The 1911
Daily Mail Circuit of Britain was a contest for the fastest completion of a course around Great Britain. The proprietors of the
Daily Mail offered a £10,000 prize to any aviator to complete an approximately circuit of Britain in the shortest time. The contest was run by the
Royal Aero Club and was held between 22 July 1911 and 5 August 1911. Following the success of the £10,000 competition for the
1910 London to Manchester air race, the editor announced that a further £10,000 prize would be awarded, it would either be between London and Edinburgh and return or London and Paris and return. It was decided that the competition would be a tour round Great Britain and a committee of the Royal Aero Club was formed to set the rules and organize the competition on behalf of the
Daily Mail. For an entrance fee of £100 the event was open to all licensed aviators, and as well as the
Daily Mail prize a number of smaller prizes were also offered. The circuit was to start and finish at
Brooklands, and the competitors had to land at
Hendon,
Harrogate,
Newcastle,
Edinburgh,
Stirling,
Glasgow,
Carlisle,
Manchester,
Bristol,
Exeter,
Salisbury and
Brighton. Four competitors completed the course, the first and winner of the prize was the Frenchman Lieut
Jean Louis Conneau, flying under the name of André Beaumont.
Competitors Stage 1 Brooklands to Hendon The race began at
Brooklands on 22 July 1911 with a short section to
Hendon Aerodrome. Only 21 of the 30 competitors started and 19 headed for Hendon, of which 17 arrived.
Stage 2 Hendon to Edinburgh The competitors started to depart on the second stage on 24 July 1911 for the from Hendon to Edinburgh with two compulsory stops: • Hendon to Harrogate – five made it to Harrogate • Harrogate to Newcastle • Newcastle to Edinburgh – the same five later reached Edinburgh
Stage 3 Edinburgh to Bristol Total distance with stops at Stirling, Glasgow, Carlisle, and Manchester. • Edinburgh to Stirling • Stirling to Glasgow • Glasgow to Carlisle • Carlisle to Manchester • Manchester to Bristol Five started from Edinburgh but only four made it to Bristol, they were all to complete the contest.
Stage 4 Bristol to Brighton Total distance with stops at Exeter, Salisbury Plain. • Bristol to Exeter • Exeter to Salisbury Plain • Salisbury Plain to Brighton
Stage 5 Brighton to Brooklands All competitors had to complete the last to Brooklands before 19:30 on 5 August 1911. Beaumont was the first to arrive back on 26 July 1911 – 1 hour 10 minutes before his fellow Frenchman Jules Vedrines – he had travelled in 22 hours 28 min 18 sec. Valentine arrived back on 4 August 1911, followed the next day by Cody, who was the fourth and the last to arrive at Brooklands on 5 August 1911.
Prizes • Conneau won the £10,000 prize for the first to complete the circuit. He also won the
Entente Cordiale prize of 50
guineas from the proprietors of
Perrier table water for the first Frenchman to complete the course. • Vedrine, Valentine and Cody all equal shares of prizes from Sir George White, the chairman of the
British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (£250 total) and the
British Petroleum Company Limited (125 guineas total) for finishing the course. • Cody won a £50 prize from the Northumberland and Durham Aero Club for the first British machine to arrive in Newcastle. • Valentine received a £50 tea service from the
Harrogate Chamber of Trade for the first British aviator to reach Harrogate and a 100 guinea gold cup from the Brighton Hotels Association for the first British aviator to reach Brighton. He also won the Entente Cordiale prize of 50 guineas from the proprietors of Perrier table water for the first Englishman to complete the course. ==1913 competition==