In 1931 Britain met the conditions to retain the Trophy permanently; it is on display at the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.

Announced in 1912 by Jacques Schneider, a French financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, the competition offered a prize of approximately £1,000.

[3] After the British finally won permanent possession of the trophy in 1931, the sculpture was displayed for many years at the end of the corridor outside the ballroom of the Lansdowne Club.

It has since been entrusted to the Royal Aero Club and can be viewed along with the winning Supermarine S.6B floatplane at the London Science Museum Flight exhibition hall.

[4] Schneider was a hydroplane racer who came from a wealthy family; his interest in aircraft began after he met Wilbur Wright in 1908, but a boating accident in 1910 crippled him and prematurely ended his racing and flying career.

[5] Schneider served as a race referee at the Monaco Hydroplane Meet in 1912, where he noted that seaplane development was lagging land-based aircraft; seeking to spur amphibious aircraft development,[3] capable of reliable operation, extended range, and reasonable payload capacity, he announced the annual Schneider Trophy competition at a race banquet on 5 December, to cover a distance of at least 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi).

[7]: 240  Although Prévost had averaged a faster flying speed, he lost 50 minutes when he landed prematurely after losing count of the laps completed.

[8] The British won in 1914 with a Sopwith Tabloid flown by Howard Pixton at 139.74 km/h (86.83 mph);[7]: 240  the 1914 race was contested by three nations: France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

[15] The preparation of the United States team, backed by government support and using Curtiss racing biplanes derived from inter-military competitions, increased the speed and the investment of a winning entry significantly.

In 1924 the competition was cancelled as no other nation turned out to face the Americans: the Italians and the French withdrew; and both British craft crashed in pre-race trials.

[5] In 1925 at Chesapeake Bay the Americans won again, with US pilot Jimmy Doolittle winning in a Curtiss R3C ahead of the British Gloster III and the Italian Macchi M.33.

[7]: 242 Benito Mussolini instructed the Italian aircraft industry to "win the Schneider Trophy at all costs" and so demonstrate the effectiveness of his Fascist government.

[7]: 243  The United States, short of funds, did not develop new aircraft for the 1926 title defence; the M.39, designed by Mario Castoldi, used a Fiat AS2 engine and was streamlined in the manner of the 1925 Supermarine and Curtiss entrants.

[5][17] In 1927 at Venice the British responded by enlisting government backing and RAF pilots (the High Speed Flight) for the Supermarine, Gloster, and Shorts entries.

[5] In 1931 the British government withdrew support, but a private donation of £100,000 from the wealthy and ultra-patriotic Lucy, Lady Houston,[20] allowed Supermarine to compete.

[21] The remaining British team set both a new world speed record of 610 km/h (380 mph) and won the trophy outright with a third straight win.

The original trophy remained in the Science Museum, a full-size replica was cast, and the race opened on a handicapped basis to any propeller–driven landplane capable of maintaining 100 miles per hour (160 km/h; 87 kn) in straight and level flight, and weighing up to 12,500 lb (5,700 kg).

DEC invited customers and partners to each year's event as guests, and the general public watched in increasing numbers as the series grew in size and popularity.