Supermarine S.5

The Air Ministry felt that it could no longer stand by and see foreign aircraft winning the Schneider Trophy contest, so it ordered a number of racing seaplanes and formed a special RAF High Speed Flight to enter them in the 1927 contest at Venice.

One of the types ordered was the Supermarine S.5, a development of the S.4 with all-metal airframe and an 875 hp Napier Lion engine. It won the 1927 Schneider contest at Venice at a speed of 281.65 mph.

The Schneider Trophy never experienced any casualties during competition, but several pilots were killed training for the races. Sam Kinkhead in 1928 and Jerry Brinton in 1931 in a Supermarine S.5, from Great-Britain.