The Daily Mail Circuit of Britain air race was a British cross-country air race that took place from 1911 until 1914, with prizes donated by the Daily Mail newspaper on the initiative of its proprietor, Lord Northcliffe. It was one of several races and awards offered by the paper between 1906 and 1925.
The 1911 race took place on 22 July and was a event with 11 compulsory stops and a circular route starting and finishing at Brooklands in Surrey. The winner was Jean Conneau in a Blériot XI who took 22 hours, 28 minutes to complete the course, an average speed of and received the first prize of £10,000. The runner up was Jules Védrines in a Morane-Borel monoplane with James Valentine, in a Deperdussin, third.
The 1913 race was for British seaplanes and had a first prize of £5,000. Only one aircraft started the course; it was damaged when landing near Dublin, and did not complete the course.
The 1914 race, also offering a prize of £5,000, was to have been held between 1 and 15 August.The Daily Mail £5,000 PrizeFlight, 15 May 1914 It was cancelled due to the outbreak of the First World War.
1911 competition
The 1911 Daily Mail Circuit of Britain was a contest for the fastest completion of a course around Great Britain. The proprietors of the Daily Mail offered a £10,000 prize to any aviator to complete an approximately circuit of Britain in the shortest time. The contest was run by the Royal Aero Club and was held between 22 July 1911 and 5 August 1911. Following the success of the £10,000 competition for the 1910 London to Manchester air race, the editor announced that a further £10,000 prize would be awarded, it would either be between London and Edinburgh and return or London and Paris and return.
It was decided that the competition would be a tour round Great Britain and a committee of the Royal Aero Club was formed to set the rules and organize the competition on behalf of the Daily Mail. For an entrance fee of £100 the event was open to all licensed aviators, and as well as the Daily Mail prize a number of smaller prizes were also offered. The circuit was to start and finish at Brooklands, and the competitors had to land at Hendon, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Stirling, Glasgow, Carlisle, Manchester, Bristol, Exeter, Salisbury and Brighton. Four competitors completed the course, the first and winner of the prize was the Frenchman Lieut Jean Louis Conneau, flying under the name of André Beaumont.
Competitors Competition numberAirmanAeroplaneNotes1André BeaumontBlériot XICompleted course – First to return to Brooklands and winner of the £10,000 prize. Although flying as "André Beaumont" he was a Lieutenant Jean Louis Conneau of the French Navy.2H.J.D. AstleyUniversal Aviation Company Birdling monoplaneLanded at Irthlingborough due to sickness.H.J.D. Astley (earlyaviators.com)3Brindejonc des MoulinaisMorane-Borel monoplaneNon-starter – in hospital in France due to an accident4R.C. FenwickHandley Page Type DAircraft crashed before the start5Lt. J.C. Porte, RNDeperdussin monoplaneStarted but crashed after 400 yards6Ronald C. KempAvro Type DAircraft crashed before the startRonald Kemp (earlyaviators.com)7C. Compton PatersonGrahame-White BabyRetired at Hendon8O.C. MorisonBristol aeroplaneDid not start9Jules VédrinesMorane-Borel monoplaneCompleted course, first to Hendon and was the second to arrive back at Brooklands.10James RadleyAntoinette VIII monoplaneDid not startJames Radley (earlyaviators.com)11G. BlanchetBreguet Type IIIFirst stage only completed, damaged aircraft in a forced landing at Streatley. It was repaired but he hit a tree after takeoff and wrecked the aircraft.12Lt. R.A Cammell, REBlériot XIFirst stage only completed, retired after a forced landing east of Wakefield.Reginald Cammell (earlyaviators.com)13E. AudemarsBlériot XIFirst stage only completed, retired after two attempts to travel north from Hendon were stopped by fog.Edmond Audemars(earlyaviators.com)14James ValentineDeperdussin monoplaneCompleted course, third to arrive back at Brooklands.15Grahame GilmourBristol Type T biplaneWithdrew before start after his aviator's licence was suspended16E.C. Gordon-EnglandBristol Type T biplaneEngine problemsGordon England (earlyaviators.com)17Collyns Price PizeyBristol Type T biplaneDelayed at Melton Mowbray when starting engine after he stopped to change his propeller. Repaired his machine but it was damaged the next day in another attempt to leave Melton MowbrayCollyns Price Pizey (earlyaviators.com)18Pierre PrierBristol Prier monoplaneCrashed before the startPierre Prier (earlyaviators.com)19C. Howard PixtonBristol Type T biplaneCrashed at Spofforth and retired20S.F. CodyCody Circuit of Britain biplaneCompleted course as the fourth and last to finish21Maurice TabuteauBristol Type T biplaneDid not startMaurice Tabuteau (earlyaviators.com)22F. Conway JenkinsBlackburn MercuryCrashed on take-off23Olivier de MontalentBreguet Type IIIRetired following a forced landing near Wetherby where he broke his propeller.Olivier de Montalent (earlyaviators.com)24Gustav HamelBlériot XIReached Thornhill, north of Dumfries, before he retired.25Lt. H.R.P. Reynolds, REHoward Wright 1910 BiplaneRetired after aircraft was damaged at Harrogate.26Robert LoraineNieuport monoplaneDid not start27Bentfield HucksBlackburn MercuryLanded at Barton near Luton with engine problems.Bentfield C. Hucks (earlyaviators.com)28C.T. WeymannNieuport monoplaneRetired following a forced landing north-east of Leeds29H. WijnmalenFarman HF10 3-Seater Pusher BiplaneFailed to start due to engine problemshenry Wynmalen (earlyaviators.com)30Lt. H. BierEtrich TaubeAircraft damaged in a landing at Codicote near Hatfield after radiator problems. Only aircraft with a passenger Lt. C. Banfield.
