Challenge 1932

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Challenge 1932 was the third FAI International Tourist Plane Contest (French: Challenge International de Tourisme), that took place between 12 and August 28 1932 in Berlin, Germany. The four Challenges, from 1929 to 1934, were major aviation events in pre-war Europe.

1 Overview
2 Aircraft
3 Technical trials
4 Race over Europe
5 Maximum speed trial
6 Results
7 See also
8 References

[edit] Overview

Germany organized the contest, because German pilot Fritz Morzik won the previous Challenge in 1930. The number of aircraft that took part in the 1932 Challenge was smaller - 43 compared to 60, because the contest was getting much more difficult with time, demanding high pilotage skills and more advanced aircraft. This time, most countries developed special aircraft specifically for the Challenge.

Teams from six countries entered the Challenge in 1932: Germany (15 crews), France (8 crews), Italy (8 crews), Poland (5 crews), Czechoslovakia (4 crews) and Switzerland (2 crews). English aviatrix Winifred Spooner entered the contest in the Italian team, being the only woman among the pilots (flying a Breda Ba-33). One Canadian and one Romanian pilot entered the contest in the German team. German aircraft had starting numbers from a range: A4-A9, B1-B9, C2-C8, E1-E2, French: K1-K8, Italian: M1-M8, Polish: O1-O6, Swiss: S1-S2, Czechoslovak: T1-T4 (numbers were painted in a black square frame).

The opening ceremony was on August 12, 1932 at Berlin-Staaken airfield. The contest consisted of three parts: technical trials, a race over Europe and a maximum speed trial. Since one of the aims of the Challenge was to stimulate progress in aircraft development, it was not only pilots' competition, but technical trials also included a construction evaluation that promoted more advanced designs.

RWD-6 of Franciszek Zwirko during short start trial

[edit] Aircraft

The Challenge was to be a contest of tourist aircraft, so competing aircraft had to be able to take at least two persons aboard, take off and land on a short field and cover a distance with a good cruising speed. In fact, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Italy developed modern sports aircraft to meet the demands of the Challenge. In the beginning of the contest, the fast German Heinkel He 64c's were considered favourites. Most numerous German aircraft was the three-seater Klemm Kl 32. Both were wooden low-wing monoplanes. Italy and Czechoslovakia developed similar low-wing monoplanes, the Breda Ba 33 and Praga BH-111. Poland developed a high-wing RWD-6 and an all-metal low-wing monoplane PZL.19. All these aircraft had enclosed crew cabins, fixed landing gear and advanced wing mechanization (flaps and slats). The other aircraft, especially French, modified from serial designs, were less modern and had lower chances in technical trials.

[edit] Technical trials

On August 13 the technical evaluation of the competing planes' construction took place. Since it was a tourist plane contest, features such as: a comfortable cabin with a good view, seats placed side-by-side, a rich set of controls, modern construction, safety devices and folding wings were also awarded points. Most points were given to the Polish designs (86 pts to the RWD-6 and 84 pts to the PZL.19), behind them the Italian Breda Ba-33 (83 pts). This gave them more than ten points' advantage over most feared German designs, and placed them as favourites from this point.

On August 14, there was a short take off trial, which required the teams to fly over an 8 m high gate. The German pilot Wolfram Hirth was the best, taking off from the closest distance (91.6m); other Klemms and Bredas were also at the head. Next, a short landing trial followed, from behind an 8 m high gate. The best result, 92.4 m, was achieved by Winifred Spooner. After the technical evaluation and these two trials, the leaders in the general classification were: the Italian Ambrogio Colombo and the Pole Franciszek Żwirko on the RWD-6, with 161 points each. The next places were taken by an Italian team, then by Germans and Poles, then by the rest.

On August 15, there was a minimal speed trial, to evaluate the aircraft safety. Flying on the edge of stalling, Franciszek Żwirko was the slowest with 57.6 km/h speed, the second was another Pole flying an RWD-6, Tadeusz Karpiński. Behind them were the Italians and German He 64c's with good results below 65 km/h, and then the rest.

August 16 saw a trial of quick folding of wings, which was a feature to save place in hangars, and then a trial of quick engine starting. The general classification changed little after these trials, with Żwirko and Colombo holding on to a joint lead.

A fuel consumption trial on a 300 km distance was held on August 19, and German aircraft won in that category. After all technical trials, Ambrogio Colombo led the general classification, with Franciszek Żwirko second, Italy's Francesco Lombardi third.

[edit] Race over Europe

The second part of the Challenge was a 7363 km race over Europe, on a path: Berlin - Warsaw - Kraków - Prague - Vienna - Zagreb - Vicenza - Rimini - Rome - Bellinzona - Cannes - Lyon - Stuttgart - Bonn - Paris - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Goteborg - Berlin. 39 aircraft took part in the race. Main waypoints were Rome and Paris.

