1929
The 1929 Trophy race was to be held at Cowes. With little money forthcoming from the Ministry aircraft and engine development had to be private ventures, with government money only being used to purchase the completed product. The costs of the 1927 and 1929 meetings was stated to be £196,000 and £220,000 respectively. Rolls-Royce had now developed the supercharged R engine, giving Supermarine's designer R.J. Mitchell far more power for his new S.6 than the naturally aspirated Napier Lion VIIB of the S.5. Gloster's first racing monoplane, the Gloster VI, had stayed with the Lion, but was also now supercharged as the Lion VIID.
S.6 N247 came first, piloted by Waghorn, with Atcherley and N248 disqualified for cutting inside a turn. The Gloster VI had been withdrawn before the race, but Stainforth used it to set a new speed record the following day. A record which soon fell in turn to one of the S.6s.
| Pilot | Aircraft | Race position |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Lieutenant S. Kinkead | killed in 1928 record attempt | |
| Flying Officer H.R.D. Waghorn | Supermarine S.6 N247 | 1st place, at 328.6 mph |
| Flying Officer Moon | Engineering Officer | |
| Flight Lieutenant D D'Arcy A. Greig | S.5 | |
| Squadron Leader A. Orlebar | Flight Commander Record 357.7 mph in N247 |
|
| Flight Lieutenant G.H. Stainforth | Gloster VI N249 | |
| Flying Officer R.L.R. Atcherley | S.6 N248 |
Read more about this topic: High Speed Flight RAF