Royal Aero Club

Awards & Trophies

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
for a non-stop flight of 455 miles Montrose - Portsmouth - Farnborough in a B.E.2a.
1914 Sqn. Cdr. J.W. Sedden, RNAS
for a non-stop flight of 325 miles Isle of Grain - Calshot - Plymouth in a Maurice Farman seaplane, with Artificer Teasdale as crew.
1915-18 No award
1919 Capt. Sir John Alcock
(awarded posthumously) for the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight with Lieut. Arthur Whitten Brown (American citizen) from St Johns, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland; 1,890 miles in 16 hours 27 minutes in a Vickers Vimy.
1920 H.J.L. Hinkler
for a non-stop flight Croydon-Turin 650 miles in 9 hr 35 minutes in an Avro Baby.
1921 No award
1922 F.P. Raynham
for winning the Daily mail £1000 contest for a soaring flight of 1hr 53 minutes from Firle.
1923 A.J. Cobham
for a flying tour to Egypt, Palestine and North Africa, covering 12,000 miles in 130 hours flying time in a D.H. 9c.
1924 W.Cdr. S.J. Goble & Flt.Lt. I.E. McIntyre
for a flight round Australia taking 44 days and covering 8,568 miles in 90 hours flight time in a Fairey III.
1925 A.J. Cobham
for a flight London to Rangoon and return, with Sir Sefton Brancker, 17,000 miles in 210 hours flight time in a D.H. 50.
1926 Sir Alan Cobham
for an Empire route survey flight Rochester to Melbourne and return taking 94 days and covering 24,000 miles in a D.H 50J.
1927 Lt. R.R. Bentley
for a flight from London to Capetown 7,250 miles in 28 days in a D.H. 60 Moth.
1928 Sqn. Ldr. H.J.L. Hinkler
for the first flight to Australia in a light aircraft. London to Darwin 11,005 miles in 15 days solo in an Avro 581E Avian.
1929 Hon. Lady Mary Bailey
for a flight from Croydon to Cape Town and return, with a tour of South Africa, covering 18,000 miles in a D.H. 60 Moth.
1930 Sqn. Ldr. C. Kingsford-Smith
for two flights: a westbound Atlantic crossing Dublin Harbour to Grace, Newfoundland with J.W.Stannage and Capt. P.Saul in 31 hours 27 minutes in a Fokker F.VIIb/3m. Also Heston to Darwin in 9 days 21 hours in an Avro Avian IVA.
1931 Sqn. Ldr. H.J.L. Hinkler
for a flight from New York to London via South America and the South Atlantic, 10,560 miles in 41 days in a D.H. 80A Puss Moth.
1932 Capt. C.F. Uwins
for setting the Class C world altitude record height for aeroplanes of 43,976 ft in a Vickers Vespa.
1933 J.A. Mollison
for a flight from Lympne to Port Natal, Brazil. 4,600 miles in 3 dauys 10 hours in a D.H. 80A Puss Moth.
1934 C.W.A. Scott & T. Campbell Black
for winning the speed section of the MacRobertson race from Mildenhall to Melbourne 70 hours 54 mins in a D.H. 88 Comet.
1935 Jean Batten
for a flight from England to South America including the fastest solo South Atlantic crossing and the first by a woman in 13¼ hours in a Percival Gull.
1936 Jean Batten
for a flight from England to New Zealand, 14,000 miles in 11 days 1½ hours in a Percival Gull.
1937 F.O. A.E. Clouston
for two flights. In the Marseilles-Damascus-Paris race; anlso London-Capetown in 45 hours and return in 57½ hours in a D.H. 88 Comet.
1938 Sqn Ldr R. Kellett
for the World distance record Ismalia to Port Darwin 7,162 miles in a Vickers Wellesley.
1939 Alex Henshaw
for a flight from Gravesend to Capetown and return at an average speed of 147 m.p.h. in 5 days solo in a Percival Mew Gull.
1940-44 No award
1945 Gp.Capt H.J. Wilson
for setting the World Speed Record of 606 m.p.h. at Herne Bay in a Gloster Meteor IV.
1946 Gp.Capt E.M. Donaldson
for setting the World Speed Record of 616 m.p.h. over a 3 km course at Littlehampton in a Gloster Meteor IV.
