Challenge International de Tourisme 1930
[2] It was the first major international event in which the Polish aviation took part, with second most numerous team in addition, equipped with own design aircraft.
Since one of the aims of the Challenge was to generate a progress in aircraft designing, it was not only pilots' competition, but technical trials also included a construction evaluation, to build more advanced and reliable touring planes.
[5] On contrary to a previous contest, there appeared also some special aircraft, better suited to meet the Challenge demands.
First of all, they were German BFW M.23c and Klemm L 25E, being new variants of successful machines of 1929 – wooden low-wing monoplanes with closed canopy, belonging to lighter category, yet fitted with powerful Argus engines, having better chance in technical trials.
All aircraft in the contest had fixed conventional landing gear and had no wing mechanization (slats or flaps) yet.
Class II aircraft were 11 German BFW M.23s and 5 Klemm L.25s and L.25E's (apart from two L.25 IVa), 3 Polish RWD-2s and one French PM XI.
[1] It was a 7560 km circuit over Europe, with compulsory stops at: Berlin – Braunschweig – Frankfurt – Reims – Saint-Inglevert – Bristol – London – Saint-Inglevert – Paris – Poitiers – Pau – Zaragoza – Madrid – Seville – Zaragoza – Barcelona – Nimes – Lyon – Lausanne – Bern – Munich – Vienna – Prague – Breslau (Wrocław) – Poznań – Warsaw – Königsberg (Kaliningrad) – Danzig (Gdańsk) – Berlin.
[10] The average speed was judged on flying time, so a competitor had to have his log book signed as soon after landing as possible.
[8] A competitor was given 75 points for regularity, which were mulcted for spending nights off the control airfield or not covering any stage in a day.
[3] The original time limit for the return to Berlin was 4 p.m. on July 31, but it got extended later for some crews, due to bad weather in Pau.
[10] Comparing with 1929 competition, the rally could bring only 54% of maximum number of points (in 1929 – 72%), what meant more stress on technical trials.
One Spanish and one Polish crew damaged aircraft (CASA C-1 and PWS-52) and had to withdraw, the other Pole from the fastest group Tadeusz Karpiński (RWD-4) got ill from appendicitis.
[11] On July 21 the weather enabled flying only about mid-day, but then most crews flew over the English Channel, and the fastest 23 planes managed to return to France.
They were five British crews: Hubert Broad, Alan Butler (both DH-60G), Sidney Thorn (Avro Avian), John Carberry (Monocoupe 110) and H. Andrews (receiving penalty points for landing after closure), three Germans (Fritz Morzik, Willy Polte – both BFW M.23c, Reinhold Poss – Klemm L.25E) and two Frenchmen (François Arrachart, Maurice Finat – both C.193s).
Meanwhile, 4 fastest pilots: Hubert Broad, Sidney Thorn, Alan Butler and Reinhold Poss, reached Breslau, and Fritz Morzik – Prague.
On that day two German crewmen Erich Offermann and E. Jerzembski (BFW M.23c) were killed in a crash landing in Lyon, hitting an aerial mast, while the other German crew of Rudolf Neininger (Darmstadt D-18) fell into the Gulf of Lyon, but were salvaged by a passing ship.
In an hour, there flew also Fritz Morzik, Maurice Finat, prince Antonio de Habsburgo-Borbon, Georg Pasewaldt, H. Andrews and A.S.
[15] The fastest on the whole track was Alan Butler (DH-60G – average speed 179 km/h), but due to a propeller exchange in Poznań, he was disqualified and finished the rally off the contest.
On July 28 seven crews reached Berlin (Willy Polte, Oskar Dinort, Winifred Spooner, Mary Bailey, John Carberry, François Arrachart, Stanisław Płonczyński),[15] on July 29 – 9 more (among others, Theo Osterkamp, Jerzy Bajan, Johann Risztics, Robert Lusser, Oskar Notz), and the rest – on next days.
[18] Note, that lighter aircraft, like Klemm L.25, BFW M.23, RWD-2 (below 322 kg empty weight), were in the Category II, with lower cruise speed demands.
[18] John Carberry's Monocoupe, the Polish RWD's and the Avro Avian lost a number of points, not having folding or dismounting wings at all.
[21] The German Walter Spengler (Klemm L.25) was disqualified for not carrying his spare propeller aboard during this trial.
[24] Additionally, in a meantime, the sports commission evaluated possibilities of dismantling the aircraft for transport (the points were added to results of wings' folding and unfolding).
Short take-off trial demanded flying over an 8.5m-high gate, which consisted of two masts with a stretched tape.
The German pilot Ernst Krüger was the best, starting from the lowest distance of 125.5 m, then Fritz Morzik (126.4 m) – both flying the BFW M.23c, and awarded with 30 pts.
The first three places were occupied by the Germans, flying specially developed variants of sports aircraft, the winner being Fritz Morzik again.
On the fourth place was Miss Winifred Spooner, who managed to improve her position since the rally part, thanks to skills in technical trials, which were not favourable for the British aircraft.
