Tour of Europe 1932

The Challenge 1932 was the third FAI International Travel Airplane Competition (French: Challenge International de Tourisme ) and took place between August 12 and 28, 1932 in Berlin , Germany . Four competitions, from 1929 to 1934, were major aviation events in Europe between the world wars.

overview

Germany organized the competition because the German pilot Fritz Morzik had won the previous Challenge in 1930. The number of aircraft participating in 1932 was lower - 43 compared to 60 before, because the competition became much more difficult over time and therefore more sophisticated pilot skills and more sophisticated aircraft were required. This year most countries developed special aircraft specifically for this challenge .

Teams from six countries took part in the 1932 Challenge: Germany (15 crews), France (8 crews), Italy (8 crews), Poland (5 crews), Czechoslovakia (4 crews) and Switzerland (2 crews). The English aviator Winifred Spooner took part in the competition in the Italian team. She was the only woman among the pilots. The Canadian (John Carberry) and the Romanian pilot Alexander Papană took part in the competition in the German team.

The opening ceremony took place on August 12, 1932 at the Berlin-Staaken airfield . The competition consisted of three parts: technical tests, a rally around Europe and a top speed test. Since one of the objectives of the competition was to encourage advances in the development of aircraft, it was not just a pilots' competition, but also consisted of engineering tests and a design evaluation that encouraged advanced designs.

Planes

The challenge was a competition of the travel planes, so the planes had to be able to carry at least two passengers, take off and land on small airfields and be able to cover a certain distance with a good speed. Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Italy developed modern sport aircraft specifically for the challenges of the Challenge. In the run-up there had been problems with the Messerschmitt M29 with which Morzik was reported. The aircraft was not allowed to compete. In order to enable Morzik to participate anyway, Elly Beinhorn was forced to forego participation in his favor and to give him her aircraft, a Heinkel He 64 .

At the beginning of the competition, the six fast German Heinkel He 64s were considered favorites. The most numerous were the German three-seater Klemm Kl 32 (7 and 1 of a Swiss team). Both were wooden low and single decks. Italy and Czechoslovakia developed similarly braced low and monoplane, the Breda Ba.33 and the Praga BH-111. Poland developed the high-wing RWD-6 and an all-metal low and monoplane, the PZL.19. All of these aircraft had closed cockpits, fixed landing gear and an advanced wing mechanism ( flaps and slats ). The other aircraft, especially the French, modified series models, were less modern and had fewer opportunities in the technical tests.

Participating aircraft types: Klemm Kl 32 (8), Breda Ba.33 (8), Heinkel He 64 (6), Praga BH-111 (3), PZL.19 (3), RWD-6 (2), Potez 43 ( 2), Farman F.234 (2), Farman F.250 (1), Darmstadt D 22 a (1), Raab-Katzenstein RK 25/32 (1), Breda Ba.15S (1), Monocoupe 110 (1 ), Guerchais T.9 (1), Caudron C. 278 (1), Peyret-Mauboussin PM XII (1), Comte AC-12 (1).

The German aircraft had starting numbers in a row: A4-A9, B1-B9, C2-C8, E1-E2, French: K1-K8, Italian: M1-M8, Polish: O1-O6, Swiss: S1-S2, Czechoslovakian : T1-T4. The numbers were written on the hull in a black square.

Technical exams

On August 13, the technical assessment of the competing aircraft took place. As it was a competition for touring aircraft, features such as a comfortable cabin with a good view, seats next to each other, a large number of displays, modern construction, and safety devices were in demand. Points were also awarded for foldable wings. Most of the points went to the Polish designs (86 points for the RWD-6 and 84 for the PZL.19), followed by the Italian Breda Ba.33 (83 points) and the Czechoslovakian Praga BH-111 (80). This gave them a lead of more than ten points over the German aircraft designs (Kl 32 - 71–72 points, He 64c - 66 points), and made them favorites in this evaluation. The poorly placed aircraft got 44 points (Caudron C.278 biplane and Peyret-Mauboussin PM XII).

On August 14th there was the short take-off round, which required the crews to fly over an 8 m high gate. The German pilot Wolfram Hirth (Kl 32) was the best. He took off at the shortest distance (91.6 m - 40 points). Two Italians, Colombo and Lombardi, also scored 40 points. The Klemms and Bredas were in the lead. The Polish RWD-6 achieved 37 points (111.5 m and 115 m).

