England to Australia Vintage Air Rally

[n2582d]

Back in 1990 twenty-four pre-1950 aircraft participated in an England to Australia air rally.

IMG_1820.jpeg

Several planes crashed and only twelve finished. All four 170s that started the rally finished. One of them is for sale here. Did this make The 170 News back then? Read about it here.

[GAHorn]

Fantastic Find! Thanks Gary!

[johneeb]

What a story, and 33 out of 34 were US manufactured aircraft

[n2582d]

Yes, that must have been an incredible adventure. The one non-US aircraft, a Tiger Moth, made it all of 141 miles before crashing on the coast of France. Pretty ballsy crossing the channel behind a Gipsy Major, not to mention planning on traveling 10,000 miles in a Tiger Moth.

The end of the article has a list of participants. I wonder if any are still around? Any Aussies you recognize Ghostflyer? (I sound like the guy meeting a stranger from New York and asking if he knows a friend who moved there several years ago. But, in my defense, the vintage aviation community is rather small.) I would love to read a travelogue in The 170 News from one of these C-170 pilots.

John, Lang Kidby -- the guy who organized this rally -- sounds like he must be your long-lost twin brother. I thought of your participation in The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run when reading of his various adventures found under the Expeditions tab of his website. He's amazingly talented with antique cars and aircraft.

[johneeb]

Gary,
I can't hold a candle to Lang and Bev, wonder how they have had time to have a job .

I have just returned from another veteran car run, this one was four days driving (mostly riding) around Yorkshire in a 1904 White Steam car. The countryside in Yorkshire is stunning, everything Jame Harriet describes in his All Creatures Great and Small series of books.

[GAHorn]

Gary,
I can't hold a candle to Lang and Bev, wonder how they have had time to have a job .

I have just returned from another veteran car run, this one was four days driving (mostly riding) around Yorkshire in a 1904 White Steam car. The countryside in Yorkshire is stunning, everything Jame Harriet describes in his All Creatures Great and Small series of books.

Jamie and I spent two weeks last year driving all over SE England on the wrong side of the road. We Loved it.. Saw London (British Museum and Churchill War Rooms) of course, Cambridge (Eagle Pub), but East Anglia, Norwich, (my Dad’s old B-24 base at Attlebridge) Lincoln, York, Stratford upon Avon, … ROUNDABOUTS

we Loved it!

[johneeb]

George, Your dad only had to dodge fighters, and flack today he would also be avoiding those giant windmills.

[GAHorn]

George, Your dad only had to dodge fighters, and flack today he would also be avoiding those giant windmills.

Not Dad..but some of his counterparts dodged a few during the Ploesti raid

Here’s an opportunity to post a posed pic of my Dad and crew. They trained in Walla-Walla, ABQ and TUS, then ferried an airplane to Attlebridge: (via Brazil, and Morocco) They completed 33 missions, then flew a different plane back in June 45, via Iceland and Nova Scotia.
In 1995 Jamie and I flew Mom and Dad to the 446th 50th ReUnion in TUS, (and met all but 3 of these men who had already passed.)

IMG_4016.jpeg

The 466th B.G. suffered the very last bomber shot down in Europe. The airplane shot-down was named (w/nose-art) “Black Cat”…and later featured on a U.S. postage stamp. Dad knew and bunked with that crew. “Wings of Morning” by Thomas Childers (nephew of the radio operator, who became interested in writing when he discovered a diary as he cleaned out his aunt/uncle’s home) , is the book about it. https://generalaviationnews.com/2006/03/24/black-cat/

IMG_0094.png

[cessna170bdriver]

Later this month Karen and I will be taking our 1924 Model T touring car from Brighton (Michigan) to London (Ontario) and return to attend the Model T Ford Club International’s annual tour, where we’ll join over 200 other Model T’s and drive them 100-125 miles/day for 5 days.

The only question at this point is whether we’ll drive or trailer the Model T to/from London. It’s only a 160-mile drive each way (about 6-1/2 hours at a Model T’s rolling average of 25mph) on (hopefully) Model T-friendly roads. Karen isn’t quite as adventurous as I am and is currently winning the debate in favor of trailering.

[GAHorn]

Later this month Karen and I will be taking our 1924 Model T touring car from Brighton (Michigan) to London (Ontario) and return to attend the Model T Ford Club International’s annual tour, where we’ll join over 200 other Model T’s and drive them 100-125 miles/day for 5 days.

The only question at this point is whether we’ll drive or trailer the Model T to/from London. It’s only a 160-mile drive each way (about 6-1/2 hours at a Model T’s rolling average of 25mph) on (hopefully) Model T-friendly roads. Karen isn’t quite as adventurous as I am and is currently winning the debate in favor of trailering.

We are All …more fortunate than most…. Good friends,… Classic machinery…. Beautiful and Wise Women….

[johneeb]

Miles,
If you have the energy, on August 8th is the New London to New Brighton Minnesota Run https://antiquecarrun.org/

[cessna170bdriver]

Miles,
If you have the energy, on August 8th is the New London to New Brighton Minnesota Run https://antiquecarrun.org/

Sounds like fun but Model T’s have too many cylinders to qualify, and mine is too new.

[n2582d]

… I have just returned from another veteran car run, this one was four days driving (mostly riding) around Yorkshire in a 1904 White Steam car. …

That must have been a hoot! Leno describes the White as “a 19th century Edwardian scientific instrument”. Where do these guys find parts for these ultra-rare vehicles? I imagine most have to be fabricated at machine shops. For runs like this is there a support truck lorry filled with spare tires and other commonly needed parts? Restoring one of these makes restoring a C-170 look like child’s play. Steam Car Network shows that 170 owners don’t have a monopoly on foolishly wasting their kid’s inheritance!

Hope you’re wearing Nomex overalls starting that steamer! It was a 1907 White that Jay Leno was under when he was severely burned several years ago. It’s fascinating to see how complex just starting one of these beasts is. It’s no wonder that the internal combustion engine became the standard over electric or steam cars once the Bendix starter was invented. Leno shows what it takes to start a White steamer here and here.

[GAHorn]

Tesla is “late” to the game. The first electric carriage was in the 1830’s… and the first mass produced electric Studebaker came out in early 1900’s

IMG_0109.png

[johneeb]

Gary,
I have learned, by exposure, quite a bit about steam power but not enough to be trusted with the BernzOmatic torch. My mentor on these cars said I had to first shave off my eyebrows before I could light the pilot.

A side note the BernzOmatic torch speeds up the starting process and I think is safer then letting gasoline drip into the bottom of the pilot chamber and put a match in it. The torch also shortens the time the pilots takes to heat up the gasoline to vapor to be sprayed into the steam generator.