Daily Mail aviation prizes
# Daily Mail aviation prizes

Between 1906 and 1930, the Daily Mail newspaper, initially on the initiative of its proprietor, Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, awarded numerous prizes for achievements in aviation. The newspaper would stipulate the amount of a prize for the first aviators to perform a particular task in aviation or to the winner of an aviation race or event. The most famous prizes were the £1,000 for the first cross-channel flight awarded to Louis Blériot in 1909 and the £10,000 given in 1919 to Alcock and Brown for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between North America and Ireland.

The prizes are credited with advancing the course of aviation during the early years, with the considerable sums offered becoming a much-coveted goal for the field's pioneers.

## Prizes

| Year announced | Year awarded | Contest | Amount (£) | Adjusted 2023 amount | Winner(s) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1906 | 1910 | London to Manchester flight | 10,000 | £1,086,000 | Louis Paulhan |
| 1907 | 1907 | Model aeroplane competition | 100 | £11,300 | Alliott Verdon Roe, W. Howard |
| | 1908 | Quarter mile out and return flight | 100 | £11,100 | Henri Farman |
| 1908 | 1909 | Cross-channel flight | 1,000 | £110,900 | Louis Blériot |
| | 1909 | Circular mile by a British aircraft | 1,000 | £110,900 | John Moore-Brabazon |
| 1909 | 1909 | Fastest lap at Blackpool Aviation Week | 1,000 | £110,900 | Henri Farman |
| | 1910 | Second cross-channel flight | 100 | £10,900 | Jacques de Lesseps |
| 1910 | 1910 | Best cross-country aggregate | 1,000 | £108,600 | Louis Paulhan |
| 1910 | 1911 | Circuit of Britain race | 10,000 | £1,083,400 | André Beaumont (Jean Conneau) |
| 1912 | 1912 | Aerial Derby cup | 105 | £11,100 | Thomas Sopwith |
| 1913 | 1913 | Aerial Derby cup | 105 | £11,000 | Gustav Hamel |
| 1913, 1918 | 1919 | Transatlantic flight | 10,000 | £488,900 | Alcock and Brown |
| 1913 | -- | Circuit of Great Britain for "waterplanes" | 5,000 | £523,400 | |
| 1914 | 1914 | Aerial Derby cup | 105 | £10,700 | W. L. Brock |
| 1914 | Cancelled | Circuit of Great Britain | 5,000 | £510,500 | |
| 1919 | 1919 | Aerial Derby cup | 210 | £10,300 | Gerald Gathergood |
| 1923 | 1923 | Economy flight for motor gliders | 1,000 | £60,700 | |
| 1925 | 1926 | Economy flight for dual-control light aircraft of British construction | 3,000 | £185,200 | George Bulman (Hawker Cygnet) |
| 1930 | 1930 | Solo flight from England to Australia | 10,000 | £672,600 | Amy Johnson |

In addition, four "consolation" prizes were awarded:

| Year announced | Year awarded | Contest | Amount (£) | Winner(s) |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1906 | 1910 | London to Manchester flight | 105 | Claude Grahame-White |
| 1910 | 1911 | Round-Britain flight | 200 | Jules Védrines |
| 1913 | 1913 | Round-Britain flight for British "waterplanes" | 1,000 | Harry Hawker |
| 1913 | 1919 | Transatlantic flight | 5,000 | Harry Hawker, Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve |
