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

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.

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. 1 2 "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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