Henshaw Challenge: Success! (Now includes photographs)
Charles 'Chalkie' Stobbart will attempt to break Alex Henshaw's Cape Records later this month in this, the 70th anniversary year.
If all goes according to plan he will arrive at Southend in the early hours of Saturday 9th May.
Chalkie, a South African Airways Training Captain, is an experienced long-distance light aircraft pilot. He has been awarded the prestigious 'Major Achievement Award for Outstanding Service to Sport Aviation' awarded by the EAA(USA) and is a past President of the EAA in South Africa.
The aircraft - an Osprey GP4 (home-built)
If Chalkie beats Alex Henshaw's time from Cape Town, he will break the first of the Cape Records which have stood for 70 years.
He has to beat the time on the return journey and the round-trip time to break all three Cape Records.
I attach an extract from an email from him which includes details of his route and ETA.
Flight details, all times Zulu.
I do hope the flight stays on schedule and you should be able to monitor progress on www.henshaw-challenge.com as I have fitted a GPS tracker which sends position reports by satellite email. This will be updated regularly on the website.
Alex Henshaw Junior and Judith will be at Southend to welcome me, and hopefully Taff Smith will take XF for a 'test flight' and visit Southend too; it really would be great to have the challenger and record holder parked together.
So barring unforseen problems, I will see you at Southend on Saturday 9th May.
Herewith the planned schedule...
Cape Town depart 20:00 7th May - Brazzaville arrive 06:15
Brazzaville depart 07:15 8th May - Kano arrive 13:10
Kano depart 14:10 8th May - Algiers arrive 22:45
Algiers depart 23:45 8th May - Southend arrive 05:00 Saturday 9th May.
All assume one hour turn-around, perhaps arrive Southend a bit earlier if tech-stops are quicker.
Depart EGMC after 14 hour rest, actual departure time depends on actual arrival time.
Southend depart 19:00 9th May - Algiers arrive 00:15 10th May.
Algiers depart 01:15 10th May - Kano 09:50
Kano depart 10:50 10th May - Brazzaville 16:50 refuel and sleep 40 minutes.
Brazzaville depart 18:20 10th May - Cape Town 04:30 Monday 11th May.
3 Days, 8 Hours, 30 Minutes.
I plan to be at Southend, and thought others might also like to be present to support a fellow aviator and witness what may be the making of a piece of
aviation history.
FL
Last edited by Flying Lawyer; 2nd May 2009 at 18:35.