Tour of Europe 1929

The European Tour of 1929 was the first international FAI challenge award for aviation (French: Challenge International de Tourisme ), which took place between August 4th and 16th in Paris . Overall, this competition took place four times between 1929 and 1934 and was one of the most important aviation events in the period before World War II . A German pilot on a design by Willy Messerschmitt won this competition .

overview

The 1929 European tour was organized by the Aero Club France . The FAI had the idea of ​​organizing a competition for sport and touring aircraft in which pilots and manufacturers should face certain flight tasks.

The competition started on August 4th in Paris and included two main judgments: technical competitions and an air race over Europe. The background of the event was to promote the development of sport and touring aircraft. Not only the skills of the pilots were part of the tests, the reliability and quality of the technical development were also assessed here.

55 aircraft from six nations took part: Germany (24 crews), Italy (12), France (9), United Kingdom (5), Czechoslovakia (3) and Switzerland (2). Foreign pilots were represented in some teams, e.g. B. was in the German team the Canadian John Carberry with his Raab-Katzenstein RK 25 , in the French team two Belgians flew. In the British team, the pilot Winifred Spooner and Mary Bailey also flew the competition - but outside of the official rating. All planes were with a crew of two: pilot with passenger or mechanic.

Planes

de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth

Klemm L 25 at the ILA 2006

Junkers A 50 in the Deutsches Museum

Darmstadt D-18 (D-1561) on the Berlin-Tempelhof airfield (1930)

The planes for this competition were common sport planes of the late 1920s, such as. B. the de Havilland DH.60 Moth Gipsy Moth , which was the main aircraft of the British crew. Most of the aircraft had no cabin, were high, low or double deckers, and none of the aircraft was specially developed for this sightseeing flight. That should change in the following years. The only exception was the Czech Avia BH-11 with a wing design that was modified for the competition. All aircraft were equipped with a fixed landing gear and some did not have the option of folding the wings in order to save space when parking in the hangar. Most of the aircraft came from the German manufacturers BFW or Klemm . The BFW M 23b competed nine times, the Klemm L 25 Ia six times, including two for the Swiss team and twice as a model Kl 26 and were two-seater low-wing aircraft in wooden construction without a cabin.

Technical competitions

The first main part of the competition consisted of technical tasks: technical assessment, easy starting of the engine, easy application of the wings and minimal fuel consumption.

First, the technology was assessed: Features such as double steering, good operating and control elements, wheel brakes, fire safety and sufficient space for a rescue parachute were assessed and a maximum of 18 points could be achieved. The winners here were the Italians with their Breda Ba.15 (11.75 to 12 points) and the German all-metal aircraft Junkers A 50 (11.75 points). The Fiat AS.1 and Romeo Ro-5 achieved very good results with 11.25 points . The German BFW M 23b got only 9.5 points, the DH-60 from 9.5 to 10.5 and the lowest result got the Caudron C.113 .

After the test of folding in the wings and starting the engine, the leader was the Czech Josef Novak with his Aero A.34 biplane with 17.5 points. Behind them were three Italian crews with the Romeo Ro-5 biplanes (17.25 points), followed by the rest of the field. The best German pilot was Wolf Hirth with 16.25 points (12th place, Klemm L 25), most of the Germans followed closely behind. Some planes received devaluations for not folding wings.

Most recently, the consumption competition took place on August 5th in a 6 × 50 km closed area. There were 20 points to be scored. The best result was achieved by the German Johannes Nehring with his Darmstadt D-18 double-decker (18.5 points), followed by the Swiss Hans Wirth on a Klemm 25, three German Junkers A 50s and two Czech Avia BH-11s with 15-17 Points. The other German Klemm also achieved good ratings with 12-14.5 points.

The consumption competition resulted in a change in the preliminary overall ranking: the three leaders Johannes Nehring (Darmstadt D-18), Hans Wirth (Klemm L.25) and František Klepš (BH-11) each had 32 points. The other places were occupied from the 4th (Robert Lusser) - 10th by the German crews on Klemm and Junkers with 29.5-30 points. The best Brit, Hubert Broad , took 15th place, while the Aviatrix Winifred Spooner landed in 25th place (22.5 points). The German BFW M 23 only came in disappointing lower ranks with 25 points, whereby Fritz Morzik could only achieve 19.5 points, which brought him 30th place. John Carberry, (RK-25) was 47th and last with 12 points.

