The Grosvenor Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Grosvenor Cup, was a trophy presented by Lord Edward Grosvenor in 1923 to the winner of a light aircraft time trial competition.Dorman 1951, p. 188. Entries were initially restricted to British designs using aero engines of less than 150 horsepower. The first competitions were held at

Lympne Aerodrome Lympne Airport , was a military and later civil airfield , at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returni ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. The contest continued until 1935 with a break to 1949 when the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

resumed the races at

Elmdon :''See also, Elmdon, West Midlands.'' Elmdon is a village in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, near the boundary with Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The hilly topography of the area differentiates it from countryside to the north, w ...

where the entry was opened to British and international designs with a weight less than 1,000 kilograms. For the 1949 event the contest had been briefly renamed to The Grosvenor Challenge Trophy Race, the 1950 event reverted to the former title.

Grosvenor

Lord Edward Grosvenor the former

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS) aviator and the youngest son of the

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

presented the cup, his objective in offering the cup "is to give a chance to the low-power machine, one comparable to the average motor car, with a horse-power of say thirty or forty. I think this will prove the most suitable type for general use, as the really low-powered light aeroplane will not be large enough for general touring about the country."

1923

For the first handicap race in 1923 they were ten entrants for the first prize of a £100 and a second prize of £50, the winner was also allowed to keep the cup for a year."Grosvenor Cup." Times ondon, England21 June 1923: 16. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. Only nine aircraft started the race and only five made it to the finishing line, the first to land was Walter Longton in the Sopwith Gnu. Lord Edward Grosvenor witnessed the start and the end of the race at Lympne and the cup was presented to the winner by Beatrice Grosvenor. During the race Major Ernest Leslie Foot died when his

Bristol M.1 The Bristol M.1 Monoplane Scout was a British monoplane Fighter aircraft, fighter of the World War I, First World War. It holds the distinction of being the only British monoplane fighter to reach production during the conflict. During mid-191 ...

''G-EAVP'' aircraft crashed at Chertsey."400-Mile Air Race." Times ondon, England25 June 1923: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. The only female entrant was Mrs Oliver Atkey (nee Dulcibella Evangeline Clifford (1894-1960)), in "a machine of D.H. type". The year before, her flight from Leeds to Edgeware was widely reported as the longest flight by a woman pilot in Britain.

1924

In 1924 the entry requirement was changed from an engine with no more than 150hp power to those a displacement no more than 1,100cc."Light Two-Seater Aeroplanes." Times ondon, England15 Sept. 1924: 17. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. Originally planned to be flown from Lympne to Manston twice this was later changed to a course closer to the airfield, the aircraft did eight circuits of the course to complete 100 miles. The race had eighteen entries."Light Aeroplane Trials." Times ondon, England4 Oct. 1924: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

1925

In 1925 the handicap race used the same eight circuit course around Lympne as in 1924 but the entry requirement was changed to aircraft with engines that weighed no more than 275lb."Air Races This Year." Times ondon, England6 May 1925: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. The race had twelve entries and was won by Flight Lieutenant J.S. Chick flying the

RAE Hurricane The RAE Hurricane was a single-seat, single-engined light monoplane designed and built by the Aero Club of the Royal Aircraft Establishment for the 1923 Lympne Motor Glider Competition. It was underpowered with an unreliable engine. Re-engin ...

."Flying Contests At Lympne." Times ondon, England4 Aug. 1925: 16. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Summary table

''Sources: Flightglobal Archive and Dorman 1951.''Dorman 1951, pp. 188-190.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Dorman, Geoffrey. ''Fifty Years Fly Past''. London. Forbes Robertson Ltd. 1951 (No ISBN) * Lewis, Peter. ''British Racing and Record Breaking Aircraft''. London: Putnam, 1971. {{ISBN, 0-370-00067-6.
Flightglobal Archive - www.flightglobal.com

External links

Air races Aviation in the United Kingdom Aviation competitions and awards