Post by Bernard on Sept 18, 2024 15:03:47 GMT
The 1953 London to Christchurch air race was 12,300 miles long, from London Heathrow to Christchurch International Airport, and took place in October 1953 after Christchurch declared their airport as International in 1950.
The race was divided into an outright speed section and a section for commercial transport aircraft types. The Speed section was formed by
three English Electric Canberra PR.3 RAF and
two English Electric Canberra Mk.20 RAAF
while the handicap section involved
the Douglas DC-6A KLM PH-TGA,
the Handley Page HP67 Hastings RNZAF and
the Vickers Viscount 700 G-AMAV BEA
The speed section was won by a Royal Air Force English Electric Canberra PR.3. The Vickers Viscount of the handicap section finished first, followed by the Douglas DC-6A of KLM. This was declared the winner of the passenger category on handicap, making the journey in 37 and a half hours.
On board were emigrants and especially 26 young Dutch women coming to joining their fiancés, who had gone ahead to get settled in New Zealand. The journey was dubbed “bride flight” and a feature film of the same name, released in 2009, was inspired by the story of the race. BTW, the original aircraft, now owned by Air Atlantique, appears in the movie.
Following is stated on a site dedicated to Dutch part:
KLM President Albert Plesman felt it would be a good idea if KLM took part in the race, thereby confirming that safe and rapid transport over long distances was an everyday affair. The aircraft was therefore fully loaded with passengers, cargo and mail, which is why KLM took part in the handicap section of the race.
This ensured a maximum handicap, which meant that KLM would win the race as long as it arrive within 44 hours of the fast competitor. This may seem like a huge margin, but there was a lot that could go wrong, ranging from engine trouble to heavy weather. And it was going to be a long flight. The other participants in the handicap section were a British European Airways Viscount, which had undergone a cabin conversion to install extra fuel tanks, but had no other freight on board, and a Handley Page Hasting military transport plane entered by the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
On average, every stop lasted only 20 minutes, during which time the aircraft was refuelled and catering was replenished. There was a double cockpit crew on board, and a new cabin crew took over in Karachi. During the stop in Rangoon, passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft for the first time, while locusts seized the opportunity to hitch a ride.
Meanwhile, the crew received word that the Royal New Zealand Air Force plane had been forced to leave the race, because it had damaged its flaps during a landing in heavy weather at Colombo. This meant that KLM had only one other opponent: the British European Airways Viscount. But the British had zero handicap, which meant KLM was the de facto race winner, as long as the crew managed to avoid any mishaps.
The 10,000-pound prize won by the KLM crew was partly donated to a worthy cause in New Zealand, and the rest was divided among the emigrants and crew.
With the dawn of the jet age and the increasing volume of air traffic, it became less and less exciting to organise a race of this kind. The London-to-Christchurch therefore became known as the Last Great Air Race.
Source:https://blog.klm.com/the-last-great-air-race/
Based on these interesting facts I created the race as AI traffic respecting at least the historical departure times. Here some screenies of the different stages of the race - at least those occured during daylight:
All eight aircraft assembled at London Heathrow while the DC-6A is already taxiing out. The background is Ken Lawson's 1953 scenery which fits perfectly with this event.
A remark about the aircraft depicted: I deliberated did not used the DC-6A available as the Air Atlantique owned PH-TGA with UK immatriculation. The Handley Page HP67 Hastings is a Royal Air Force one due to the lack of an New Zealand version. However the Viscount corresponds to the original aircraft.
The DC-6A leaves Baghdad where did a second stopover after Rome.
The Handley Page approaching Basra after a stopover at Athens...
while the Viscount is landing at Bahrein, its first stopover
.
The DC-6A approaching Karachi ...
and does later a further stopover at Rangoon
.
The Handley Page leaves the race at Colombo Negombo due to damaged flaps.
In the meantime the DC-6A reached Biak in former Netherlands New Guinea ...
and after a short refueling it's already over Papua on the way to Darwin.
The Australian Canberra already appoaches Cocos Island after stopover during the night at Bahrein and Colombo
.
The DC-6A reaches Darwin, before flying ahead to Brisbane
.
One of the three Royal Air Force Canberra taxis out at Perth for its final flight to Christchurch. The Viscount in the background just arrived there
.
The Viscount flying over RAAF Point Cook Air Base while approaching Melbourne Essendon
One of the two remaining RAF Canberra finally at Christchurch ...
as well as the Viscount, the faster but not winning commercial aircraft
.
Normally my FS9 is based on 1962 traffic and corresponding sceneries. For the above purpose I used some earlier versions, as well as 1957 AI traffic. Instead of running a separate FS9, I just switch between the two eras with the same and unique FS9 installation by renaming the suitable scenery.cfg file.
Bernard