Editing Schneider Trophy (section)

===The UK win===
[[File:British team for Schneider Trophy race 1931.JPG|thumb|left|1931 Schneider Trophy team from the UK]]
In 1931 the British government withdrew support, but a private donation of £100,000 from the wealthy and ultra-patriotic [[Lucy, Lady Houston]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crompton |first=Teresa |title=Adventuress: The Life and Loves of Lucy, Lady Houston |publisher=The History Press |year=2020}}</ref> allowed Supermarine to compete. When the French and Italian teams dropped out, leaving no other competitors, the British team flew the course alone on 13 September and won the coveted Schneider Trophy outright, having beaten the time record from the 1929 competition. Reportedly half a million spectators lined the beachfronts. The Italian, French, and German entrants failed to ready their aircraft in time for the competition.<ref name=1931-hydroretro>{{cite web |url=https://www.hydroretro.net/race1931 |last=Pecastaingts |first=Pierre |translator-last=Dickerhoof |translator-first=Gib |date=1996 |title=Calshot - September 13th, 1931 |website=Hydro Retro |access-date=20 May 2020}}</ref> The remaining British team set both a new world speed record of {{convert|610|km/h|abbr=on}} and won the trophy outright with a third straight win.<ref name=Eves/>{{rp|245}} The following days saw the winning Supermarine S.6B further break the world speed record twice, making it the first craft to break the 400&nbsp;mph barrier on 29 September at an average speed of {{convert|655.8|km/h|abbr=on}}.

[[File:Macchi MC.72 MM181 (6414164503).jpg|thumb|right|[[Macchi M.C.72]] at [[Italian Air Force Museum|Museo Vigna di Valle]] (2011)]]
Although the British team had secured the trophy for the UK permanently with the 1931 uncontested win, the development of the other 1931 entrants continued. The proposed Italian entrant (the Macchi M.C.72), which had pulled out of the contest due to engine problems, later went on to set two new world speed records with the help of British fuel expert Rod Banks, who had worked on the Rolls Royce R engine of the S6B. In April 1933 it set a record over [[Lake Garda]] in northern Italy with a speed of {{convert|682.36|km/h|abbr=on}}. Eighteen months later in the same venue, it broke the 700&nbsp;km/h barrier with an average speed of {{convert|709.202|km/h|abbr=on}}. Both times the plane was piloted by [[Francesco Agello]]. This speed remains the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane.<ref name="Gunston58">Gunston 1989, p. 58</ref>

For a complete list of the aircraft which competed in the competitions, see [[List of Schneider Trophy aircraft]].
{{clear}}