Last Great Air Race
The 1953 London to Christchurch air race, the "Last Great Air Race", was about long, from London Airport (now London Heathrow) to Christchurch International Airport in New Zealand, and took place in October 1953 after Christchurch declared their airport as international in 1950. It was intended to mark the centenary of Christchurch, also in 1950, and 50 years since the Wright brothers' first powered flight.259
Race description.
Canterbury International Air Race Council was formed in Christchurch in 1948 to plan the race, together with the British Royal Aero Club. It was divided into an outright Speed Section, and a Handicap Section for commercial transport aircraft. Each plane was allowed to select its own route, as long as it was generally south-east, and any necessary intermediate stops. Several planes dropped out before it began; this left five military jet bombers and three commercial propeller-driven planes.
The race started on Thursday 8 October at 16:30 GMT.260 The time in New Zealand was 12 hours ahead, as British Summer Time had ended four days earlier, and New Zealand didn't use daylight saving time then. The three commercial planes took off at five-minute intervals. The military jets followed, again at five-minute intervals, starting at 17:35; they were delayed by an hour, to avoid a photo finish in the dark about 24 hours later. Each plane was allowed 168 hours of elapsed time from the final plane's takeoff.22
The planes flew direct from London to the Middle East, except the DC-6A (via Italy) and the Hastings (via Greece). After that, most of the routes were broadly similar, flying in almost a straight line via Ceylon, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and southern Australia. Canberra number "1" even managed to fly past Cocos without stopping.261 However, the DC-6A flew further north, via West Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia and northern Australia. A great circle route would have been a few hundred miles shorter, over Finland and Japan.
The prizes for each Section were the same: 1st £10,000; 2nd £3000; 3rd £1000; 4th £500.22 These are New Zealand pounds, which matched UK pounds at the time. The Handicap Section, rather than a race, was intended to be a trial based on a formula aimed at rewarding commercial efficiency over a long-haul route.7
The Speed Section was won by a Royal Air Force English Electric Canberra PR3 flown by Flight Lieutenant Roland (Monty) Burton and navigated by Flight Lieutenant Don Gannon. The plane touched down at Christchurch (Harewood) Airport at 05:37 local time during a heavy storm, 40 minutes quicker than its closest rival, after 23 h 52 min, including 83 minutes on the ground. This record still held in 2024, and is equivalent to around a great circle separation of . The Harewood Gold Cup was awarded to the winners, and the prize of £10,000 was paid to the RAF Benevolent Fund. Second in the Speed Section was Squadron Leader Peter Raw of No. 1 Long Range Flight RAAF in an Australian-built Canberra. The distance, by the route followed, was quoted as , so that the speed in the air for all five jets was , with an average overall speed (including intermediate stops) of .
The Canberras were all fitted with extra fuel tanks in the bomb bays.260 To deal with the extra weight, the two PR3 planes' engines were tweaked to give more thrust, and larger main-wheel hubs and brakes fitted. Any wingtip fuel tanks or pods seen on the Canberras were absent during the race.
In the transport Handicap Section, a BEA Vickers Viscount finished first, followed by a Douglas DC-6A of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines which was declared the winner on handicap. A Royal New Zealand Air Force Handley Page Hastings also took part. The Viscount was fitted with extra fuel tanks in place of seats, enabling it to fly in five stages, as opposed to eight for the DC-6A; the Hastings had also expected to fly in eight stages. The handicap deductions were well-known before leaving London, but BEA welcomed the publicity from the race. The DC-6A's adjusted time was 49:57 − 44:30 = 5:27 (this is often misquoted as 37:30, but that was the elapsed time to Darwin).
The Douglas DC-6A carried 64 passengers, including many Dutch women emigrating to marry or join their husbands. The same passengers left Schiphol (Amsterdam) for London on the day before, . The race plane was , built as a dual-purpose or convertible plane, with some seats, and cargo doors. It carried the name "DR. IR. M.H. DAMME", plus "TRADE WINGS" and "21". Dokter Ingenieur Marinus H. Damme was a Dutch engineer, aviation businessman and politician. DC-6A planes were also called "Liftmaster". A is sometimes confused with this one.
The Handley Page Hastings carried cargo for the New Zealand Air Force. After stopping at Athens (Greece), Shaibah (near Basra, Iraq) and Masirah Island (Oman), an engine was ruined by a storm near Ceylon, then the flaps were damaged while landing at Negombo (Ceylon), causing the plane to withdraw from the race. It remained stranded there for ten days. The Hastings has been described as the world's last four-engine tail-wheel transport giant.
The Vickers Viscount was loaned from the British Ministry of Supply to BEA, with BEA livery applied, and named "RMA Endeavour", for "Royal Mail Aircraft" and Captain James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour. It made four stops, averaging only 18 minutes each, at Bahrein, Negombo, Cocos and Melbourne (Australia). However, its lack of passengers and cargo led to it being declared second for this Section, behind the DC-6A. The Viscount was the world's first turboprop-powered airliner.
During the race, the time of arrival and departure of each plane at each airport was logged on a pair of "tally boards", located at the headquarters of Australia's Department of Civil Aviation in Melbourne. The press and public were present to witness the progress. Unfortunately the boards omitted five of the times.
In popular culture.
The film "Bride Flight" was released in 2008.
References.
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