Recalling the Speed Rules of the Past

Schneider Trophy air races led the way to a place where no one goes.

Peter Garrison

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 08:55 AM ET

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Edited By: tccjeremy

Francesco Agello’s small—31-foot span—and elegantly shaped Macchi M.C.72. [Alamy]

Key Takeaways:

Francesco Agello set an enduring 1935 speed record of 441 mph for piston-engine seaplanes with the powerful Macchi M.C.72.
This record was the culmination of the Schneider Trophy races, a prestigious international competition (1912-1931) that significantly advanced seaplane design and technology.
The contests drove the evolution from early, slow seaplanes to highly streamlined, powerful low-wing monoplanes, pushing speeds from under 100 mph to over 400 mph and indirectly influencing later aircraft designs.

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In fall 1935, an Italian pilot named Francesco Agello set a speed record that has remained unsurpassed for 90 years. In fact, it will probably remain that way forever. It is the mark for hyper-fast piston-engine seaplanes, and they have gone the way of velociraptors.

Agello’s small—31-foot span—and elegantly shaped Macchi M.C.72 had two 12-cylinder engines bolted together end to end driving steeply pitched, contra-rotating propellers through coaxial shafts. By then, streamlining had gone as far as it could and speed was all about raw power.