Challenge International de Tourisme 1932
The Challenge 1932 was the third FAI International Touring Aircraft Competition (French: Challenge International de Tourisme ) and took place between 12 and 28 August 1932 in Berlin, Germany. Four competitions, 1929-1934, were great aviation events in Europe between the world wars.
Overview
Germany organized the competition, as the German pilot Fritz Morzik had won the previous Challenge 1930. The number of 1932 participating aircraft was less - 43 vs. 60 previously because of competition with time was much more difficult and thus more sophisticated skills of the pilots and more sophisticated aircraft were needed. This year, most countries developed special aircraft, specifically for this challenge.
Teams from six countries participated in the Challenge 1932: Germany (15 crews ), France ( 8 crews ), Italy ( 8 crews ), Poland ( 5 crews ), Czechoslovakia (4 crews ) and Switzerland (2 crews ). The English aviatrix Winifred Spooner took part in the competition in the Italian team. She was the only woman among the pilots. The Canadians ( John Carberry ) and a Romanian pilot (Alexander Papana ) took part in the competition in the German team.
The opening ceremony was held at the airport Berlin- Staaken on 12 August 1932. The competition consisted of three parts: technical tests, a rally around Europe and a top speed test. Since one of the objectives of the competition was to promote progress in the development of aircraft, it was not only a pilot competition, but also consisted of technical tests and a design evaluation, which promoted advanced designs.
Aircraft
The Challenge was a competition of the jets, thus the aircraft to be able to at least two passengers had to carry, take off and land on small airfields can and can cope with a certain distance at a good speed. Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Italy developed modern sport aircraft specifically designed for the challenges of the Challenge. Prior to this there had been problems with the Messerschmitt M29, was reported to the Morzik. The aircraft was not allowed to compete. Nevertheless, to allow Morzik participation, Elly Beinhorn was forced to renounce in his favor on the participation and assign him her plane, a Heinkel He 64.
At the beginning of the competition, the six fast German Heinkel He 64 were considered favorites. The most numerous of the German three-seater Klemm Kl 32 was (7 and 1 of a Swiss team ). Both were low and wooden monoplane. Italy and Czechoslovakia developed similarly low and braced monoplane, the Breda Ba.33 and the Praga BH- 111. Poland developed a high-wing RWD - 6 and an all-metal low-and monoplane, the PZL.19. All these planes had closed cockpits, fixed landing gear and an advanced wing mechanism ( flaps and slats ). The other aircraft, especially the French, changed production models were less modern and had fewer opportunities in all the tests.
Participating Aircraft: Klemm Kl 32 ( 8), Breda Ba.33 ( 8), Heinkel He 64 (6 ), Praga BH -111 ( 3), PZL.19 ( 3), RWD -6 ( 2), Potez 43 ( 2), Farman F.234 ( 2), Farman F.250 ( 1), Darmstadt D- 22a ( 1), Raab - Katzenstein RK-25/32 ( 1), Breda Ba.15S ( 1), Monocoupe 110 ( 1), Guerchais T.9 (1 ) Caudron C.278 ( 1), Peyret - Mauboussin PM XII ( 1), Comte AC-12 (1).
Had the German planes start numbers in a row: A4 -A9, B1 -B9, C2 - C8, E1 -E2, French: K1 -K8, Italian: M1 -M8, Polish: O1- O6, Swiss: S1 -S2, Czechoslovak: T1- T4. The numbers were attached to the hull in a black square.
Tests
On August 13, the technical evaluation of the competing aircraft took place. Since it was a competition of jets, were features such as a comfortable cabin with good views, adjacent seats, large number of ads that modern construction, safety devices required. For folding wings and points were awarded. Most points due to the Polish design (86 points for the RWD -6, and 84 points for the PZL.19 ), then followed the Italian Breda Ba.33 (83 points) and the Czechoslovak Praga BH -111 (80 points). This gave them more than ten points clear of the dreaded German design ( Kl 32 - 71-72 points, He 64c - 66 points), and made them in this assessment to favorites. The poorly -placed aircraft got 44 points ( Caudron C.278 biplane and Peyret - Mauboussin PM XII).
On August 14, there was the short take-off passage, asked which of the crews to fly over an 8m high gate. The German pilot Wolfram Hirth ( Kl 32 ) was the best. He lifted in the shortest distance from ( 91.6 m - 40 points ). Two Italians, Colombo and Lombardi, also reached 40 points. The Klemm and Breda were also at the top. The Polish RWD -6 reached 37 points ( 111.5 m and 115 m).
Next came a passage for the shortest landing over an 8 m high gate. The best result, 92.4 m ( 40 points) was achieved by Winifred Spooner. Good results were also Klemm, Breda, RWD - 6s and French Potez 43 The leading after the technical evaluation and these two passages were: The Italian Ambrogio Colombo and the Pole Franciszek Żwirko RWD - sixth You reached 161 points, respectively. The following places went to an Italian team, then by the Germans and Poles arrived, then the rest
On August 15 there was a low - speed passage to evaluate the safety of the aircraft. Flying on the edge of the stall, was Franciszek Żwirko the slowest 57.6 km / h, second, another pole of a RWD -6 was flying: Tadeusz Karpiński. Behind them came the Italians, the German Hey 64s and the Frenchman Raymond Delmotte ( C.278 ) with good results from 61.2 to 65.7 km / h then the rest The regulations did not expect these slow speeds and thus reached all seven results below 63 km / h 50 points.
