Yes ... 45 years ago this coming Sunday (4th May) will mark the success of the
Royal Air Force and a Harrier GR1 in winning the fastest London-New York (E-W) Trans-Atlantic crossing in 6 Hrs 11 Mins (5 Hrs 57 Mins Pad-to-Pad) ... in the Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race.
The Harrier GR1 used during the record (E-W) flight was XV741 piloted by Squadron Leader Tom Lecky-Thompson, with Squadron Leader Graham Williams piloting XV744 on the return (W-E) flight, which took 5 Hrs 31 Mins on the 9th May.
I understand the (E-W) flight involved some 4 air-to-air refuellings. No information on the (W-E) trail.
The RAF team operated under the mission name of "Blue Nylon" which included aircraft and crews of No.1 Squadron (Harriers), No.55 and No.57 Squadrons (Victors), No.72 Squadron (Wessex), No.543 Squadron (Victor SR2).
We should also remember that the shortest time between New York-London (W-E), during the DM Air Race, was set by Lieutenant Commander Brian Davies (pilot) and Lieutenant Commander Peter Goddard (observer) of No.892 Naval Air Squadron in a Phantom FG1 on the 11th May 1969 (5 Hrs 11 Mins).
Hopefully there will be a few PPRuNers who were perhaps involved in the above events and would like to share a little more background ... Didn't the FAA try and ground Graham Williams due to bad Wx (their definition) on the W-E flight ... to no avail
Hopefully our John Farley might add a bit more colour ... as I believe he was involved in the subsequent demo of the Harrier in the US after the DM Air Race.
I understand XV741 (as a GR3) was kept (may still be) at HMS Sultan Gosport in 2012.
Here is XV744 (as a GR3) in a bit of a sorry old state being transferred to Tangmere Aviation Museum.
I wonder if in 2019, assuming the F-35 is in service with us by then, that the RAF will have a go at celebrating the Alcock and Brown 1919 Centenary ... although with the F-35B being a "single" engined aircraft it's unlikely to be given clearance to fly over London.
PS. I was 12 years old at the time and still remember the TV coverage ... wonderful stuff back then
