The Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race was a race between London, UK and New York City, USA to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the first trans-atlantic crossing by John Alcock and Arthur Brown.
The race
editOrganised by the Daily Mail newspaper, the race was held between 4 and 11 May 1969, although named an air race it was actually a race of individuals between the Post Office Tower in London to the Empire State Building in New York. Each of the individuals or "Runners" had to use some form of air transport. With a number of different categories a total of 21 prizes could be won. A number of point-to-point world records for aircraft were broken.
The shortest overall time from London to New York was by Squadron Leader Tom Lecky-Thompson flying a Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Harrier in 6 hours 11 minutes. The shortest time from New York to London was by Lieutenant Commander Peter Goddard, a passenger in a Royal Navy McDonnell Douglas Phantom (callsign 'Royal Blue 3', serial XT859) in 5 hours 12 minutes.[1][2]
Civilian competitors
editThe first civil competitor to leave London was Anne Alcock, the niece of Sir John Alcock. She was followed by a number of other runners including Stirling Moss, Mary Rand and Sheila Scott, who used her own private aircraft.
Royal Navy
edit| External image | |
|---|---|
| Flight crews of the Royal Navy involved in the race | |
 Team entered by Royal Navy from Fleet Air Arm Officers' Association |
The Royal Navy entered three "runners" each to be flown across the Atlantic in a McDonnell Douglas Phantom. The navy runners used Phantoms which flew from the Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station to Wisley Aerodrome and were refuelled by Handley Page Victor tankers over the Atlantic.
On 11 May 1969 a Royal Navy Phantom of 892 Naval Air Squadron set a new world speed record between New York and London in 4 hours and 46 minutes.
The Vickers Alcock and Brown trophy was awarded to Lieutenant Commander Peter Goddard for his 5 hour 11 minute crossing which was the fastest West to East crossing.
Royal Air Force
editThe Royal Air Force decided to use the unique Vertical Take Off and Landing capability of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.[3] The Harrier used a coal yard next to St Pancras station in London and landed at Bristol Basin on the East River in New York.[3]
London to New York
edit| External image | |
|---|---|
| Harrier XV741 landing at St Pancras | |
| Harrier GR.1 landing at St Pancras from Royal Air Force Museum |
| Event | Name | Aircraft | Time[4] | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortest time | Squadron Leader Tom Lecky-Thompson | Hawker Siddeley Harrier | 6 hrs 11 min | £6,000 |
| Sub-sonic aircraft | R. W. Selph | 7 hrs 6 min | £4000 | |
| Scheduled passenger flight via Shannon | Clement. R. Freud[5][a] | 8hr 4 min | £5000 | |
| Unsponsored personal attempt via Shannon | E. A. Freudmann | 8hr 14 min | £2,500 | |
| Chartered business jet | Sir Billy Butlin | Hawker Siddeley HS.125 | 11 hrs 30 min [b] | £500 |
| Light Aircraft (man) | S. Wilkinson | Beagle B.206 | 20 hrs 23min | £1000 |
| Light aircraft (woman) | Sheila Scott | Piper Comanche | 26 hrs 34 min | £1000 |
New York to London
edit| Event | Name | Aircraft | Time[4] | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortest time | Lieutenant Commander Peter Goddard | McDonnell Douglas Phantom | 5 hrs 12 min | £6000 |
| Sub-sonic | Peter Hammond | 6 hrs 54 min | £4000 | |
| Direct passenger flight | K J Holden | 6 hrs 48 min | £5000 | |
| Unsponsored personal attempt | Miss S M Scribner | 6 hrs 55 min | £2,500 | |
| Chartered business jet | Tony Drewery | Vickers VC10 | 7 hrs 3 min | £500 |
| Light aircraft (man) | Michael Fallon | 21 hrs 31 min | £1000 | |
| Light aircraft (woman) | Nancy Kelly | 22 hrs 31 min | £1000 |
Notes
edit- ^ Using an Aer Lingus scheduled flight
- ^ less a 6hr handicap
References
edit- ^ "Atlantic Crossing Records Broken". Air-Britain Digest: 160. June 1969.
- ^ "Topping-up Royal Blue 3" (PDF). 15 May 1969. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ a b "British Military Aviation in 1969". Royal Air Force Museum. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
- ^ a b Henry Stanhope (12 May 1969). "US loading trouble balks Prince's air attempt". News. The Times. No. 57557. London. col C, p. 2.
- ^ Tauranac 2014, p. 27
- John Tauranac (2014). The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801471094.
External links
edit- The Atlantic Race - Details of Categories in the "Daily Mail" event - 1969 Flight pre-race article
- Harrier at St Pancras? - a 1969 news item in Flight about the probable take-off point for the RAF's Harrier entry
- Air Race Record news of the unofficial New York - London record set by the Royal Navy Phantom
- Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Record Holder 1969 From an article in the FAAOA News Sheet September 2009, Doug "Stormy" Fairweather, Anthony "Robbie" Roberts