27 September 2016
The Royal Aero Club’s Schneider Trophy Air Race last weekend was won by a seaplane for the first time since 1931. Roderick Morton flew his Lake Buccaneer to victory around a triangular course above Alderney, to win the handicap event at a speed 116.2kt.
The Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, commonly called the Schneider Trophy, was originally a trophy awarded annually to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying boats. The actual Schneider Trophy is now held at the Science Museum, South Kensington, London.
Jacques Schneider, a French financier and aircraft enthusiast, put up the trophy and prizemoney of approximately £1,000 in 1912. It was intended to encourage technical advances in civil aviation but became a contest for pure speed with laps over a triangular course.
Original Schneider Trophy race produced streamlined winners such as the Supermarine S-6B.
The race was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in WWII fighters including the Supermarine Spitfire.
Two amphibious aircraft out of a field of 18 aircraft took part in Sunday’s race – a Cessna 172 Amphibian and a Lake Buccaneer.
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Royal Aero Club RRRA
