Royal Aero Club
Awards & Trophies
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THE BRITANNIA TROPHY |
For the British aviator or aviators accomplishing the most meritorious performance in aviation during the previous year.
| 1913 | Capt. C.A.H. Longcroft, RFC |
| 1914 | Sqn. Cdr. J.W. Sedden, RNAS |
| 1915-18 | No award |
| 1919 | Capt. Sir John Alcock |
| 1920 | H.H. Hinkler |
| 1921 | No award |
| 1922 | F.P. Raynham |
| 1923 | A.J. Cobham |
| 1924 | W.Cdr. S.J. Goble & Flt.Lt. I.E. McIntyre |
| 1925 | A.J. Cobham |
| 1926 | Sir Alan Cobham |
| 1927 | Lt. R.R. Bentley |
| 1928 | H.J.L. Hinkler |
| 1929 | Hon. Lady Bailey |
| 1930 | Sqn. Ldr. C. Kingsford-Smith |
| 1931 | H.J.L. Hinkler |
| 1932 | Capt. C.F. Uwins |
| 1933 | J.A. Mollison |
| 1934 | C.W.A. Scott & T. Campbell Black |
| 1935 | Jean Batten |
| 1936 | Jean Batten |
| 1937 | F.O. A.E. Clouston |
| 1938 | Sqn Ldr R. Kellett |
| 1939 | Alex Henshaw |
| 1940-44 | No award |
| 1945 | Gp.Capt H.J. Wilson |
| 1946 | Gp.Capt E.M. Donaldson |
| 1947 | Sqn Ldr H.B. Martin & Sqn Ldr E.B. Sismore |
| 1948 | Gp.Capt J. Cunningham |
| 1949 | No award |
| 1950 | P.A. Wills |
| 1951 | Capt O.P. Jones |
| 1952 | W Cdr R.P. Beaumont, Flt Lt P. Hillwood & Sqn Ldr D.A. Watson |
| 1953 | Sqn Ldr R.L.E. Burton & Flt Lt D.H. Gannon |
| 1954 | No award |
| 1955 | Capt. J.W. Hackett & P.J. Moneypenny |
| 1956 | L.P. Twiss |
| 1957 | M. Randrup & W. Shirley |
| 1958 | J. Cunningham & P. Bugge |
| 1959 | No 111 Squadron, RAF |
| 1960 | T.W. Brooke-Smith |
| 1961 | Ann & D. Burns |
| 1962 | No award |
| 1963 | W. Bedford |
| 1964 | No award |
| 1965 | The Red Arrows |
| 1966 | No award |
| 1967 | Sheila Scott |
| 1968 | S.Ldr. R.G. Hanna |
| 1969-72 | No award |
| 1973 | D.P. Davies |
| 1974-76 | No award |
| 1977 | N. Todd, B. Walpole & S. Bolton |
| 1978 | D.G. Lee |
| 1979 | No award |
| 1980 | J. Nott |
| 1981 | D.G. Lee |
| 1982-83 | No award |
| 1984 | St. John Ambulance Air Wing |
| 1985 | British Hang Gliding Team |
| 1986 | T. Egginton & D. Clews |
| 1987 | P. Lindstrand & R. Branson |
| 1988 | No award |
| 1989 | British Hang Gliding Team |
| 1990 | British Microlight Team |
| 1991 | No award |
| 1992 | D. Cameron & R. Bayly |
| 1993-94 | No award |
| 1995 | Chris
Rollings & Chris Pullen Flying a two-seater ASH 25E glider from Bicester on 22 July 1995, they achieved the first ever 1,000 km glider flight in the UK, long believed to be unachievable. The glider was launched in weak thermal conditions and continued in thermals all day using crucial weak activity off the Pennines. An unexpected thermal climb at the end of the day to 3, 900 ft and a 37 minute final glide home led to a landing at Bicester after 12 hours with less than 75m in hand. |
| 1996 | No award |
| 1997 | David
Bareford David Bareford culminated over twenty years of competition in hot air ballooning by becoming British, European and World Champion in 1997, and taking the bronze medal at the World Air Games. |
| 1998 | Brian Milton Brian Milton achieved the first ever round the world flight in a flex-wing microlight in 1998. The natural hazards of such an undertaking were considerable. They were compounded by bureaucracy, which prevented his companion for the first half of the journey, Keith Reynolds, from completing the flight. This epic flight crossed 25 countries and took four months and 400 hours flying time. |
| 1999 | Brian Jones
& Bertrand Piccard In March 1999, they flew the Breitling Orbiter 3 to complete the first circumnavigation of the world by a free balloon. They then continued their flight for another four days to establish a record distance of 40814 km and an endurance of nearly 20 days. |
| 2000 | Jennifer Murray
& Colin Bodill Colin Bodill and Jennifer Murray made round the world flights in company in 2000. The journey took 99 days. Colin was the first person to fly a weightshift microlight round the world solo. Jennifer's solo round the world flight in a Robinson R-44 helicopter, followed her shared flight in 1997. As well as being major flying achievements, these flights raised a considerable sum for charity. |