Stage 1 Brooklands to Hendon The race began at Brooklands on 22 July 1911 with a short section to Hendon Aerodrome. Only 21 of the 30 competitors started and 19 headed for Hendon, of which 17 arrived.
Stage 2 Hendon to Edinburgh The competitors started to depart on the second stage on 24 July 1911 for the from Hendon to Edinburgh with two compulsory stops: Hendon to Harrogate – five made it to Harrogate Harrogate to Newcastle Newcastle to Edinburgh – the same five later reached Edinburgh
Stage 3 Edinburgh to Bristol Total distance with stops at Stirling, Glasgow, Carlisle, and Manchester. Edinburgh to Stirling Stirling to Glasgow Glasgow to Carlisle Carlisle to Manchester Manchester to Bristol Five started from Edinburgh but only four made it to Bristol, they were all to complete the contest.
Stage 4 Bristol to Brighton Total distance with stops at Exeter, Salisbury Plain. Bristol to Exeter Exeter to Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain to Brighton
Stage 5 Brighton to Brooklands All competitors had to complete the last to Brooklands before 19:30 on 5 August 1911. Beaumont was the first to arrive back on 26 July 1911 – 1 hour 10 minutes before his fellow Frenchman Jules Vedrines – he had travelled in 22 hours 28 min 18 sec. Valentine arrived back on 4 August 1911, followed the next day by Cody, who was the fourth and the last to arrive at Brooklands on 5 August 1911.
Prizes Conneau won the £10,000 prize for the first to complete the circuit. He also won the Entente Cordiale prize of 50 guineas from the proprietors of Perrier table water for the first Frenchman to complete the course. Vedrine, Valentine and Cody all equal shares of prizes from Sir George White, the chairman of the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (£250 total) and the British Petroleum Company Limited (125 guineas total) for finishing the course. Cody won a £50 prize from the Northumberland and Durham Aero Club for the first British machine to arrive in Newcastle. Valentine received a £50 tea service from the Harrogate Chamber of Trade for the first British aviator to reach Harrogate and a 100 guinea gold cup from the Brighton Hotels Association for the first British aviator to reach Brighton. He also won the Entente Cordiale prize of 50 guineas from the proprietors of Perrier table water for the first Englishman to complete the course.
1913 competition The 1913 race, offering prize of £5,000, was for floatplanes, which had to be of all-British construction. The course, totalling had to be completed within 72 hours, although since no flying was allowed on Sundays this period was in practice a day longer.
The race was divided into the following stages:Daily Mail Waterplane Circuit of Britain Flight 16 August 1913 Southampton to Ramsgate — Ramsgate to Yarmouth — Yarmouth to Scarborough — Scarborough to Aberdeen — Aberdeen to Cromarty — Cromarty to Oban — Oban to Dublin — Dublin to Falmouth — Falmouth to Southampton —
Entrants included the Cody Waterplane, the Radley-England Waterplane and the Sopwith Circuit of Britain floatplane. Cody was killed during a test flight of his design on 7 August when his aircraft broke up in flight, and the Sopwith, flown by Harry Hawker with Harry Kauper as passenger, was the only aircraft to start; it retired after being damaged in an emergency landing near Dublin having completed about two-thirds of the course. Hawker was given a prize of £1,000 for his effort.
References Notes
Bibliography
External links Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Air Race Film of aircraft taking off from Brooklands 22 July 1911, including John Cyril Porte's accident and other scenes from Hendon Aerodrome Map of 1913 route published in Flight(Wayback) Whipton, a stopping point for contestants in the 1911 contest