Challenge International de Tourisme 1934 - Overview

Overview

Poland and the Polish Aero Club organized the contest, because a Polish pilot Franciszek Żwirko won the previous Challenge in 1932. In June 1933 the contest rules were announced. Like the previous contest, it consisted of three parts: technical trials, a rally over Europe and a maximum speed trial, but their details changed. Since one of the aims of the Challenges was to stimulate progress in tourist aircraft development, this time a stress in grading scale was put upon aircraft performance and quality, however pilots' skills remained crucial.

The opening ceremony was held on August 28, 1934 at noon at Mokotowskie field in Warsaw (the Italian team was late by two hours due to weather and arrived during the ceremony). During an air show, a Polish fighter PZL P.7a performing aerobatics crashed, but the pilot survived with injuries.

The number of crews and aircraft that eventually took part in the 1934 Challenge was smaller - 34 compared to 43 in 1932 Challenge, because the contest was getting more difficult with time. The aircraft flew with two-man crews (pilot and mechanic). Teams from only four countries entered the Challenge in 1934: Poland (12 crews), Germany (13 crews), Italy (6 crews) and Czechoslovakia (3 crews). The British aviator Walter MacPherson entered the contest in the Polish team. The French team of eight crews resigned from the contest, because a development of the new plane Caudron C.500 had not finished in time and its weight was too big. The first prize in the Challenge was 100,000 French franc, the second - 40,000 FRF, the third 20,000 FRF, the fourth - 10,000 FRF, 15 other crews would get 6,000 FRF.