A celebration is being held in the Solent today to mark the 80th anniversary of Britain's 1931 air speed victory in the Schneider Trophy, which secured the title outright for us
If you are in the Solent today then don’t be alarmed if you see some strange amphibious craft overhead, it’s all part of an event to celebrate Britain’s 1931 outright victory in the Schneider Trophy.
The event, organised by airline pilot and seaplane owner John Russell, was due to take place yesterday but was postponed due to the weather.
Today’s event has seen amphibious aircraft depart Lee at 11am for Ryde where they were due to stay for a short while before departing to carry out flypasts, commencing from Lee-on-Solent airfield at midday.
Following the flypasts, several craft will proceed to Calshot to emerge from the water via the flying boat ramp and they are then due to stay there until 3pm before departing for Lee-on-Solent airfield.
The Schneider Trophy took place between 1913 to 1931 and the rules dictated that any country that won the contest three times in any five meetings would take the trophy outright. After winning in Venice in 1927 and the Solent in 1929 and then 1931, Britain acheived this.
Photo: Trounce/Wikimedia Commons
