Challenge de tourisme aérien polonais 1934 (digital edition)
1934 Polish Air Tourism Challenge
Official programme (digital edition)
The 1934 Challenge was the fourth edition of the International Tourism Challenge, which took place from 28 August to 16 September 1934 in Warsaw, Poland.
The competition was organised by Poland following Franciszek Żwirko's victory in the previous edition.
Only teams from four nations took part in the 1932 Challenge: Germany (13 crews), Poland (12 crews), Italy (6 crews) and Czechoslovakia (3 crews). France and Switzerland did not participate, unlike in the previous edition. The main reason for this on the French side was the delay in the development of the Caudron C-500. British aviator Walter MacPherson entered the competition as part of the Polish team.
The opening ceremony took place at noon on 28 August 1934 at Pole Mokotowskie in Warsaw (the Italian team was two hours late due to weather conditions and arrived during the ceremony). During an air show, a Polish PZL P.7a aeroplane performing aerobatics crashed, but the pilot was only injured. The competition consisted of three parts: technical tests, a rally across Europe, and a speed trial. One of the objectives of the Challenge was to stimulate progress in aircraft development, so it was not just a competition between pilots; the technical tests also included an evaluation of the construction, which promoted more advanced designs.
On 29 August, the technical evaluation of the competing aircraft's construction began. As this was a competition for tourist aircraft, the criteria included a comfortable cabin with good visibility, the presence of third and fourth seats, side-by-side seating, a complete set of controls, ease and timing of engine start-up, ease of wing folding, safety features and modern metal construction. The view was assessed by placing a lamp in the cabin while the aircraft was in a dark hangar and examining the illuminated area. All German aircraft, two Italian aircraft, and the Puss Moth exceeded the empty weight limit of 560.56 kg and had to remove some superfluous parts. The first technical test to be completed was a quick engine start, carried out from 31 August to 1 September. Most aircraft scored the maximum 24 points.
The technical evaluation lasted until 4 September, with most points awarded to the Bf 108 (450-452 pts), followed by the Pallavicino PS-1 (438 pts), the Fi 97 (428-431 pts), the Aero A. 200 (429 pts) and the RWD-9 (427 pts). The other scores were: Klemm Kl 36 - 394-407 pts, PZL.26 - 383 pts, Puss Moth - 373 pts and Bredas - 323-346 pts.
On 3 and 4 September, the first event was held, a minimum distance required for take-off.
At the end of the first event, three Germans flying Bf 108s, Theo Osterkamp (597 points), Werner Junck (596 points) and Otto Brindlinger (594 points), were at the top of the rankings.
On 4 and 5 September, the second event took place, a minimum distance required for landing. On 5 September, the event evaluating the lowest fuel consumption took place. From 2 to 6 September, the minimum speed flight event took place. Initially scheduled for 31 August, bad weather conditions led to the event being delayed.
The second part of the competition consisted of a 9,534 km rally across Europe, following the route Warsaw - Königsberg - Berlin - Cologne - Brussels - Paris - Bordeaux - Pau - Madrid - Seville - Casablanca - Meknes - Sidi Bel Abbès - Algiers (landmark) - Biskra - Tunis - Palermo - Naples - Rome - Rimini - Zagreb - Vienna - Brno - Prague - Katowice - Lwów - Wilno - Warsaw
The crews took off on 7 September. The first crews completed their tour on 14 September. The final event was a sprint over a 297 km triangular course starting from Mokotowskie.
The first prize was 100,000 French francs, second place 50,000 F, third place 25,000 F, fourth place 15,000 F, and fifth to twentieth place 10,000 F.
A remarkable illustrated article on this challenge has been published on the Polish website AFTERBURNER, written by Jacek Domanski (https://afterburner.com.pl/challenge-international-de-tourisme-a-competition-that-marked-the-history-of-aviation-3/).
129 pages – in French – PDF download