - 21 points (153.7 m).

The last was a short landing trial, from above an 8.5m-high gate. The best result, 127.3 m (30 pts), was made by the German Theo Osterkamp, flying older model of Klemm L.25 Ia, then Friedrich Siebel (Klemm L.26, 25 pts). The third was Winifred Spooner (21 pts); Fritz Morzik and Reinhold Poss had the 5th and 6th result respectively. Again Hubert Broad's result was only 8 points, and John Carberry's - 7 points. In both last trials, the Polish and French aircraft performed poorly as well.

To sum up technical trials part: Hubert Broad's advantage over other competitors was decreasing in following trials, then he lost several places after the aircraft evaluation and wings' folding tests. After poor take-off and landing results, he occupied the 8th position eventually. Due to lack of folding wings and engine starter, John Carberry fell from the 2nd to 11th position, only to regain this position thanks to best aircraft evaluation. However, mediocre take-off and landing results gave him the 6th place overall. Technical part saw a duel between Reinhold Poss and Fritz Morzik, occupying the 3rd and 4th places respectively after the circuit part. Poss took a lead, while Morzik fell to the 5th position after the aircraft evaluation, but Morzik's superb take-off and landing made him a winner, while Poss took the 2nd place. Oskar Notz and Winifred Spooner both performed very well, improving their positions by three places (from the 7th and 8th place respectively), while Willy Polte improved it only by one step (from the 6th position). Winifred Spooner performed good take-off and landing as the only British competitor and the only flying DH.60. Other competitors, who managed to improve their positions much in this part, in spite of flying older aircraft, were Theo Osterkamp (from the 16th to 11th place), Robert Lusser (from the 18th to 14th place) and Friedrich Siebel (from 25th to 18th place). Among the competitors, who lost most position, were Edward Więckowski (from 15th to 21st place), S. Thorn and A. Gothe.