1934 air race

Airplanes and birds
Post Reply
User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18046
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

1934 air race

Post by Pigeon » Tue May 16, 2017 10:11 pm

Image

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10561
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: 1934 air race

Post by Royal » Tue May 16, 2017 10:44 pm

That looks incredible.

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18046
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: 1934 air race

Post by Pigeon » Tue May 16, 2017 10:56 pm

Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin.

Famous places from the old days.

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18046
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: 1934 air race

Post by Pigeon » Tue May 16, 2017 11:00 pm

MacRobertson Air Race poster, 1934

The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race (also known as the London to Melbourne Air Race) took place October, 1934 as part of the Melbourne Centenary celebrations. The idea of the race was devised by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and a prize fund of $75,000 (Australia used £ at that time) was put up by Sir Macpherson Robertson, a wealthy Australian confectionery manufacturer, on the conditions that the race be named after his MacRobertson confectionery company, and that it be organised to be as safe as possible.

The race was organised by the Royal Aero Club, and would run from RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia to Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, approximately 11,300 miles (18,200 km). There were five compulsory stops at Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin and Charleville, Queensland; otherwise the competitors could choose their own routes. A further 22 optional stops were provided with stocks of fuel and oil by Shell and Stanavo. The Royal Aero Club put some effort into persuading the countries along the route to improve the facilities at the stopping points.

The basic rules were: no limit to the size of aircraft or power, no limit to crew size, no pilot to join aircraft after it left England. Aircraft must carry three days' rations per crew member, floats, smoke signals and efficient instruments. There were prizes for the outright fastest aircraft, and for the best performance on a handicap formula by any aircraft finishing within 16 days.

Take off date was set at dawn (6:30), 20 October 1934. By then, the initial field of over 60 had been whittled down to 20, including three purpose-built de Havilland DH.88 Comet racers, two of the new generation of American all-metal passenger transports, and a mixture of earlier racers, light transports and old bombers.
DH.88 Comet
'Grosvenor House' 	G-ACSS 	34 	C. W. A. Scott, Tom Campbell Black 	Britain 	Elapsed time 71 h 0 min Outright Winner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacRobertson_Air_Race


User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18046
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: 1934 air race

Post by Pigeon » Tue May 16, 2017 11:10 pm

Background info at Historic Wings

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10561
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: 1934 air race

Post by Royal » Wed May 17, 2017 1:55 am

The wind will not allow me to smoke.

Post Reply