Gloster III - Operational History

Operational History

The pilots had little time to practice flying the Gloster IIIs, with N194 only flying four times and N195 flying once before being departing for America. When the Supermarine S.4 crashed during navigation trials on 23 October 1925, N195, which was brought as a reserve was prepared to take part in the race instead of the Supermarine monoplane, to be flown by Hinkler. On the morning of the race, however, N195 was damaged during taxiing tests, leaving Broad in N194 to carry British hopes in the afternoon's race.

When the race took place, the Gloster III was outclassed by the Curtiss R3Cs of the United States, with the race being won by Lieutenant James Doolittle, flying a Curtiss R3C at an average speed of 232.573 mph (374.443 km/h), 33 mph (53 km/h) faster than Broad, who recorded a speed of 199.091 mph (320.537 km/h), with De Briganti in the Macchi M.33 finishing third and the remaining two Curtiss R3Cs failing to finish.

Following the race, the two Gloster IIIs were returned to the United Kingdom. After modification, they were used for training pilots of the RAFs High Speed Flight in preparation for the 1927 race.