Final result of the technical competition:
	pilot	nation	plane	Points
1.	Johannes Nehring	German Empire	Akaflieg Darmstadt D 18	32.5
1.	Hans Wirth	Switzerland	Klemm L 25 Ia	32.5
1.	František Klepš	Czechoslovakia	Avia BH-11	32.5
4th	Robert Lusser	German Empire	Klemm L 25 Ia	30.5
5.	Waldemar Roeder	German Empire	Junkers A 50	30.25
5.	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Klemm L 25 Ia	30.25
7th	Friedrich Siebel	German Empire	Klemm L 25 Ia	30th
8th.	Johann Risztics	German Empire	Junkers A 50	29.75
9.	Wolf Hirth	German Empire	Klemm L 25 Ia	29.5
9.	Franz Kneer	German Empire	Junkers A 50	29.5
11.	Vaclav Vlček	Czechoslovakia	Avia BH-11	29
12.	Federico Guazetti	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	28.5
13.	F. Kirsch	German Empire	Clamp L 26	27.75
14th	Mario Stoppani	Italy	CANT 26	27.25
15th	Hubert Broad	United Kingdom	DH-60	26.25

Eight crews were eliminated by the end of the technical competition. Mostly engine problems were the reasons for this. The German designer Hermann Hofmann had a fatal accident with his Arado L I when he wanted to present some aerobatics over the airfield .

Air races over Europe

The second main part of the competition was a 5942 km long air race over Europe on a fixed flight route: Paris - Basel - Genoa - Lyon - Marseille - Saint-Raphaël - Turin - Milan - Venice - Zagreb - Belgrade - Bucharest - Turnu Severin - Budapest - Vienna - Brno - Prague - Wroclaw - Warsaw - Poznan - Berlin - Hamburg - Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris . The main stops were Belgrade, Warsaw and Paris. It was not only a race, but also a tough test for the aircraft and their crews to reliably endure over such a long distance. Important evaluation points here were: achieving a high cruising speed, adhering to the prescribed course and the continuity of the flight. At least one station had to be reached every day and the night had to be spent at the designated airfields. Likewise, no major repairs and maintenance were allowed on the way. A maximum of 119 points were achievable, of which a maximum of 70 were for the average speed achieved, 35 for maintaining the flight route and 14 for reliability.

The race started on August 7th at 9:00 a.m. in Orly , with two crews already canceled at the start. One of the two pilots was the Czech Josef Novak with his Aero A.34 . Its engine went out and the plane overturned during the emergency landing that followed. Although the top speed was not the only criterion, the crews flew very quickly. The nine fastest participants arrived in Belgrade around noon on August 8th. Among them were: Hubert Broad , Winifred Spooner , František Klepš (Avia BH-11), Johannes Nehring (D 18), Raymond Delmotte ( Caudron C.191) and John Carberry (RK 25). This lead group was also the fastest at the next airfields. The chase group consisted of five German crews, including Fritz Morzik (BFW M 23b) and two Italian crews. Most of the other participants flew without joining a group. Some aircraft dropped out of the race due to technical problems and crash landings.

On August 9, most of the participants took off from Belgrade, while a few other planes had not even reached the city. On August 11th, the leading group started in Brno and reached Warsaw. On the way to Posen, Johannes Nehring had to make an emergency landing with his Darmstadt D 18 and damaged his aircraft, until then it was one of the fastest aircraft in the field.

The participants were not allowed to land in Orly before 3pm on August 14, so the leadership group took off in Brussels and circled over Orly airfield until it was just before 3pm and then started to land. Nineteen planes hit the ground in quick succession - the first was the Italian Batista Botalla with his Fiat AS.1. On that day, four more crews reached Orly, on August 15, three participants finished the race, and the last arrived the following day. 31 of the 47 aircraft that took off had arrived at their destination.

Only two crews achieved the maximum number of points of 119: the German Fritz Morzik (BFW M 23b) and the Canadian John Carberry (RK-25); Hubert Broad (DH-60G) took third place with 109. The Italian team was able to achieve a good result with 99 - 194 points, they flew in a group during the entire race. The winners of the technical competition could not achieve high points in the race and had to take back positions. (Robert Lusser - 97.75 points, František Klepš - 94 points, Hans Wirth - 81.75 points).

