Sopwith test pilot C Howard Pixton won the 1914 Schneider Trophy

Schneider Trophy

The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...

 air race held in Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

flying a Sopwith Tabloid

Sopwith Tabloid

|-See also:-References:* Bruce, J.M. "". Flight. 8 November 1957. pp. 733–736.* Bruce, J.M. "". Flight. 15 November 1957. pp. 765–766.* Bruce, J.M. "". Flight. 29 November 1957. pp. 845–848....

 seaplane powered by a 100 hp Gnome 9V rotary engine

Rotary engine

The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...

, completing the race at an average speed of 86.83 miles per hour. The trophy was then moved to the British Royal Aero Club

Royal Aero Club

The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...

.

Career

Pixton started his flying career in 1910 at Brooklands

Brooklands

Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...

 and became friendly with A V Roe

Alliott Verdon Roe

Sir Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe OBE, FRAeS was a pioneer English pilot and aircraft manufacturer, and founder in 1910 of the Avro company...

. Together they started the Avro School of Flying and Pixton became the first test pilot for Avro

Avro

Avro was a British aircraft manufacturer, with numerous landmark designs such as the Avro 504 trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.-Early history:One of the world's...

. He was commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 and joined the Air Investigation Department at Farnborough

Farnborough Airfield

Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...

.

His later career involved flying the first newspapers to the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

and Pixton is reputed to have flown the first fare paying passengers, also to the Isle of Man.

He died in 1972 and is buried at Jurby, Isle of Man.