Historical challenge prizes

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9. Schneider Trophy

Year: 1913-1931
Promoter: Jacques Schneider
Prize: £1,000 (Today's value $102,250)
Winner: First trophy won by a French Deperdussin plane in 1913

This prize competition was launched by Jacques Schneider.

Its purpose was to progress civil aviation but soon it became a competition of who could fly an aircraft at the fastest speed  through a triangular lap.

The race was very popular and ran eleven times .  It eventually aided war airships to fly at faster speeds.

Some of the rules for the competition included navigation and mooring tests. The entries had to be sponsored by a national governing body. This was the Royal Aero Club in Britain. Furthermore, the number of entrants for each nation was limited to three.

In 1928 the competition rules changed to make the event run every two years as opposed to annually to allow entrants building and testing time for their aircrafts.