The race started on August 21. From the beginning, the German crews tried to take advantage of faster aircraft and make up for the points lost in the technical trials. The Italians tried to be the first in Rome, racing against the Germans. On the other side, the Poles, with slower planes, tried to keep a good cruise speed and flight regularity, which were awarded with points in the race. On the first day, most crews reached Vienna or Zagreb, while the Italians reached Vicenza. Ambrogio Colombo and three Germans got as far as Rimini. On August 22, the competitors landed in Rome, but the German pilot Hans Seidemann was first. Only 33 crews reached Rome, six withdrew on the way due to breakdowns and accidents.

On August 23, the competitors took off from Rome. On that day, two Italian Bredas crashed due to weak wing construction (one mechanic died). As a result, all the Italian teams were withdrawn from the Challenge, Ambrogio Colombo being the leader by then. On August 24, the 25 remaining crews reached Paris. On August 27, the competitors finished in Berlin. The first pilot in Berlin, and the fastest in the whole race, was the German Hans Seidemann with a cruise speed of 213 km/h, flying the Heinkel He 64c. The next seven results were also German. Franciszek Żwirko arrived in 11th place, with a cruise speed of 191 km/h.

[edit] Maximum speed trial

The last part of the Challenge was a maximum speed trial, on a 300 km triangular course. The beginning and landing was on August 28 at the Berlin-Staaken airfield.

The fastest was the German Fritz Morzik (He 64c) with 241.3 km/h. The next four places were also occupied by Heinkels. Żwirko's closest rival, Reinhold Poss flying a Klemm Kl 32, was in 7th position (220.7 km/h). The fastest Pole was Tadeusz Karpiński (8th position, 216.2 km/h, RWD-6), while Franciszek Żwirko took the 13th position with 214.1 km/h.

Due to a handicapping system, contestants took off in order of general classification, with proper intervals, and an amount of points given in the speed trial meant, that the first on the finish line would be the winner of all contest. As a result, minutes could decide the final victory in the Challenge. Taking off 12 minutes after Żwirko, Morzik landed 83 seconds after him - if he had overran Żwirko, he would have won. Poss, starting five minutes after the leader, was 2 minutes 30 seconds short.

[edit] Results

A closing ceremony was held after the maximum speed test on August 28. 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 aviation skills, but also of the technical features of their Polish-designed RWD-6 (which Wigura had co-designed). Due to Żwirko's victory, the next Challenge 1934 was organized in Warsaw.

The second and third place was occupied jointly by Germans: Fritz Morzik (Heinkel He 64c, the winner of the Challenge 1930) and Reinhold Poss (Klemm Kl 32V) with 458 points. The 5th place was taken by Switzerland's Robert Frenz flying German Klemm Kl 32. Tadeusz Karpiński flying the other RWD-6, took the 9th place. The best Czech, Josef Kalla, took 16th place, the best French contestant, Raymond Delmotte - 20th place. The Challenge was completed by 24 crews out of 43 (12 German, 4 Polish, 4 French, 3 Czechoslovak and 1 Swiss).

	Pilot	country	aircraft	registration / starting number	points: technical + race + speed	= total
1.	Franciszek Żwirko	Poland	RWD-6	SP-AHN / O6	245 + 211 + 5	461
2/3.	Fritz Morzik	Germany	Heinkel He 64c	D-2304 / C6	224 + 220 + 14	458
2/3.	Reinhold Poss	Germany	Klemm Kl 32	D-2261 / B9	234 + 217 + 7	458
4.	Wolfgang Stein	Germany	Heinkel He 64c	D-2302 / A8	221 + 220 + 12	453
5.	Robert Fretz	Switzerland	Klemm Kl 32	CH-360 / S2	231 + 217 + 4	452
6.	Wolf Hirth	Germany	Klemm Kl 32	D-2328 / E1	230 + 220 + 0	450
7/8.	Otto Cuno	Germany	Klemm Kl 32	D-2310 / C2	224 + 218 + 5	447
7/8.	Hans Seidemann	Germany	Heinkel He 64b	D-2260 / A9	214 + 220 + 13	447
9.	Tadeusz Karpiński	Poland	RWD-6	SP-AHL / O4	238 + 200 + 5	443
10.	Robert Lusser	Germany	Klemm Kl 32	D-2311 / B6	219 + 213 + 5	437

Some of other results:

11.	Jerzy Bajan	Poland	PZL.19	SP-AHK / O3	223 + 206 + 4	433
16.	Josef Kalla	Czechoslovakia	Praga BH-111	OK-BAH / T2	192 + 211 + 5	408
20.	Raymond Delmotte	France	Caudron C.278	F-ALXB / K4	192 + 73 + 0	265

Less than a month after the Challenge, Franciszek Zwirko and Stanislaw Wigura died in an accident, flying their RWD-6 to Czechoslovakia in a storm on September 11, 1932. Reinhold Poss also died in an accident in 1933. Winifred Spooner died the same year.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Marian Krzyżan: "Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929-1934", Warsaw 1988, ISBN 83-206-0637-3 (Polish language)

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Categories: 1932 in sports | Aviation competitions and awards

Challenge 1932

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Aircraft

[edit] Technical trials

[edit] Race over Europe

[edit] Maximum speed trial

[edit] Results

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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