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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0207.PDF
24 February 1956 26$ TWO BIG AIR RACES September Contests for £75,000 Prize Money "CIRST details were released last week of two long-distancex international air races, to be contested in September next for prize-money totalling £75,000. Starting points will be New Yorkand London, and the finish of the races in Johannesburg will form a principal feature of the 1956 Johannesburg Festival celebratingthe city's 70th anniversary. No handicap allowances will be made, the two races having been planned on a speed basis only. The race from the U.S.A. will be flown in two sections, with acompulsory 24-hour stop in England. The second leg of this race will coincide with the England-Johannesburg race, and com- "petitors in the former will be eligible for prizes in both races. The first stage, between the U.S.A. and England, must be com-pleted between Wednesday, September 12th and Sunday, Septem- ber 16th; and the second stage will be flown between Monday,September 17th and Saturday, September 22nd. Competitors may select their own routes in both stages, andin-flight refuelling is permitted. Aircraft will be timed between designated starting and finishing lines. Military and civil aircraftof all countries and of all types are eligible, and the prizes are as follows: U.S.A.-England-Johannesburg Race.—First, £5,000; second,£4,000; third, £3,000. England-Johannesburg Race.—First, £10,000; second, £7,500;third, £5,000; fourth, £4,000; fifth, £3,000. In addition, class prizes will be awarded to the entrants of civilaircraft attaining the shortest course-time in the following respec- tive categories: Class1 (over 150,000 lb a.u.w.); £2,500 (fromU.S.A.), £5,000(fromU.K.) 2 (100,000-150,000 lb); £2,250 „ „ ,£4,500 „ „3 (50,000-100,000 Ib); £2,000 „ „ ,£4,000 „ „ 4 (15,000-50,000 lb); £1,750 „ „ ,£3,500 „ „5 (under 15,000 lb); £1,500 „ „ ,£3,000 „ „ The balance of prize money (£3,500) will be available for specialawards to competitors in either race for meritorious performances. The whole of the prize money has been guaranteed by theJohannesburg festival committee. The authorized U.K. representative of the organizers is theRoyal Aero Club, which is responsible for the race conditions and Typical routes for the two stages, New York to Lon- don and London to Johan- nesburg; the regulations permit competitors to choose their own routes in both stages. The distances shown are statute miles by Great Circle courses. (Sketch-map based on Francis Chichester's global map.) rules, and the control of the races in England. The NationalAeronautic Association will be responsible for the organization of the start of the U.S.A. race, and the Aero Club of South Africa(in conjunction with the air race committee of the Johannesburg Festival) for the finish of the races at Johannesburg Airport.The entrance fee for one or both races is £100, and the closing date for entries to be received by the Royal Aero Club is August13th, 1956. Cairo in Four Hours (cont.) Cairo International. After crossing the finishing line and beingidentified by official observers, the Canberra was then to go on to land at Abu Sueir (now an Egyptian Air Force base) 45 miles tothe north-east. Hillwood and Watson climbed hard and started die cruise at45,000ft altitude. The cruise procedure was a drift climb but no details may be published of the ultimate height reached. Met.had forecast temperatures at cruising altitude of between —45 and - 50 deg C. Cloud was fairly continuous from the French coastto the Adriatic and only the highest peaks of the Alps were visible. The sl;y was clear down the Adriatic but clouded again in thevicinity of Crete. At the time of going to press precise details of the track and time were not available but it is obvious that theschedule was beaten handsomely. The previous record for London-Cairo was established by thede Havilland Comet 1 prototype on April 24th, 1950. The 2,182.7 miles were then covered in 5 hr 6 min 58.3 sec at an average speedof 426.63 m.p.h. The new record, which is the 18th international record to be established by Canberras, thus cuts the previous timeby over an hour. The aircraft was a fully standard production machine carrying its gun pack and all military equipment. AMarconi radio compass assisted in navigation. At the time of writing it was intended that the Canberra shouldremain a day or two at Abu Sueir. The second leg of the flight to Aden, 1,500 miles further south, was expected to take somethree hours. British Atomic Missile J ACCORDING to Sir Frederick Brundrett, Britain has "a guided• ballistic missile" capable of carrying an atomic warhead from London to Berlin. He is also quoted as saying "that is only adistance of about 800 miles, but we have rockets that would go as far as 1,500 miles. . . Research on long-range missiles capableof reaching a target several thousand miles away has been left to the Americans. . . The modern warfare picture is not nearlyas bad as people think. Sooner or later there is always a defence against it. . . We have radar that can track approaching missiles300 miles away. Our policy is to put the bulk of our research effort into the offensive. . ." Sir Frederick is leader of the British delegation at the Common-wealth Advisory Committeee on Defence Science which has been meeting in Ottawa. In passing, we feel his reference to a "guidedballistic missile" is a contradiction of terms; by definition, a ballistic missile follows a free trajectory. "THE AEROPLANE" We are asked by the proprietors of 77ie Aeroplane to announce that,in consequence of the prevailing dispute in a section of the printing industry, publication of The Aeroplane,in common with other periodicalsand suburban newspapers printed in the London area, has been tempo- rarily suspended. The proprietors of The Aeroplane wish to expressregret to their readers and advertisers for the inconvenience and disappointment caused by this unavoidable suspension. Publicationwill be resumed immediately the present dispute is resolved.
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