Inside airship shed North at Staaken: Italian Ba.33s plus a Czechoslovak Praga BH-111, OK-BEH / T4, on the right. The identity of M4, flown by Renato Donati during the 1932 Challenge, was hitherto unknown. Also seen are I-MUNE / M5, I-MANO / M3, I-CORE / M1 and I-BIBI / M8. Not in the picture are I-CTUS / M6, flown by Francis Lombardi; G-ABKX / M7, flown by Winifred Spooner as a guest of the Italians; and I-BLEA / M2, which crashed during the rally through Europe. The Italian team was then withdrawn. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

Alex Papană took part in the 1932 Challenge International de Tourisme in this Monocoupe, apparently as a guest of the German Aero Club. He dropped out in Italy. Photo from: Museum of Flight

The attention goes to a French Potez 43, F-AMBN /K3, but SP-AHN / O6 would win the 1932 Challenge International de Tourisme with pilot Franciszek Żwirko and mechanic Stanisław Wigura. They came twelfth in the rally around Europe, but had the best score in the technical trials at Berlin - Staaken. The photo is assumed taken there because the barrier for the take-off trial seems to be lying on the runway. The competing planes wore black or red tail stripes - red for light aircraft with empty weights up to 336 kg. Żwirko and Wigura were killed when SP-AHN crashed a few weeks later.

Developed from the D-18, the D-22 was a biplane of extreme stagger. The second example is seen passing through Cracow during the 7363-km rally of the 1932 Challenge International de Tourisme, flown by Walter Marienfeld. Photo from: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

Rakowice will be known to some viewers as the now urbanized site of the Polish Aviation Museum in Cracow. The He 64 two-seater was designed for the 1932 Challenge International de Tourisme which was organised in Berlin. A 7363-km rally around Europe commenced on 21 August and the leading contenders reached Zagreb on the first day, via Warsaw, Cracow, Prague, Brno and Vienna. The six He 64s were the fastest aircraft, but did not score very well in the technical trials. Dietrich von Massenbach in D-2303 came third in the rally but only 15th overall. Photo from: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe