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.

Black&White Newspaper
Daily Mail Front Cover – 16 June 1919

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 announcedYear awardedContestAmount (£)Adjusted 2023 amountWinner(s)
19061910London to Manchester flight10,000£1,086,000Louis Paulhan
19071907Model aeroplane competition100£11,300Alliott Verdon Roe, W. Howard
1908Quarter mile out and return flight100£11,100Henri Farman
19081909Cross-channel flight1,000£110,900Louis Blériot
1909Circular mile by a British aircraft1,000£110,900John Moore-Brabazon
19091909Fastest lap at Blackpool Aviation Week1,000£110,900Henri Farman[3]
1910Second cross-channel flight100£10,900Jacques de Lesseps
19101910Best cross-country aggregate1,000£108,600Louis Paulhan
19101911Circuit of Britain race10,000£1,083,400André Beaumont (Jean Conneau)[4]
19121912Aerial Derby cup105£11,100Thomas Sopwith
19131913Aerial Derby cup105£11,000Gustav Hamel
1913,[A 1] 1918[5] 1919Transatlantic flight10,000£488,900Alcock and Brown[6]
1913[7]--Circuit of Great Britain for "waterplanes"5,000 £523,400[6]
19141914Aerial Derby cup105£10,700W. L. Brock
1914CancelledCircuit of Great Britain5,000£510,500
19191919Aerial Derby cup210£10,300Gerald Gathergood
19231923Economy flight for motor gliders1,000£60,700
19251926Economy flight for dual-control light aircraft of British construction3,000£185,200George Bulman (Hawker Cygnet)[8]
19301930Solo flight from England to Australia10,000£672,600Amy Johnson[9][10]

In addition, four "consolation" prizes were awarded:

Year announced Year awarded Contest Amount (£) Winner(s)
19061910London to Manchester flight105Claude Grahame-White
19101911Round-Britain flight200Jules Védrines
19131913Round-Britain flight for British "waterplanes"1,000Harry Hawker
19131919Transatlantic flight5,000Harry Hawker, Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve

See also

Annotations
  1. Suspended during the war and renewed in 1918 with different conditions

Notes
  1. "Direct initiative of Lord Northcliffe Flight" PDF Archive, 6 September 1913
  2. Such, Colin. "The Daily Mail's Sponsorship of British Pioneer Aviation". Warwick & Warwick. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. "Blackpool Aviation Week October 18th. to 23rd". Flight magazine. 16 October 1909. pp. 645–650.
  4. Lewis 1970, pp. 43–44.
  5. 1918 conditions for £10,000 prize
  6. "The New Daily Mail Prizes.", Flight, Flight Global Archive, 5 April 1913
  7. Map showing the course to be followed Flight, 16 August 1913
  8. "Lympne Competition 1926", Flight PDF Archive, 23 September 1926
  9. Charles Loch Mowat (1955). Britain Between the Wars, 1918–1940. Methuen. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-416-29510-8.
  10. 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.
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