Daily Mail aviation prizes
Between 1906 and 1930, the Daily Mail newspaper, initially on the initiative of its proprietor, Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe,[1] awarded numerous prizes for achievements in aviation. The newspaper would stipulate the amount of a prize for the first aviators to perform a particular task in aviation or to the winner of an aviation race or event. The most famous prizes were the £1,000 for the first cross-channel flight awarded to Louis Blériot in 1909 and the £10,000 given in 1919 to Alcock and Brown for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between North America and Ireland.
![](../I/m/Daily_Mail_Front_Cover_June_16_1919.jpg)
The prizes are credited with advancing the course of aviation during the early years, with the considerable sums offered becoming a much-coveted goal for the field's pioneers.[2]
Prizes
Year announced | Year awarded | Prize | Amount (£) | Adjusted 2020 amount | Winner(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1906 | 1910 | London to Manchester flight | 10,000 | £1,028,300 | Louis Paulhan |
1907 | 1907 | Model aeroplane competition | 100 | £10,700 | Alliott Verdon Roe, W. Howard |
1908 | Quarter mile out and return flight | 100 | £10,500 | Henri Farman | |
1908 | 1909 | Cross-channel flight | 1,000 | £105,000 | Louis Blériot |
1909 | Circular mile by a British aircraft | 1,000 | £105,000 | John Moore-Brabazon | |
1909 | 1909 | Fastest lap at Blackpool Aviation Week | 1,000 | £105,000 | Henri Farman[3] |
1910 | Second cross-channel flight | 100 | £10,300 | Jacques de Lesseps | |
1910 | 1910 | Best cross-country aggregate | 1,000 | £102,800 | Louis Paulhan |
1910 | 1911 | Circuit of Britain race | 10,000 | £1,025,900 | André Beaumont (Jean Conneau)[4] |
1912 | 1912 | Aerial Derby cup | 105 | £10,500 | Thomas Sopwith |
1913 | 1913 | Aerial Derby cup | 105 | £10,400 | Gustav Hamel |
1913,[A 1] 1918[5] | 1919 | Transatlantic flight | 10,000 | £462,900 | Alcock and Brown[6] |
1913[7] | -- | Circuit of Great Britain for "waterplanes" | 5,000 | £495,600 | [6] |
1914 | 1914 | Aerial Derby cup | 105 | £10,200 | W. L. Brock |
1914 | Cancelled | Circuit of Great Britain | 5,000 | £483,400 | |
1919 | 1919 | Aerial Derby cup | 210 | £9,700 | Gerald Gathergood |
1923 | 1923 | Economy flight for motor gliders | 1,000 | £57,500 | |
1925 | 1926 | Economy flight for dual-control light aircraft of British construction | 3,000 | £175,400 | George Bulman (Hawker Cygnet)[8] |
1930 | 1930 | Solo flight from England to Australia | 10,000 | £636,900 | Amy Johnson[9][10] |
In addition, four "consolation" prizes were awarded:
Year announced | Year awarded | Prize | Amount (£) | Winner(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1906 | 1910 | London to Manchester flight | 105 | Claude Grahame-White |
1910 | 1911 | Round-Britain flight | 200 | Jules Védrines |
1913 | 1913 | Round-Britain flight for British "waterplanes" | 1,000 | Harry Hawker |
1913 | 1919 | Transatlantic flight | 5,000 | Harry Hawker, Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve |
See also
- List of aviation awards
- Daily Mail
- Scott Collection, a collection of aerophilately items relating to the 1912 flights.
Annotations
- Suspended during the war and renewed in 1918 with different conditions
Notes
- "Direct initiative of Lord Northcliffe Flight" PDF Archive, 6 September 1913
- Such, Colin. "The Daily Mail's Sponsorship of British Pioneer Aviation". Warwick & Warwick. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "Blackpool Aviation Week October 18th. to 23rd". Flight magazine. 16 October 1909. pp. 645–650.
- Lewis 1970, pp. 43–44.
- 1918 conditions for £10,000 prize
- "The New Daily Mail Prizes.", Flight, Flight Global Archive, 5 April 1913
- Map showing the course to be followed Flight, 16 August 1913
- "Lympne Competition 1926", Flight PDF Archive, 23 September 1926
- Charles Loch Mowat (1955). Britain Between the Wars, 1918–1940. Methuen. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-416-29510-8.
- Johnson was also awarded the Harmon Trophy for her achievement
References
- Lewis, Peter. British Racing and Record-Breaking Aircraft. London:Putnam, 1970. ISBN 0-370-00067-6.