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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 1277.PDF
FLIGHT International, 18 July 1968 93 Biggin Hill Flying Club won the Kent airfield's "longest-day" contest this year (see also this page). The Loftleidir Trophy was presented to Mr George Stewart (left), chairman and CFi of the winning club, by Mrs Ruth Drewery. Mr R. W. Orme, Loftleidir director in Britain, is on the right SPORT BUSINESS Biggin Hill's Longest Day competition, open to any of the clubs at the Kent airfield, was held on June 29. The Loftleidir Trophy for the most hours flown was won by the Biggin Hill Flying Club's team with a Jodel Ambassadeur. Out of a possible 17hr 8min between official sunrise and sunset the aircraft was in motion for no less than 16hr 57min 42sec. Flown for endurance, the 2/4-seat 100 h.p. Jodel consumed fuel at only 28 air miles per gallon (equivalent to 3-4 gal/hr) and this economy materially assisted the team's victory. The contest would have taken place the previous week had the weather not dictated otherwise, reports Mr Chris Hedge, secretary of the winning club. The event was organised very ably by last year's winners, the County Flying Club, who flew their blue Tiger Moth into third place. Speed of turn-round between flights was the essence of the contest, and the club which managed to keep to a minimum the length of the compulsory "pit stop" every two hours stood the best chance of winning. The stops involved a crew change, refuelling, oil check and replenishment, and a normal pre-flight inspection. Team work counted, and on one occasion the Biggin Hill club achieved 39sec—the fastest of the day. Second place in the contest was won by 600 Squadron Flying Club with their Chipmunk, and third, as mentioned above,w as the County Flying Club. The fourth, and only other com- petitor, the Alouette Flying Club, had to withdraw early when their Taylorcraft developed a temperamental magneto. It wasa Pity that more of Biggin's numerous clubs did not take part, 'he contest provides an effective boost to utilisation and an enjoyable, if exhausting, day of friendly rivalry. The excite-me nt lasted right to the finish, only a matter of minutes separating the first competitor from the last. The slightest blunder could have reversed the position. For those airborne, the flying was memorable and pleasant particularly in the dawn or the dusk with the engine ticking over at endurance speed. The Loftleidir Trophy was handed to Mr George Stewart, Biggin Hill Flying Club chairman and CFI, by Mrs Ruth Drewery: there were also prizes from Whitbreads and Rothmans. Migrating Mallard The only British-registered Grumman Mallard, G-ASCS, returned home recently after six months' inactivity in Lisbon after a proposed sale had fallen through. During June it was used briefly by Grosvenor Estates Ltd as a temporary replacement for their Grumman Goose amphibian which was at Cambridge undergoing modification to turboprop power. After two weeks' operation on Scottish lochs the Mallard left England on June 2 to start its first long-distance migration outside Europe since its arrival from Canada in 1963. The owner had decided to use the aircraft for a business trip to Central Africa. At short notice the Mallard cleared Customs at Luton, bound ultimately for Libreville, Gabon; but the outward flight was complicated by the strike in France and initially had to take a devious route via Brussels, Geneva, Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon. Political considerations on the West African coastal route caused minor delays, but the Mallard proceeded via Agadir, Las Palmas, Dakar, Freetown, Abidjan and Cotonou, arriving at Libreville on June 7 after a mechanically trouble-free journey of 5,280 n.m. The return flight of 4,580 n.m. to Paris Le Bourget, was made in 29+ hours' flying time over three days, the route being via Abidjan, Freetown, Wakar, El Aoiun (Spanish Sahara), Casablanca and Biarritz. Flying over the West African route (writes the pilot, Capt K. E. Sissons), brought to mind the pioneering round-Africa flight made by Sir Alan Cobham in the Short Singapore flying- boat in 1928 and to which he had referred in his speech at the Guild garden party at Denham before the Mallard's departure. Whereas Sir Alan was surveying for seaplane bases for the proposed routes of Imperial Airways, the age of sea- planes has now come and gone and, the old slipways are overgrown relics of a romantic past. The Mallard got its feet wet only once—when landing on Abidjan's jet runway in a typical West African thunderstorm. The aircraft flew 10,620 n.m. in 80hr over 12 days on the round trip to Paris. Back again in England, the water bird finally took to its webbed feet when some water training was carried out in a peaceful bay off the Essex coast in pouring rain. After the dust of the desert and the clammy heat of the African jungle, remarks Capt Sissons. it was certainly lovely weather for ducks. Britain's largest privately owned amphibian flying-boat, Grumman Mallard G-ASCS, was used recently by its owners for a trip to equatorial West Africa. Capt K. E. Sissons gives some impressions of the trip in a note on this page
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