Tadeusz Karpiński's RWD-6 during a short take-off round

Top results of the short start round
	pilot	country	plane	distance	Points
1.	Wolf Hirth	German Empire	Kl 32	91.6 m	40
2.	Francesco Lombardi	Italy	Ba-33	97.5 m	40
3.	Ambrogio Colombo	Italy	Ba-33	100 m	40
4th	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Kl 32	100.3 m	39
5.	Robert Fretz	Switzerland	Kl 32	102.6 m	39
6th	Vittorio Suster	Italy	Ba-33	105.6 m	38

Next came a passage for the shortest landing via an 8 m high gate. The best result, 92.4 m (40 points), was achieved by Winifred Spooner. The Klemms, Bredas, RWD-6s and the French Potez 43 also had good results. The leading ones in the technical assessment and these two rounds were: The Italian Ambrogio Colombo and the Pole Franciszek Ż Wirko with the RWD-6. They each achieved 161 points. The following places were occupied by an Italian team, then came the Germans and Poles, then the rest.

Top results of the run for the shortest landing
	pilot	country	plane	distance	Points
1.	Winifred Spooner	United Kingdom	Ba-33	92.4 m	40
2.	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Kl 32	97.8 m	40
3.	G. Viazzo	Italy	Ba-33	101.9 m	39
4th	Georges Detré	France	Potez 43	102.8 m	39
5.	Franciszek Ż Wirko	Poland	RWD-6	105.8 m	38
6th	Ambrogio Colombo	Italy	Ba-33	107.3 m	38
7th	Robert Fretz	Switzerland	Kl 32	107.4 m	38

On August 15, there was a low-speed round to assess the safety of the aircraft. Flying on the verge of stall , Franciszek Ż Wirko was the slowest with 57.6 km / h, second was another Pole who flew an RWD-6: Tadeusz Karpiński. Behind them followed the Italians, the German He 64s and the French Raymond Delmotte (C.278) with good results between 61.2 and 65.7 km / h, then the rest. The regulations did not expect these slow speeds and thus everyone reached seven results below 63 km / h 50 points.

Top results for the lowest speed
	pilot	country	plane	speed	Points
1.	Franciszek Ż Wirko	Poland	RWD-6	57.6 km / h	50
2.	Tadeusz Karpiński	Poland	RWD-6	60.8 km / h	50
3.	Francesco Lombardi	Italy	Ba-33	61.2 km / h	50
4th	Ambrogio Colombo	Italy	Ba-33	61.4 km / h	50
5.	Winifred Spooner	United Kingdom	Ba-33	61.5 km / h	50
6th	Werner Junck	German Empire	He 64c	62.1 km / h	50
7th	Hans Seidemann	German Empire	He 64b	62.4 km / h	50

On August 16, the passage for the fastest folding of the wings, a function to save space in hangars . Then came the run to start the engine as quickly as possible. The general classification changed little after these rounds, with the leading Ż Wirko and Colombo, who had 222 points together.

A run on fuel consumption at a distance of 300 km followed on August 19, and the German aircraft won in this category. After all technical rounds, Ambrogio Colombo led in the general classification with Franciszek Ż Wirko as second and Italy's Francesco Lombardi as third.

Top results of the technical runs:
	pilot	country	plane	Points
1.	Ambrogio Colombo	Italy	Breda Ba-33	−247
2.	Franciszek Ż Wirko	Poland	RWD-6	−245
3.	Francesco Lombardi	Italy	Breda Ba-33	−242
4th	Winifred Spooner	United Kingdom	Breda Ba-33	−241
4th	Renato Donati	Italy	Breda Ba-33	−241
6th	Tadeusz Karpiński	Poland	RWD-6	−238
6th	Mario Stoppani	Italy	Breda Ba-33	−238
8th.	Vittorio Suster	Italy	Breda Ba-33	−235
9.	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	−234
10.	Robert Fretz	Switzerland	Terminal terminal 32	−231

Before the next part, Winifred Spooner had outside of Berlin because of sabotage on fuel emergency landing. She decided to get out of the competition.

