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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1086.PDF
1088 FLIGHT. OCTOBER 18, 1934. ENGLAND-AUSTRALIA 6.30 a.m. on Saturday next the first Competitor in the Race from England to Australia for the " MacRobertson" Prize and Trophy will be flagged off from Mil- denhall Aerodrome^ Suffolk DONOR AND TROPHIES: Sir MacPherson Robertson, whose generosity in presenting prizes and trophies has brought about the greatest race ever organised. A.THOUGH the main points in the regulations whichgovern the air race from England to Australia havebsen dealt with from time to time in Flight, it may a r f.e of assistance to our readers if we give a brief dt summa-y of them here, as well as an outline of the general drawn 1(7 aC£tion j.n connection with the Centenary Celebrations The lit State ®* Victoria and the City of Melbourne, the - y W1 jown Australian chocolate manufacturer, Sir Mac- u Robertson, a leading citizen of Melbourne, decided ate a sum of £15,000 and a gold cup, to be given es in air races from England to Melbourne. To the t was agreed to give the title The '' MacRobertson '' lational Air Races, and after much discussion the pation was planned for two races, a speed race and neap race, to be flown concurrently. For the speed race Sir MacPherson Robertson's donations are divided as follows. First Prize £10,000 and a gold cup valued at £500 ; Second Prize £1,500; Third Prize £500. In the handicap face the Fiqst PrJMHBfs of £2,000 and the Second Prize For* the speed race there are five compulsory landing places, known as Contrcls, and for the handicap race these five controls are-atea-ai force, with the addition of a num- ber of optional landing places, known as Checking Points. The controls are: Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin, and Charleville. The checking points in the handicap race are: Marseilles, Rome, Athens, Aleppo, Bushire, Jask, Karachi, Jodhpur, Calcutta, Rangoon, Bangkok, Alor Star, Batavia, Rambang, Koepang, Newcastle Waters, Clon- curry, and Narromine. The finishing point is Flemington Rsu:r>cc!'rsp, Melbourne, but competing machines will not be able to land there. After crossing the finishing line they will proceed to Point Cook Aerodrome across Port Phillip Bav from Melbourne. • '<.-'v•••• ' -«••'-.-, .. Apart from the question of handicap allowances, there is one very important difference between the speed race and the handicap race regulations. In the latter it is only actual flying time which is taken into account. In the speed race, however, the time spent at controls is counted .as flying time. Thus, in the handicap race a competitor may arrive at a control or a checking point shortly before dark, and may decide to spend the night there. In the speed race there will be no such waits. Competitors will land, refuel and pass the necessary examinations as rapidly as possible, and will then be off again. They will fly by night as well as by day, and they will be in a great hurry at the controls, as every minute spent on the ground will count as flying time. It will readily be understood that refuelling will play a very important part. The competitor who gets to the petrol pump first will have precedence in cases where two competitors are refuelling from the same source, and while his tanks are being filled, the official observers at the con- trol will be examining his machine to see that he has made no changes in the load carried, that he carries the stipulated emergency rations, life belts and distress signals. The only item likely to cause any delay is the quantity of fuel carried. All aeroplanes which take part in the races must be built to a standard approved by the proper authorities in their own country, and "must also conform to what is known as the I.C.A.N. take-off requirements. (The letters, by the way, indicate International Commission for Air Navigation.) This stipulates that a machine must, when taking off from standing start, clear an obstacle 20 metres (65.5ft.) high in a horizontal distance of 600 metres (656 yards). This clause has been inserted in the regulations in the interests of safety. Its object is to ensure that no overloaded aeroplane takes part in the race. An aeroplane MGNNA »CHURESTI *' Jg< "tjgppo 3* NTOURs »a the Mildenhall-BaghcUid section of the speed race; the vertical scale H *. . gre. •• •'crated. V
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