The Wakefield International Cup

A history from 1911
by Charles Dennis Rushing

This book describes the history of the Wakefield International Cup, the first international trophy for aeromodelling competition. The history of the Cup can be traced back to the Wakefield Gold Cup presented by the then Sir Charles Wakefield in 1911 for a competition held at Crystal Palace, England. World War I intervened and this trophy was lost, but not forgotten. In 1927 the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers (SMAE) approached Lord Wakefield concerning the Cup and were offered a new trophy for international competition. This trophy was the present Wakefield International Cup and was first awarded at a competition in 1928. The SMAE developed the international competition up to 1951 when it was handed to the authority of the FAI and became the award for the rubber power category at the FAI World Free Flight Championships.

Charles Rushing wrote this book in 1995 and, with subsequent updates, it records a full history of the Wakefield International Cup up to 2001. The book has been included on the FAI web site to provide an account of this most prestigious aeromodelling trophy. The views expressed are those of the author Charles Rushing and do not represent official FAI policy nor does the FAI warrant accuracy of contents. See the publication conditions. Note that the book is no longer available in print. This web presentation was produced by Ian Kaynes.

From the below menu, you can read the book sequentially or select specific topics or Wakefield competition years for direct access to the chapter. Links are given to the full results of World Championships where applicable, these may also be accessed direct via the index to all free flight championships results.