In September 1927, Flt. Lt. S.N. Webster of the Royal Air Force (RAF) High Speed Flight won the international Schneider Trophy competition in a Supermarine S.5 racer at Venice, Italy, at an average speed of 281.65 mph. It was the first time in history that an airplane designed to land and takeoff on water flew faster than its land-based counterparts. French industrialist and early aviator, Jacques P. Schneider, created the trophy in 1912 to encourage the development of commercial seaplanes. The first contest in April 1913 featured only two aircraft. By 1927, it was the world’s most famous air race. More importantly, the Schneider competition became the proving ground for high speed aeronautical technology and a means for military aviation organizations to promote their roles in their national defense establishments. The High Speed Flight went on to win successive competitions in 1929 and 1931 and retire the Schneider Trophy and with it the status of leading the world in aeronautical technology.

The High Speed Flight was part of a joint partnership between industry, government research, and the military. The program resulted from the British reaction to the American victory at the 1923 Schneider Competition. U.S. Navy Lt. David Rittenhouse won flying a Curtiss CR-3 racer that incorporated completely new ideas of streamlining and fuselage design. To keep up, the British embarked upon a military-sponsored high speed aircraft development program that used the Schneider Trophy competition as the laboratory. Participation in the high stakes speed contest taxed the coffers of the Air Ministry and focused on technology that by 1931 would no longer be directly applicable to practical aircraft in the name of aerial nationalism. It also sparked an internal debate within the RAF on the organization’s appropriate role in the public eye.