1931
Under the rules of the Schneider Trophy, a third win would be an outright win in perpetuity. The official attitude after the 1929 victory was summed up by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, "We are going to do our level best to win again."
However official support was withdrawn because of the need for economies following the Wall Street crash of October 1929. The Cabinet vetoed RAF involvement and Government funding in a sporting event. Trenchard's view that there was no advantage as aircraft development would continue whether or not the UK competed. The public however had other ideas and backed the idea of a national team. A wealthy benefactor, shipping heiress Lady Lucy Houston, offered to pay £100,000 towards its cost. With the financial burden removed, the Government generously allowed the RAF to compete again.
The delay in funding meant that there was no time to design a new aircraft to compete; instead, the S.6 design was modified: the output of the R engine was increased by 400 hp to 2,300 hp and the airframe was strengthened, producing S.6B. Two new aircraft were built to this specification and the two existing S.6s were upgraded and renamed S.6A.
In the event, the race itself was an anti-climax - no other countries entered a team. All that had to be done was for one of the aircraft from the flight to complete the course. The plan was thus to attempt to beat the previous race time with one of the S6.Bs, then to either go all-out for a new record attempt, or to use the S6.A to secure the Trophy.
The first goal was met according to plan; Flight Lieutenant Boothman, won in S.6B S1595 at 340.08 mph, 12 mph faster than the 1929 time.
Work then began on the record attempt, which suffered a setback when a minor accident led to S1596 sinking. As a result, both the race and the record were flown by S1595 (now in the Science Museum, London). The engines were swapped for this attempt though, from the "reliable" race tune to the ultimate performance "sprint" engine and its special fuel. Flight Lieutenant Stainforth then achieved a record of 407.5 mph, the first person to travel faster than 400 mph; "the mark that matters", in the words of Ernest Hives. In comparison, land speed records didn't achieve this for 15 years, until after the Second World War and John Cobb's Railton Mobil Special.
| Pilot | Aircraft | Race position |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Lieutenant E.J.L. Hope | ||
| Lieutenant R.L. "Jerry" Brinton (Fleet Air Arm) | ||
| Flight Lieutenant Freddy Long | S.6B S1596 | |
| Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth | S.6B | record attempt planned with S1595, actually with S1596 after accident |
| Squadron Leader A. Orlebar | Flight Commander | |
| Flight Lieutenant John Boothman | S.6B S1595 | 1st place, at 340.08 mph. |
| Flying Officer Leonard Snaith | S.6A N248 | |
| Flight Lieutenant W.F. Dry | Engineering Officer |
The Flight was wound up within weeks of the 1931 victory, it having served its purpose.
Read more about this topic: High Speed Flight RAF