Result of the air race:
	pilot	nation	plane	Points
1.	Fritz Morzik	German Empire	BFW M 23b	- 119
2.	John Carberry	Canada	Raab-Katzenstein RK 25	- 119
3.	Hubert Broad	United Kingdom	DH-60	- 109
4th	Wolf of dung	German Empire	BFW M 23b	- 106.5
5.	Umberto Gelmetti	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	- 104
6th	Federico Guazetti	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	- 99
7th	Winifred Spooner	United Kingdom	DH-60	-
8th.	Gustavo Castaldo	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	- 99
9.	Francesco Lombardi	Italy	Fiat AS.1	- 99
10.	Batista Bottalla	Italy	Fiat AS.1	- 99

Bottom line

After the air race, on August 16, the FAI's first European tour was officially ended. After adding up all the points achieved, the German Fritz Morzik won with his BFW M 23b , the second place went to Hubert Broad.

Bottom line
	pilot	nation	plane	License plate / start number	Points: technology + racing	= Total
1.	Fritz Morzik	German Empire	BFW M 23b	D-1673 / A4	19.5 + 119	138.5
2.	Hubert Broad	United Kingdom	DH-60G	G-AAHS / H5	26.25 + 109	135.25
3.	John Carberry	Canada	Raka RK 25	D-1701 / B3	12 + 119	131
4th	Robert Lusser	German Empire	Klemm L 25 Ia	D-1714 / C2	30.5 + 97.75	128.25
5.	Federico Guazetti	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	? / M3	28.25 + 99	127.25
6th	Wolf of dung	German Empire	BFW M 23b	D-1674 / A3	20.25 + 106.5	126.75
7th	František Klepš	Czechoslovakia	Avia BH-11	L-BABG / T1	32.5 + 94	126.5
8th.	Gustavo Castaldo	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	I-IACE / M2	25.25 + 99	124.25
9.	Umberto Gelmetti	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	? / M1	18 + 104	122
10.	Winifred Spooner	United Kingdom	DH-60G	G-AAAL / H6	22.5 + 99	121.5
11.	Waldemar Roeder	German Empire	Junkers A 50	D-1683 / D5	30.25 + 90.25	120.5
12.	Carlo Benasatti	Italy	Romeo Ro-5	I-FARO / K8	19.25 +?	117.75?
13.	Francesco Lombardi	Italy	Fiat AS.1	? / K3	18.5 + 99	117.5
14th	Batista Bottalla	Italy	Fiat AS.1	? / K4	18 + 99	117
15th	Hans Wirth	Switzerland	Klemm L 25 Ia	? / S2	32.5 + 81.75	114.25 (best Swiss)
15th	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Klemm L 25 Ia	D-1713 / C6	30.25 + 84	114.25
22nd	M. Weiss	France	Potez  36	F-AJGT / F5	23.75 + 74.75	98.5 (best French)
26th	Maurice Finat	France	Potez  36	F-AJGW / F6	18.50 + 72.75	91.25
27.	Werner Junck	German Empire	Albatros Flugzeugwerke L 82b	D-1706 / B9	25.25 + 64.75	90
28.	Raymond Delmotte	France	Caudron C. 191	F-AJGH / E7	12.75 + 72.75	85.5
31.	Jacques mouse	Belgium	St Hubert G.1	OO-AKY / H2	18 + 54.5	72.5 (best Belgian (in the French team))

The first prize was endowed with 100,000  French francs (FF), the second received 50,000 FF, the third 25,000 FF, the 16 following teams each received 7,350 FF.

The competition was a complete success for the German participants (including John Carberry, who started for Germany) but only 12 out of 24 teams were able to finish the competition. The Italians were also able to post a good result - due to only three failures, nine of the twelve aircraft that took off made it to the finish.

Due to the victory of a German occupation, the Europe sightseeing flight was organized and hosted in Germany in 1930 . The regulations for the aircraft there made higher demands on progress and technical development.

See also

• Tour of Europe 1930
• Tour of Europe 1932
• Tour of Europe 1934

Web links

Commons : Challenge International de Tourisme 1929  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Darmstadt D-18 of Akaflieg
• D-18 in the English language Wikipedia
• Photos of the Messerschmitt BFW M 23

literature

• Marian Krzyżan: Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929–1934 , Warsaw 1988, ISBN 83-206-0637-3 (Polish)