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“In addition to the prize of £500 to Mr. Sopwith, Mr. A. Mortimer Singer is kindly presenting Mr. H. G. Hawker with a souvenir.”
The R.Ae.C. notices of July 12th, 1913, also contained the following:
“Daily Mail £5,000 Prize: Circuit of Great Britain.
“The following entry for the Daily Mail £5,000 Prize, Circuit of Great Britain, has been received:
The Sopwith Aviation Co.
“Intending competitors are reminded that the entries close on July 16th, 1913, at 12 noon.”
On Saturday, July 13th, 1913, Harry fresh from winning the Mortimer Singer prize on Tuesday, was out testing a novel but useless idea in propellers on the Sopwith Tractor at Brooklands. Two penalties of fame which Harry had to pay on not a few occasions during his career were posing for photographers and testing inventions for all and sundry.
After testing a new tractor biplane fitted with ailerons, on Sunday, the 13th, Harry engaged in a friendly race with Hamel, who was flying a two-seater Blériot monoplane. Both machines had 80 h.p. Gnome engines. Although there was some doubt as to who really won the race, that Harry displayed the superior efficiency of the Sopwith biplane over the exactly similarly engined monoplane was beyond dispute.