The Sopwith Schneider of 1919 was a British racing

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

. It was a single seat

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

intended to compete in the 1919

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying ...

. After this race was abandoned due to fog, the Schneider was rebuilt into a landplane racer as the Sopwith Rainbow, being destroyed in a crash in 1923.

Development and design

In 1919, it became possible to restart the

races for

s, which had not been held since 1914 owing to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. As it was last won by the

Sopwith Schneider The Sopwith Tabloid and Sopwith Schneider (floatplane) were British biplanes, originally designed as sports aircraft and later adapted for military use. They were among the first successful types to be built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. The ...

development of the Sopwith Tabloid, the race was organised by the British

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 ...

, and was planned to be held at

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

on 10 September that year. In order to compete in the 1919 race, the

Sopwith Aviation Company The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War, most famously ...

designed a small

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

, powered by the new Cosmos Jupiter

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

.''Flight'' 28 August 1919, p.1154. It was of all-wooden construction, with single bay wings.''Flight'' 4 September 1919, p.1183.

Operational history

The Sopwith entry,

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''G-EAKI'', along with entries from

Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of Jet engine, jet-powered figh ...

(the

Sea Lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

) and Fairey (the

Fairey III The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants. First flying on 14 September 1917, examples were still in us ...

) was one of three British entries to compete in the race (the Avro 539 was eliminated prior to race-day).''Flight'' 11 September 1919, p.1225. On the day of the race, the weather was poor, with thick fog.''Flight'' 18 September 1919, p.1247. The Sopwith, flown by

Harry Hawker Harry George Hawker, MBE, AFC (22 January 1889 – 12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was also involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After the First World War, he co-fou ...

together with the Fairey entry, abandoned the race owing to the fog,''Flight'' 18 September 1919, p.1249. while the Supermarine aircraft hit debris following alighting to try to find where it was on the course, sinking when it tried to land again.''Flight'' 18 September 1919, p.1253. The only aircraft to complete the race, the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

SIAI S.13 was disqualified as the pilot consistently missed one of the turning points, the race being declared void. In 1920, the Schneider Cup racer was rebuilt as a landplane and re-engined with a 320 hp (239 kW)

ABC Dragonfly The ABC Dragonfly was a British radial engine developed towards the end of the First World War. It was expected to deliver excellent performance for the time and was ordered in very large numbers. It proved, however, to be extremely unreliable ...

as the Jupiter engine which powered it in 1919 was unavailable, and known as the Sopwith Rainbow. It was entered into the 1920

Aerial Derby The Aerial Derby was an air race in the United Kingdom sponsored by the '' Daily Mail'' in which the competitors flew a circuit around London. It was first held in 1912, with subsequent races in 1913 and 1914. Suspended during the First World Wa ...

, but was disqualified.''Flight'' 29 July 1920, p.841. It was rebuilt again in 1922 by H.G. Hawker Engineering, (Sopwith Aviation having gone into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

in 1920), being fitted with a Bristol Jupiter II. It finished second in the 1923 Aerial Derby on 6 August,''Flight'' 9 August 1923, p.467. but was destroyed in a crash on 1 September 1923.

Specifications (Schneider)

Notes

References

The Sopwith "Schneider Cup" Machine
. ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', 28 August 1919, p. 1154.
The Jacques Schneider Cup Race
. ''Flight'', 4 September 1919, pp. 1180–1186.

. ''Flight'', 11 September 1919, pp. 1223–1225.

. ''Flight'', 18 September 1919, p. 1242.

. ''Flight'', 18 September 1919, pp. 1244–1254.

. ''Flight'', 29 July 1920, pp. 836–841.

. ''Flight'' 9 August 1923, pp. 467–472. *Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972:Volume III''.London:Putnam, 1988. . *Robertson, Bruce. ''Sopwith-The Man and his Aircraft''. Letchworth, UK:Air Review, 1970. . {{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft 1910s British sport aircraft Schneider Trophy Floatplanes Schneider (1919) Biplanes with negative stagger Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1919