1947 Sqn Ldr H.B. Martin & Sqn Ldr E.B. Sismore
for setting setting the London to Capetown record in 21 hr 32 min at 279 m.p.h in a D.H. Mosquito PR 34.
1948 Gp.Capt J. Cunningham
for setting the Class C Aeroplane height record at 59,445 ft in a modified D.H. Vampire 1.
1949 No award
1950 P.A. Wills
for his fourth victory in the British National Gliding Championships.
1951 Capt O.P. Jones
for his 30 years as an airline Captain flying nearly 20,000 hours and covering over 3 million miles.
1952 W Cdr R.P. Beaumont, Flt Lt P. Hillwood & Sqn Ldr D.A. Watson
for the first double crossing of the Atlantic within 24 hours, Aldergrove-Gander and return in 4,144 miles in 10 hours 3 mins in an English Electric Canberra B 5.
1953 Sqn Ldr R.L.E. Burton & Flt Lt D.H. Gannon
for winning the speed section of the London to Christchurch, NZ, race 23 hr 51 min in an English Electric Canberra PR 3.
1954 No award
1955 Capt. J.W. Hackett & P.J. Moneypenny
for setting point-to-point records London-New York in 7 hr 30 min, New York -London in 6 hr 17 min and round-trip in 14 hr 22 min in an English Electric Canberra PR 7.
1956 L.P. Twiss
for setting the world speed record over a 15/25 km course of 1,132 m.p.h. at Ford in a Fairey FD 2. First officially timed at over 1,000 m.p.h.
1957 M. Randrup & W. Shirley
for setting the Class C aeroplanes height record of 70,300 ft from Luton in an English Electric Canberra B 2.
1958 J. Cunningham & P. Bugge
for their development flying on the D.H. Comet.
1959 No 111 Squadron, RAF
Led by Sqn Ldr P. Latham, for their aerobatic display formation work in Hawker Hunter F Mk 6.
1960 T.W. Brooke-Smith
for his development flying of the Short SC.1, culminating in the first vertical takeoff, transition to normal flight and vertical landing.
1961 Anne & D. Burns
for their achievements at the World Gliding Championships.
1962 No award
1963 W. Bedford
for his outstanding achievements as Chief Test Pilot of the Hawher Aircraft Company, particularly in development of VTOL with the P.1127 and Harrier.
1964 No award
1965 The Red Arrows
for their meritorious service as the World's greatest aerobatic team, using Folland Gnats.
1966 No award
1967 Sheila Scott
for establishing over 100 point-to-point international records.
1968 S.Ldr. R.G. Hanna
for his role in leading the Red Arrows aerobatic team for three seasons flying Folland Gnats.
1969-72 No award
1973 D.P. Davies
for his outstanding service as Chief Test Pilot of the Air Registration Board responsible for granting airworthiness certificates to commercial aircraft for many years.
1974-76 No award
1977 N. Todd, B. Walpole & S. Bolton
for the development, planning and flying of Concorde on its first supersonic trans-Atlantic passenger service.
1978 Flt. Lt. D.G. Lee
for twice winning the World Gliding Championships.
1979 No award
1980 J. Nott
for setting the world altitude record in a hot-air balloon of 55,134 ft.
1981 Sqn. Ldr. D.G. Lee
for three more victories at the World Gliding Championships.
1982-83 No award
1984 St. John Ambulance Air Wing
for outstanding service since 1972 by their team of 165 volunteer pilots in transporting over 700 heart and liver transplants and accompanying medical staff.
1985 British Hang Gliding Team
1986 J. 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, Chris Rollings and Chris Pullen 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, Brian jones and Bertrand Piccard 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 40,814 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.
2008 David Hempleman-Adams & Jonathan Mason
David Hempleman-Adams and Jonathan Mason won the Gordon Bennett Race for gas balloons in October 2008, having taken second place in the preceding event. This race is the most prestigious in ballooning and this was the first British victory in over 100 years. The 2008 race took place in the USA. They started from Albuquerque in New Mexico and struggled with unfavourable weather, including a snowstorm. Eventually they made a night landing near Milwaukee, having been airborne for 74 hours and covering 1768 km.
Return to the RAeC Home Page
Return to the Award History Index