Fieseler and the F2 Tiger - 1st World Aerobatic Champion

There was great speculation when a World Cup competition for aerobatics was announced in early 1934, to take place at Vincennes, Paris, on 9-10 June. The French Aero Club’s invitation to this first ever World Championship included total prize money of 275,000 francs on offer. The winner would receive 100,000 francs. It was an enormous event, a high-spot of the Paris society season, with 150,000 spectators crowded into the military parade-ground at Vincennes which had been converted expressly for the occasion, with grandstands specially erected. Nine competitors took part, drawn from six nations: Ambruz and Novak from Czechoslovakia, Cavalli and Detroyat from France, Achgelis and Fieseler from Germany, Christopher Clarkson from Great Britain, Ambrogio Colombo from Italy and Placido d’Abreu from Portugal. The initial compulsory programme required a list of figures to be performed within a time limit of eight minutes, including a right-hand and a left-hand spin, a bunt, a negative loop