[MOC] Schneider Trophy - Curtiss CR-3 (Cowes 1923)

Hod Carrier · April 10

<-- Supermarine Sea Lion II (Naples 1922)

1923 was a watershed year for the Schneider Trophy. This would be the first year that the USA would compete with an official entry, and they would bring a number of technical innovations that would revolutionise the competition as well as a level of professionalism and preparation that would be copied by other competing nations.

The American team arrived at Cowes with four different aircraft, but technical problems during preliminary testing had sidelined two of them. The remaining two aircraft were Curtiss CR-3s flown by US Navy pilots Lt. Rutledge Irvine and Lt. David Rittenhouse. All post-war Schneider Trophy contests up to this point had been won by flying boats, but the Curtiss CR-3 was a floatplane design. Originally designated CR-2 as landplane racers with wheeled undercarriage, they had competed in the Pulitzer Trophy air races and had set US absolute air speed records. It was decided that they should be converted to floatplanes and prepared to compete for the Schneider Trophy against the best European designs.

The Curtiss CR-3 made use of a number of advanced features that gave it an advantage over its competitors. The first was the Curtiss D-12, a 12-cylinder vee engine producing 465hp which had a very small frontal area compared to other engine types, allowing for a more streamlined shape. The other was the use of wing surface radiators for engine cooling which did away with the need for a bulky and drag-inducing conventional radiator. This allowed the CR-3s to achieve 200mph, some 40mph more than the Supermarine Sea Lion II flying boat that had won the Trophy in Naples the previous year.

Competition for the Americans came from both Britain and France, although the French suffered their usual degree of misfortune. One of a pair of Latham L.1 flying boats suffered engine trouble and was damaged en route, forcing its withdrawal, while the Blanchard-Blériot C.1 never met performance expectations and crashed after collided with another aircraft during a test flight with a more powerful engine. This left them with the remaining Latham L.1, a CAMS 36 and a CAMS 38.

The British team fared little better. The brand-new Blackburn Pellet was a purpose-built racer which proved extremely troublesome. It capsized almost immediately after it was first launched and when it did fly it was found to be extremely nose-heavy while the Napier Lion engine was prone to overheating. It was finally lost during the navigability trials when its pilot, R. W. Kenworthy, tried to take avoiding action when a boat moved across his path. The aircraft took off in an exaggerated nose-up attitude, bounced off the water several times before plunging into the sea nose first, wrecking the aircraft. This left the British with just the improved and updated Supermarine Sea Lion III, the same aircraft that had won in Naples.

The starting order for the race saw the two Curtiss CR-3s of Irvine and Rittenhouse start first with Henri Biard next in the Supermarine Sea Lion III. The speed of the Americans was so great that, even though the improvements to the Sea Lion III made it faster than its previous incarnation, it was impossible for Biard to match their lap times. No help would come from the French quarter as their challenge once again failed to materialise. The Latham L.1 flown by Jacques Duhamel suffered magneto failure on one of its engines forcing its withdrawal, the CAMS 36 was damaged when its pilot, Lt. Pelletier d’Oisy, collided with a moored yacht, and the CAMS 38 suffered engine trouble on the second lap forcing pilot Lt. de Vaisseau Maurice Hurel to retire.

In the end, the result was inevitable. The two Curtiss CR-3s romped home ahead of the pursuing Supermarine Sea Lion III, with David Rittenhouse taking the victory ahead of Irvine. The Schneider Trophy was heading to the USA for the first time and it was clear to the Europeans that it would take something a bit special to wrest it back. Victory was no longer going to come through private entrepreneurs and gentlemen pilots simply modifying existing designs to take bigger engines.