Raymond Belmotte ( chief pilot at the Ceuvrain-Renault aeroplane works ) beat the world record over a measured track of 3 kilometres at Istres aerodrome near Marseilles by flying at an average speed of 504km (313,165 mph) an hour and thus winning the French Air Ministry prize of ?,000 - the previous record was held by the American pilot Wedell who flew at 496.9m per hour - photo shows Raymond Delmotte December 28th 1934