Rally across Europe

The second part of the challenge was a 7363 km rally across Europe, en route: Berlin - Warsaw - Krakow - Prague - Vienna - Zagreb - Vicenza - Rimini - Rome - Bellinzona - Cannes - Lyon - Stuttgart - Bonn - Paris - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Gothenburg - Berlin. 39 aircraft took part in the race. The main waypoints were Rome and Paris.

The rally started on August 21st. Right from the start, the German crews tried to take advantage of the faster aircraft and catch up on the points deficit in the technical rounds. The Italians tried to be the first in Rome in the race against the Germans. On the other hand, the Poles tried to achieve a good cruising speed and a steady flight with slower planes, which was also awarded points in the rally. On the first day, most of the crews reached Vienna or Zagreb , while the Italians reached Vicenza . Ambrogio Colombo and three Germans (von Massenbach, Seidemann and Marienfeld) even reached Rimini . Three crews disembarked on the way due to aircraft damage.

On August 22nd, the participants landed in Rome . The German pilot Hans Seidemann was first. Only 33 crews reached Rome; three had a crash landing, including the Romanian Alexander Papană, who flew a 110 monocoupe.

On August 23, the participants started from Rome . That day, two Italian Bredas crashed because of the weak wing construction (a mechanic died while jumping). The result was that Italy pulled all Italian teams off the challenge, with Ambrogio Colombo leading at the time. The last 25 crews reached Paris on August 24th . The participants finished the race in Berlin on August 27th . The first pilot in Berlin, and the fastest in the entire race, was the German Hans Seidemann with a cruising speed of 213 km / h. He flew a Heinkel He 64b . The next seven were also Germans. Franciszek Ż Wirko achieved 11th place with a cruising speed of 191 km / h.

Top results of the rally:
	pilot	country	plane	Average speed	Points
1.	Hans Seidemann	German Empire	Heinkel He 64b	213 km / h	−220
2.	Wolfgang Stein	German Empire	He 64c	208 km / h	−220
3.	Dietrich von Massenbach	German Empire	He 64c	206 km / h	−220
4th	Walter Marienfeld	German Empire	Darmstadt D 22 a	205 km / h	−220
5.	Wolf Hirth	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	203 km / h	−220
6th	Fritz Morzik	German Empire	He 64c	200 km / h	−220
7th	Otto Cuno	German Empire	Kl 32	198 km / h	−218
8th.	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Kl 32	197 km / h	−217
8th.	Robert Fretz	Switzerland	Kl 32	197 km / h	−217
10.	Robert Lusser	German Empire	Kl 32	193 km / h	−213
11.	Franciszek Ż Wirko	Poland	RWD-6	191 km / h	−211
11.	Josef Kalla	Czechoslovakia	Praga BH-111	191 km / h	−211
13.	Jerzy Bajan	Poland	PZL.19	188 km / h	−206

After the technical rounds and the rally, Franciszek Ż Wirko was in first place in the overall standings with 456 points, with Reinhold Poss in second place with 451 points, Wolf Hirth in third place with 450 and Robert Fretz (Switzerland) in fourth Place with 448 points. Fritz Morzik finished fifth with 444 points.

Maximum speed passage

The last part of the challenge was a top speed run on a 300 km triangular course. Take-off and landing were on August 28th at the airfield in Berlin-Staaken .

The fastest was the German Fritz Morzik (He 64c) with 241.3 km / h. The next four places also went to Heinkels. Ż Wirko's next rival, Reinhold Poss flew a Klemm Kl 32 and landed in seventh position (220.7 km / h). The fastest Pole was Tadeusz Karpiński (8th position, 216.2 km / h, RWD-6), while Franciszek Ż Wirko was 13th with 214.1 km / h.

Due to a handicap system, the contestants started in the order of general classification, with sufficient spacing, and speed pass points so that the first on the finish line would be the winners of the entire competition. The result was that a few minutes would be decisive for winning the Challenge. Morzik started 12 minutes after Ż Wirko and landed 83 seconds after him - had he overtaken Ż Wirko, he would have won. Poss started five minutes after the leader, 2 minutes and 30 seconds short.

Results

A closing ceremony was held after the high-speed passage on August 28th. The winners were the Polish crew: pilot Franciszek Ż Wirko and mechanic Stanisław Wigura, with 461 points. Her success was not only a result of her flying skills, but also one of the technical characteristics of her Polish RWD-6 (which Wigura had helped to design). Because of Żwiro's victory, the next challenge, in 1934, took place in Warsaw.

