Challenge International de Tourisme 1934

The Challenge 1934 was the fourth and last FAI International Tourist Plane Contest (French: Challenge International de Tourisme), that took place between August 28 and September 16, 1934, in Warsaw, Poland. The four Challenges, from 1929 to 1934, were major aviation events in pre-war Europe. The 1934 Challenge was won by the Polish pilots, who had also won the previous year.

Overview

Poland and the Polish Aero Club organized the contest because a Polish pilot Franciszek Żwirko had won the previous Challenge in 1932. The contest rules were announced in June 1933: like the previous contest, it consisted of three parts: technical trials, a rally over Europe and a maximum speed trial, but there were changes in details. Since one of the aims of the Challenges was to stimulate the development of tourist aircraft, a stress was placed upon aircraft performance and quality, although pilots' skills remained crucial.

The opening ceremony was held at noon on August 28, 1934, at Mokotowskie field in Warsaw (the Italian team was late by two hours due to weather and arrived during the ceremony). During an air show, a Polish fighter PZL P.7a performing aerobatics crashed, but the pilot survived with injuries.