On August 16, the passage to the fastest folding of the wing, a function to save space in hangars. Thereafter, the passage was to rapidly start the engine. The general classification changed after these little passages, with the leading Żwirko and Colombo, which together had 222 points.
A passage to the fuel consumption to 300 km distance followed on 19 August, and the German planes won in this category. After all technical passages Ambrogio Colombo resulted in the general classification with Franciszek Żwirko as second and Italy's Francesco Lombardi as the third.
Before the next part, Winifred Spooner had to make an emergency landing due to sabotage on fuel outside of Berlin. She decided to withdraw from the competition.
Rally on Europe
The second part of the challenge was a 7363 km rally over Europe, en route: Berlin - Warsaw - Krakow - Prague - Vienna - Zagreb - Vicenza - Rimini - Rome - Bellinzona - Cannes - Lyon - Stuttgart - Bonn - Paris - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Gothenburg - Berlin. 39 aircraft took part in the race. Main waypoints were Rome and Paris.
The rally began on August 21. From the outset, the German crews were trying to use their advantage in the faster aircraft and close the points behind the technical passages. The Italians tried in the race against the Germans to be the first in Rome. On the other hand, the Poles tried with slower aircraft a good cruising speed and a steady flight to achieve what was also evaluated with points in the rally. The first day saw most crews Vienna and Zagreb, while the Italians reached Vicenza. Ambrogio Colombo and three German (of mass Bach, Seidemann and Marienfeld ) even reached Rimini. Three crews from up the road due to aircraft damage.
On August 22, the participants ended up in Rome. The German pilot Hans Seidemann was first. Only 33 crews reached Rome; three had a crash landing, including the Romanian Aleksander Papana, who flew a Monocoupe 110.
On August 23, the participants of Rome started from. On this day fell two Italian Breda because of weak wing structure from ( a mechanic died when jumping ). The result was that Italy The Italian team withdrew from the Challenge, with Ambrogio Colombo was a leader at the time. On August 24, reached the last 25 crews Paris. On 27 August, the participants completed the race in Berlin. The first pilot in Berlin, and the fastest in the entire race, was the German Hans Seidemann with a cruising speed of 213 km / h He flew a Heinkel He 64b. The next seven were German. Franciszek Żwirko reached a cruising speed of 191 km / h the 11th Place.
After the technical passages and the rally, Franciszek Żwirko was on the first place in the overall standings with 456 points, with Reinhold Poss in second place with 451 points, Wolf Hirth in third place with 450 points and Robert Fretz ( Switzerland ) on the fourth place with 448 points. Fritz Morzik was fifth with 444 points.
Maximum passage
The last part of the challenge was a top speed passage, on a 300 km triangle course. Takeoff and landing were on 28 August at the airfield in Berlin- Staaken.
The fastest was the German Fritz Morzik ( He 64c ) with 241.3 km / h The next four places also went to Heinkel. Zwirko nearest rival, Reinhold Poss flying a Klemm Kl 32 and landed at seventh position ( 220.7 km / h ). The fastest Pole was Tadeusz Karpiński (8th position, 216.2 km / h, RWD - 6), while Franciszek Żwirko was the 13th position with 214.1 kmh thirteenth.
Because of a Handicap System, launched the candidates in order of general classification, with sufficient intervals, and the points of the speed passage, so that would be the first at the finish line, the winner of the entire competition. The result was that a few minutes would be decisive about the victory in the Challenge. Morzik started 12 minutes after Żwirko and landed 83 seconds after him - he would Żwirko obsolete, he would have won. Poss started five minutes after the premier, he missed 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Results
A graduation ceremony was held on 28 August after the maximum passage. The winners were the Polish crew: pilot Franciszek Żwirko and mechanic Stanisław Wigura, with 461 points. Their success was not only a result of their flying skills, but also one of the technical characteristics of their Polish RWD -6 (which Wigura was designed with ). Because Zwirko victory, took the next Challenge, 1934, held in Warsaw.
The second and third place was shared by the Germans Fritz Morzik ( Heinkel He 64c, the winner of the Challenge 1930) and Reinhold Poss ( Klemm Kl 32V ) with 458 points. Fifth place went to the Swiss Robert Frenz, of a German Klemm Kl 32 was flying. Tadeusz Karpiński flew another RWD -6 and placed ninth. The best Czech, Josef Kalla, reached the 16th place, the best French participants, Raymond Delmotte - the 20th Place. The Challenge has been completed with 24 of 43 crews (12 German, 4 Polish, 4 French, 3 Czechoslovak and Swiss ).
The first prize of the Challenge were 100,000 French francs, the second - 50,000 FRF, the 3rd - 25,000 FRF 4 - 13,000 FRF 16 other crews received 7,000 FRF.
Less than a month after the challenge, Franciszek and Stanislaw Zwirko Wigura died in an accident on a flight by their RWD -6 in Czechoslovakia in a storm on September 11, 1932. Reinhold Poss died in 1933 in an accident. Winifred Spooner died the same year.