| 2001 | The British
Microlight Team In the second World Air Games & eighth World Microlight Championships held at Beas de Segure in Andalucia in 2001, the British Microlight Team won the Gold Medal. The British Microlight Team has now won the Team Gold in both the First and Second World Air Games. |
| 2002 | No award |
| 2003 | Andrew Davis. Andy Davis has been a member of the British Gliding Team for twelve World Championships starting in 1981, an unequalled record. He has been placed in the top ten in the Standard Class at eight of these events, among them two Gold Medals (including Leszno 2003) and a Silver. He has entered the British Championships regularly since 1976, winning the Standard Class six times and the 15m Class twice, while being highly placed on several other occasions. He is a coach to the British Teams, including the Juniors. He is Chairman of the organisers for the World Junior Gliding Championships to be held in the UK in 2005. |
| 2004 | Richard
Meredith-Hardy. In May 2004 Richard Meredith-Hardy flew over Mount Everest in a weight-shift microlight. The aircraft was a British-made Pegasus Quantum with a Turbocharged Rotax 914 engine. It had a standard simple open-frame structure and a top speed of only 65 mph. The only extra feature was an oxygen system for the pilot. For the initial part of the ascent he was towing a hang-glider, but a cable-break prevented it accompanying him on the critical phase over the summit. The flight reached an altitude of almost 30,000 feet. He showed considerable skill in coping with the extreme weather, including winds over the summit which exceeded his airspeed, and courage in flying over the inhospitable terrain. |
| 2005 | David
Hempleman-Adams. David Hempleman-Adams set a new World Altitude Record for open-basket hot-air airships in December 2004 with a flight to 21,830 ft. This was preceded by several years of design work, where every component was reduced to minimum weight. The flight was made in Canada with a ground temperature of -10°C and a temperature at altitude of -45°C, which called on his previous experience of cold-weather survival and pushed both the pilot and the aircraft structure and materials to the limit. |
| 2006 | Manuel Queiroz. In early 2006, Manuel Queiroz became the first British pilot and only the sixth of any nationality to circumnavigate the world in a home-built aircraft, establishing several point-to-point records on the way. The flight was undertaken to publicise the Cancer Research Charity. The aircraft was a Vans RV-6 which he modified himself for the trip, including fitting a long-range tank to his own design along with an autopilot and extra radio equipment. He planned the route himself, including arranging avgas stocks on Pacific islands. The route included many thousands of miles of inhospitable desert and ocean, including a 2,500 mile direct crossing from Hawaii to California. He flew 27,000 miles in 170 hours flight time over 40 days. |
| 2007 | John Williams. John Williams has radically moved the goal-posts of British Gliding. For several years, he has explored and studied local weather patterns and wave formations around the coasts of Scotland. This has enabled him to establish new offshore turning points which gave a big increase in flight distance, while sustaining task speeds of over 120 kph. Prior to this year, only two 1000 km flights had ever been achieved in the UK. In 2007 he made the three longest glider flights ever in the UK, increasing the greatest distance flown in a day by a huge margin from 1020 km to 1540 km. He was top of the BGA 2007 National Ladder and also won the European section of this year's international On Line Contest by a large margin. |
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