This is a watercolour on a piece of cardboard that depicts a Supermarine S.5 on take - off during the 1927 - 1929 Schneider Trophy.

The Supermarine S.5 was a 1920’s British single - engined single - seat racing seaplane built by Reginald Joseph Mitchell ( 1895 - 1937 ) for Supermarine. Designed specifically for the Schneider Trophy competition, the S.5 was the progenitor of a line of racing aircraft that ultimately led to the Supermarine Spitfire.
The Supermarine S.5 was designed by Reginald J. Mitchell for the 1927 Schneider Trophy. Following the earlier loss of the S.4 before the 1925 Schneider Trophy event, he designed a new all - metal monoplane racer. Unlike the S.4’s all - wood structure, the S.5 featured composite construction with the semi - monocoque fuselage mainly duralumin including the engine cowlings. The S.5 had a low, braced wing with spruce spars and spruce - ply ribs and a plywood skin. The wing surface radiators made up of corrugated copper sheets replaced the Lamblin type radiators of the S.4. Three aircraft were built, one with a direct drive 900 hp ( 671 kW ) Napier Lion VIIA engine, and the other two with a geared 875 hp ( 652 kW ) Napier Lion VIIB engine.
The first aircraft flew for the first time on June 7th, 1927. The S.5’s came 1st and 2nd in the 1927 race held at Venice ( Italy ), the winning aircraft ( Serial number N220 ) was flown by Flight Lieutenant Sidney Norman Webster ( 1900 - 1984 ) at an average speed of 281.66 mph ( 453.28 km/h ). One S.5, N221, crashed during an attempt on the world air speed record on March 12th, 1928, killing the pilot Flight Lieutenant Samuel Kinkead ( who had flown the Gloster IV in the 1927 Schneider Trophy Race ).
Reginald J. Mitchell decided that the Napier engined aircraft had reached its limits of performance due to the powerplant and for the 1929 Schneider Trophy race, redesigned the aircraft with a new Rolls - Royce engine as the Supermarine S.6. Concern over the unreliability of the Gloster VI, led to the High Speed Flight entering one S.5 ( N219 ) along with the two S.6’s for the race. The S.5 flown by Flight Lieutenant David D’Arcy Alexander Greig ( 1900 - 1986 ) finished third in 46 minutes 15 seconds at a speed of 282.11 mph ( 454.20 km/h ), behind the winning S.6 flown by Flying Officer Henry Richard Danvers ’ Dick ’ Waghorn ( 1904 - 1931 ) and a Macchi M.52 ( Italian ).
The Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, commonly called the Schneider Trophy or Schneider Prize, was a trophy awarded annually ( and later, biennially ) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying boats.
Announced in 1912 by Jacques Schneider, a French financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, the competition offered a prize of approximately £1,000. The race was held twelve times between 1913 and 1931. It was intended to encourage technical advances in civil aviation but became a contest for pure speed with laps over a ( usually ) triangular course ( initially 280 km, later 350 km ). The contests were staged as time trials, with aircraft setting off individually at pre - agreed times, usually 15 minutes apart.
The contests were very popular and some attracted crowds of over 200,000 spectators. If an aero club won three races in five years, they would retain the trophy and the winning pilot would receive 75,000 francs for each of the first three wins. Each race was hosted by the previous winning country. The races were supervised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and the aero club in the hosting country. Each club could enter up to three competitors with an equal number of alternatives.
The race was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of the Second World War. The streamlined shape and the low drag, liquid - cooled engine pioneered by Schneider Trophy designs are obvious in the British Supermarine Spitfire, the American North American P - 51 Mustang and the Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore.
Between 1913 and 1931, The competition was won five times by the United Kingdom, three times by Italy, twice by the United States and once by France. The Schneider Trophy is now held at the Science Museum, South Kensington ( London, England ).
( sources : Wikipedia, www.rafweb.org )

Feature( s ) : Watercolour on a piece of cardboard.