The Germans Fritz Morzik ( Heinkel He 64c , winner of the Challenge 1930 ) and Reinhold Poss ( Klemm Kl 32 V) shared second and third place with 458 points. Fifth place went to Swiss Robert Frenz, who flew a German Klemm Kl 32. Tadeusz Karpiński flew another RWD-6 and came in ninth. The best Czech, Josef Kalla, reached the 16th place, the best French participant, Raymond Delmotte - the 20th place. The challenge ended with 24 out of 43 crews (12 German, 4 Polish, 4 French, 3 Czechoslovak and one Swiss).

	pilot	country	plane	Admission / start number	Points: technique + race + speed	= Total
1.	Franciszek Ż Wirko	Poland	RWD-6	SP-AHN / O6	245 + 211 + 5	461
2.	Fritz Morzik	German Empire	Heinkel He 64c	D-2304 / C6	224 + 220 + 14	458
2.	Reinhold Poss	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	D-2261 / B9	234 + 217 + 7	458
4th	Wolfgang Stein	German Empire	Heinkel He 64c	D-2302 / A8	221 + 220 + 12	453
5.	Robert Fretz	Switzerland	Terminal terminal 32	CH-360 / S2	231 + 217 + 4	452
6th	Wolf Hirth	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	D-2328 / E1	230 + 220 + 0	450
7th	Otto Cuno	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	D-2310 / C2	224 + 218 + 5	447
7th	Hans Seidemann	German Empire	Heinkel He 64b	D-2260 / A9	214 + 220 + 13	447
9.	Tadeusz Karpiński	Poland	RWD-6	SP-AHL / O4	238 + 200 + 5	443
10.	Robert Lusser	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	D-2311 / B6	219 + 213 + 5	437
11.	Jerzy Bajan	Poland	PZL.19	SP-AHK / O3	223 + 206 + 4	433
12.	Georg Pasewaldt	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	D-2320 / C4	219 + 202 + 5	426
12.	Theo Osterkamp	German Empire	Terminal terminal 32	D-2312 / B7	219 + 204 + 3	426
14th	Werner Junck	German Empire	Heinkel He 64c	D-2305 / E2	225 + 186 + 13	424
15th	Dietrich von Massenbach	German Empire	Heinkel He 64c	D-2303 / A6	183 + 220 + 12	415
16.	Josef Kalla	Czechoslovakia	Praga BH-111	OK-BAH / T2	192 + 211 + 5	408
17th	Walter Marienfeld	German Empire	Darmstadt D 22 a	D-2222 / B8	145 + 220 + 10	375
18th	Ignacy Giedgowd	Poland	PZL.19	SP-AHI / O2	198 + 142 + 5	345
19th	Jan Anderle	Czechoslovakia	Breda Ba.15S	OK-WAL / T1	143 + 130 + 0	273
20th	Raymond Delmotte	France	Caudron C. 278	F-ALXB / K4	192 + 73 + 0	265
21st	František Klepš	Czechoslovakia	Praga BH-111	OK-BEH / T4	196 + 25 + 0	221
22nd	Pier Duroyon	France	Potez 43	F-AMBN / K3	171 + 43 + 0	214
23.	Maurice Arnoux	France	Farman F-234	F-ALLY / K5	89 + 73 + 0	162
24.	André Nicolle	France	Peyret-Mauboussin PM XII	FA??? / K6	111 + 40 + 0	151

The first prize of the challenge was 100,000 French francs , the 2nd - 50,000 FRF, the 3rd - 25,000 FRF, the 4th - 13,000 FRF, 16 other crews received 7,000 FRF.

Less than a month after the challenge, Franciszek Zwirko and Stanislaw Wigura died in an accident during a flight with their RWD-6 to Czechoslovakia in a storm on September 11, 1932. Reinhold Poss died in an accident in 1933. Winifred Spooner passed away that same year.

See also

• Berlin-Staaken
• Challenge 1930
• Challenge 1934

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Challenge International de Tourisme 1932  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Evelyn Zegenhagen: " Dashing German Girls". Aviators between 1918 and 1945. Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8353-0179-5 , p. 122f.