How could it be? On the first flight of the event he won it all! Even he said it. Richard Korda said it when he was 79 years old, by now a Parkinsons patient, speaking on an audio tape made on September 6, 1994 by Loren Dietrich "...they made too big of an issue of the flight in the Wakefield. One lucky flight?"
The contest date was August 6, 1939. The place, chosen by Bernard McFadden, publisher and patron of aeromodelling, chose: Aviation Golf Course, Bendex, NJ .The event: "The 1939 Wakefield International Cup" contest, of course! But the original contest site that was chosen by the American Wakefield Cup Committee, the Bendix Airport, was rejected by the attending SMAE officials as unsuitable for the Wakefield Cup Contest! "On arrival at the proposed flying ground it was immediately seen this was far from ideal, and an inspection of the spot allocated for the contest proved this to be quite impossible as it was sandwiched between a dense wood and the airship hangar." The only alternative was the Golf Course. The weather was "boiling hot" according to the English Team Member Norman Lees, but perfect until noon. There was no wind, and there were thermals everywhere!
The day before, during processing, quite a few Wakefields were found that did not comply with the Wakefield rules. It was found that Richard Korda's Wakefield was underweight, and also the fuselage cross section did not meet the length squared over 100 requirement, plus, the stabilizer was oversized! This was the plane that Korda had won a place on the USA Team with in the qualifications. A considerable amount of consternation ensued, adjustments were made to the surfaces of Korda's Wakefield. Korda's Wakefield was rechecked the next morning, before the contest got under way.
What of Team GB? According to Leonard Stott: "By this time Korda's machine was still up in sight, having clocked 34 minutes and broken Bob Copland's world record." Otherwise they did very well, the members were: Robert Copland, Charles Gibson, Ronald Hill, Leonard Stott, Norman Lees, and Reginald Parham. GB Team Manager, Eddie Cosh. From Canada the Team members were: Fred Bower, Lavelle Walters, Edward Booth, Gim Wong, and Roy Nelder. There were proxy Wakefield from; France, M. Giovanni, A.Vincre, Tournadre, Chabot, Chinaud, and Barthelmy. From South Africa: Dalgetz, Becker, Leslie, and Connolly. From the USA Earl Stahl's Wakefield was flown proxy by Ted Just.
"Once again the Wakefield Cup had been won by one outstanding thermal flight, and whilst not in the least begrudging the Americans their victory, one was left with a feeling of dissatisfaction that the trophy should be won in this manner."
Music: "Somewhere over the Rainbow"; Literature: "Finnigan's Wake", Cine: "Gone with the wind"; Art: "Grandma Moses"