Lympne light aircraft trials

In Britain there were large stocks of surplus aircraft available at low prices, making it hard for manufacturers to develop new models.

In Germany the manufacture of powered aircraft was forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, but glider development was allowed.

The Royal Aero Club chose Itford Hill on the South Downs just east of Brighton as a venue and the event was arranged for 16–21 October 1922.

[1] Nevertheless, the trials did serve to stimulate public and industry interest in private aviation after the first world war and certainly exercised the ingenuity of designers to the maximum in complying with the restrictions placed upon them.

[4] The Duke of Sutherland, at that time Under-Secretary of State for Air got the competition moving, offering a prize of £500 for the most economical British aircraft.

The Daily Mail offered a similar economy prize of £1000 for a flight of more than 50 miles over a 12.5-mile triangular course, powered by an engine of less than 750 cc capacity but for an aircraft from any nation.

[6] Each aircraft had to prove it was capable of going through a standard field gate and then be wheeled along a country road for a mile using not more than two men.

[6] Also competed for were the £500 Abdulla Prize, donated by the Abdulla Tobacco Co. for the greatest speed over two laps of the same circuit and £150 each from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the British Cycle and Motor Cycle Manufacturers and Trade Unions for the greatest number of completed circuits during the whole competition.

ANEC No.17, flown this time by Mr Maurice Piercey also won the £200 altitude prize from Sir Charles Wakefield with a height of 14,400 feet (4,390 m).

The two £150 prizes for maximum distance covered went to the Avro 560 (No.6) flown by Bert Hinkler, which completed 80 laps or 1,000 miles (1,609 km).

However Alexis Maneyrol died on the final day during his second attempt on the altitude record, when his Peyret monoplane suffered lift strut failure.

[20] The 1924 trial, properly called the Two-Seater Dual Control Light Aeroplane Competition was held from 27 September to 4 October 1924 also at Lympne Aerodrome.

[21] The rules, issued in February 1924 required[22] competing aircraft to have engines with a capacity of no more than 1,100 cc, to have full dual controls and one or two airspeed visible from either cockpit.

[22] There was a transport, store and reassemble test which involved folding or dismantling the wings, moving the aircraft a short distance and housing in a shed 10 ft (3 m) wide, then reversing the process.

[23] In addition, there was a £500 prize for the best combined take-off and landing performance from the Duke of Sutherland, with £100 for the runner-up and a £300 reliability prize from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and the British Cycle and Motor-cycle Manufacturers' and Traders' Union, awarded to the aircraft that flew the most laps during the week.

[23] The unexpectedly high loss rate was broadly due to underdeveloped engines and a rushed preparation of airframes.

Air Ministry interest had waned and they put up no prize money, but the Daily Mail offered £5,000 in all, £3,000 to the winner, £1,500 to the runner-up and £500 for third place.

A single "figure of merit" determined position, the ratio of the useful load carried, unchanged throughout the trials to the mass of petrol used over the total 1,994 miles (3,208 km) flown.

[32] The Missel Thrush did, but was out even before the start of the elimination test, badly damaged in an accident begun with undercarriage failure.

The elimination trials did not reduce the field as severely as in 1924, but three aircraft (No.1, 12 and 15) were disqualified after suffering undercarriage failures in the flying tests.

Friday's course was an exception, a two lap flight on a 106-mile circuit from Lympne to the south London airport at Croydon.

If placings had been determined by fuel consumed rather than the figure of merit, the order would have been unchanged, and Bulman flew his Cygnet significantly faster (68.36 mph or 101.0 km/h) over the 1,994 miles of the course than anyone else.