BRITISH AVIATORS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19250, 14 August 1924, Page 7

BRITISH AVIATORS

RACE FOR KING’S COP.

WON BY A. J. COBHAM.

Pnw Association —By Tolegr»i»h— Copyright. LONDON, August 12. Famous fliers ascended at 5 o clock this morning for the longest one-day aerial race ever held. The course was over 960 miles for the King’s Cup. It started at Martlesham (Suffolk), passing Edinburgh, Dumbarton, and Falmouth, and finishing at Lee-on-the-Solent. The machines included one seaplane and two amphibians. Lieutenant Jones, of the Air Force, was the first to pass Dumbarton, at 8.15. King crashed (breaking his undercarriage) at Newcastle. F. L. Courtney, last year’s winner, had a mishap, and landed at Brough. The hazy weather is likely to prevent record speeds. Jones, the scratch man, finished with the best time (Thr 20min 52sec). A. J. Cobham, who was second last year, won the King’s Cup, Butler being second. Captain Macmillan (who accompanied Major Blake on his attempted world flight) came third. Courtney retired. F. L. Barnard, who was the winner in 1922, landed in a hayficld at Ayr, and broke Lis propeller.—fteuter.

The King’s Prize is an annual aviation contest which is confined to British pilots flying British aeroplanes with Britishbuilt engines. Last year there were 17 starters and the event was won by F. L. Courtney, who covered 788 miles m a net flying time of shr 27min 27sec. This year’s winner, Mr Alan J. Cobham, is the chief pilot of the De Haviland Aircraft Company, and he has made many remarkable flights during his career as an airman. Last month the Royal Aero Club awarded him the Britannia trophy for the most meritorious performance in the air in 1923, this being a flight of 12,000 miles from London to the Near East, Palestine, North Africa, Spain, and back to London without accident.