AVIATION TROPHY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 91, 11 January 1935, Page 10

AVIATION TROPHY

Their Excellencies’ Gift

SUPERB WORKMANSHIP Competition Between. Aero Clubs of Dominion Without doubt the Bledisloe Aviation Trophy which the GovernorGeneral and Lady Bledisloe lune presented to the New Zealand Aero Club for annual competition among the pilots of the various aero clubs in the Dominion, is one of the finest trophies in New Zealand. The trophy recently reached the Dominion, and has been received from his Excellency by the president of the New Zealand .Aero Club, Mr. G. M. Spence.' When speaking at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Aero Club last month. Lord Bledisloe announced the fact that he and Lady Bledislpe had decided to present a trophy to the club with th'e view of encouraging and developing skill in airmanship and aerial navigation. He said that it was being designed" and executed by one of the foremost silversmiths in England, and promised that it would be of unusual flesign. How unusual and how artistic the design of the trophy is may be seen from the photograph which appears on the illustrations page to-day. The trophy is a departure from the conventional, and although a removable cup in the form of a hand-wrought silver chalice forms the top portion of the trophy, the silver xjolumn on which it stands is perhaps the most striking feature of this superb example of the silversfhith’s art. Plaques in Enainel and Gold. The front panel of the column - or stand supporting the chalice bears a circular plaque fashioned in blue enamel and gold, depicting in ba.s relief an aeroplane soaring over a mountain range, with the sky in blue enamel and the stars in gold. Below this is engraved the inscription “Sic itur ad astra”—“Such is the pathway to the stars.”

In a niche at the foot of the front of the panel stands a small golden statue of Mercury, winged, about three inches high, and around the base of the trophy is the inscription “The Bledisloe Aviation Trophy, 1034 —Presented by the Governor-General of New Zealand and Lady Bledisloe for Annual Competition ainong the Aero Clubs of the Dominion in Airmanship, Landing an<l Navigation—Christmas, 1934.”

Ort the reverse side of the column is another circular plaque containing a golden eagle, also in has relief, bearing a scroll and flying toward' the moon and stars, which are picked out in gold against the blue background.

On each of the other two sides of the column 'are similar plaques in blue and gold depicting the star-spangled sky, these plaques supporting golden bandies. Below the plaques on the back and sides of the column there isample space for the inscription of the names of the winners of the trophy year by yeas, Symbolic Shields. The base of the chalice itself is supported by four gold lions, bearing shields, two of which are embossed with the red rose of England, and two with the fern leaf of New Zealand, thereby typifying the unity between the Homeland and the farthest flung of her Dominions. Around the chalice is the inscription: “The Bledisloe Aviation Trophy—A Joint Gift.”

After careful consideration the council of the New eZaland Aero Club decided in response to an inquiry from his Excellency, to suggest that the trophy should be used to encourage tlie younger club-trained pilots to improve their knowledge and skill in airmanship and navigation. Lord Bledisloe was pleased to approve the adoption of this principle, and regulations for the annual competitions were drawn up by Squadron Leader G. L. Stedman, pilot instructor of the Wellington Aero Club and Mr. Spence, and adopted. They have the object of providing a thorough test of the ability of all club-trained pilots of under one year’s standing who desired to compete for the trophy. Each recognised club is entitled to nominate each year one of its pilot members who has obtained his A license during the calendar year, and these will carry out the required tests at the official pageant in their respective islands. The winning competitors in each island will then undergo similar tests at a time and place to be arranged by the New Zealand Aero Club and the competitors concerned. The Bledisloe Aviation Trophy will be held by the club nominating the winning competitor for a year from the date of the competition, or until such earlier date as it shall be won by another competitor. The winner’s name and club will be engraved on the trophy, and the New Zealand body will present to the club or the pilot a miniature trophy, suitably engraved. The first competition for the trophy will take place at the forthcoming North Island pageant, which will be organised by the Wairarapa Aero Club.

In the technical section of the tests, the competitors will be questioned upon the principal rules of the air, the action to be taken in the event of a forced landing, and the manner of picketing an aeroplane in a high wind They will then be asked to give demonstrations of airscrew swinging, running up an engine, folding and opening wings, ascertaining the amount of oil in the engine and the method of communication between the pilot and the men on the. wing tips. These will be followed by two landings on a mark, the pilots being required to shut off their engines at about 1000 feet altitude. Method of Judging. The method of judging this will be as -follows: —-No marks will be given for a perfect, three-point landing on the mark, but one point will be added for every five yards or fraction thereof away from the mark, and the defects in landing will be assessed on the following scale: —Rumble. 20 points: slight wheel landing. 5; wheel landing, 10; drop or slight pancake. 5; pancake. 10: bounce, 10; drift or landing opt. of wind, 5-20: heavy landing, 10-20; landing on one wheel, 10-20. Thus the competitor with the lowest score will be the best in the section. In the navigation test the competitors will be given a true course to fly

on for 10 minutes, at the completion of which they will turn 110 degrees left or right, and fly on that line fol- 10 minutes, after which they will have to find their way back to the aerodrome by compass, allowing for drift and other considerations. The pilots will then show their turning points on I heir papers, and these"*will be checked with those determined by the judges, who will have flown the course before the test. ’The trophy will he on view in Messrs. Kirkcaldio and Stains’ premises from this morning.