Harrier GR1 Race 1969

[Hangar3]

I've been given a photo of a Harrier Gr1 taking off from a London Train Station (St. Pancris?) taken in 1969, the Daily Mail London to New York Air race. Does anyone have any information on it?
Cheers H3

[Gainesy]

Try a Google search on Sqn Ldr(?) Lecky-Thompson, he was one of the pilots.

[effortless]

It was from a coal yard. You should have seen the dust.

[Navaleye]

The landing point is now where the British Library stands in Euston Road.

[Flying Lawyer]

The Harrier, from RAF Wittering, won the London - New York race in a few minutes over 6 hours with four air-to-air refuellings.
6 hrs 12 minutes?





(The fastest Concorde time ever was 2 hrs 52 min 59 seconds - Westbound.)

[artyhug]

I beg to differ.

Have a look here,

http://www.aeroseek.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=260

and here

http://users.argonet.co.uk/users/lio...Air/F4K69.html

Don't quite understand who won to be honest, overall time of the Jehovah was lower but the Viff viff nozzle nozzle crash is quoted as having won.

Or am I just thick?

[Flying Lawyer]

artyhug

I thought the Harrier won, but my memory could be playing tricks.

[Gainesy]

IIRC there were several "classes" of entry therefore several winners. Or not.

[teeteringhead]

RAF participation was known as Operation BLUE NYLON, which may be useful in official searches (Nylon .... geddit??)

[Prop-Ed]

I do believe Lecky-Thompson actually won the race he participated in. Last I knew he was a pilot instructor at Oxford Aviation flying from kidlington.

Might be a good place to start?

[Tiger_mate]

That particular airframe is still in use at Culdrose with the Navy. They manouvre it around a "deck" all day I think. Was present at the ill fated 2004 Airshow with display board to that fact.

[Captain Gadget]

Transatlantic Air Race

Flew with TLT as a stude on 63 Sqn (Hawk, 2 TWU Chivenor) in the Eighties.

My recollection is that he certainly thought he won the race...

Gadget

[Navaleye]

I think they were two separate events as someone pointed out, but I have some reference material on both and will post it out if no-one comes up with the answer first.

[PLovett]

My memory of the event is now very dim but wasn't the race a point to point event? I think it was from somewhere in Central London to the Empire State building.

The problem for pilots with conventional aircraft was getting from the start point to an airport through the traffic and again in New York.

That said I still thought the event was won by a RAF F4 with the help of many taxpayer pounds.

[Skylark4]

From the top of the post office tower?

Mike W

[henry crun]

There were two races, NY-London and London-NY with several different categories.

The RAF Harrier, Lecky-Thompson, had the fastest time from London to New York in 6 hrs 12 minutes.

The RN F4, Brian Davies and Peter Goddard, won the New York to London leg with a time of 4 hrs 46 minutes.

[uknasa]

Hangar3
I think that one of the pilots was AVM (Retd) Graham Williams who works for Lockheed now.

[henry crun]

uknasa: Graham Williams did compete.
I think his time on the New York-London Leg was 5hrs 59 minutes.

[Hangar3]

Thanks for all the details, from what I now understand the Harrier won the point to point from Post Office tower to Empire State building going East, but the F4 won the overall event.
Cheers

[27mm]

Yours truly was a long-haired QMC student at the time, dossing in Commonwealth Hall; heard about the race and managed to sneak into St Pancras Goods yard in time to see TLT arrive and launch vertically on an awe-inspiring, eardrum-bursting column of jet-noise and coal dust. Looking like a mate from the deepest Welsh colliery, I went straight round to the Kingsway RAF recruiting office and applied for GD/P - but that's another story......