The Challenge 1932 was the third FAI International Tourist Plane Competition (), that took place between 12 and August 28, 1932, in Berlin, Germany. The four Challenges, from 1929 to 1934, were major aviation events in pre-war Europe.
Overview
Germany organized the contest, because German pilot Fritz Morzik won the previous Challenge in 1930. The number of aircraft that took part in the 1932 Challenge was smaller - 43 compared to 60, because the contest was getting much more difficult with time, demanding high pilotage skills and more advanced aircraft.
Teams from six countries entered the Challenge in 1932: Germany (16 crews), France (8 crews), Italy (8 crews), Poland (5 crews), Czechoslovakia (4 crews) and Switzerland (2 crews). English aviator Winifred Spooner entered the contest in the Italian team, being the only woman among the pilots. One Canadian (John Carberry) and one Romanian pilot (Alexander Papana) entered the contest in the German team.
The opening ceremony was on August 12, 1932, at Berlin-Staaken airfield. The contest consisted of three parts: technical trials, a rally around Europe and a maximum speed test. Since one of the aims of the Challenge was to stimulate progress in aircraft development, it was not only pilots' competition, but technical trials also included a construction evaluation that promoted more advanced designs.
Aircraft
thumb|250px|RWD-6 of Franciszek Zwirko during short take-off trial
The Challenge was to be a contest of tourist aircraft, so competing aircraft had to be able to take at least two persons aboard, take off and land on a short field and cover a distance with a good cruising speed. In fact, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Italy developed modern sports aircraft specifically to meet the demands of the Challenge. Before the contest, a favourite was German Messerschmitt's BFW M.29, offering the highest performance, but due to two crashes during training, all BFWs were withdrawn. Flying on the edge of stalling, Franciszek Żwirko was the slowest with 57.6 km/h speed, the second was another Pole flying an RWD-6, Tadeusz Karpiński. Behind them were the Italians, the German He 64s and the French Raymond Delmotte (C.278) with good results ranging from 61.2 to 65.7 km/h, and then the rest. The regulations did not expect such low speeds and therefore all seven results below 63 km/h were awarded with 50 points.
{| cellspacing=8
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! colspan=12|Top results of the minimal speed trial
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| || Pilot || Country || Aircraft || Speed || Points
|-
|1. ||Franciszek Żwirko || || RWD-6||57.6 km/h || 50 pts
|-
|2. ||Tadeusz Karpiński || || RWD-6||60.8 km/h|| 50 pts
|-
|3.|| Francesco Lombardi || ||Ba.33||61.2 km/h|| 50 pts
|-
|4.|| Ambrogio Colombo |||| Ba.33||61.4 km/h || 50 pts
|-
|5.||Winifred Spooner |||| Ba.33||61.5 km/h|| 50 pts
|-
|6.||Werner Junck||||He 64c||62.1 km/h|| 50 pts
|-
|7.||Hans Seidemann||||He 64b||62.4 km/h|| 50 pts
|}
Next there were trials of a short take off and landing, carried out in groups until 17 August 1932.