Henshaw Challenge: Success! (Now includes photographs)

[Flying Lawyer]

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.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/GP4.jpg
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 (http://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

[echobeach]

Sounds like a fantastic flight. This might seem a rather uninformed question but what is the current standing record time and what craft is the new record attempt being made in ?

[echobeach]

Sorry. That will teach me to reply from my phone. Didn't see the picture on first look

[Flying Lawyer]

echobeach

I was editing to attach the pic when you posted.

More information about the Osprey GP4 and a comparison with Henshaw's Mew Gull here:
Chalkie Sobbart's Henshaw Challenge (http://www.henshaw-challenge.com/dnn/Aircraft/tabid/55/Default.aspx)

[topoverhaul]

Not going to be easy to beat, to be fair to Alex I hope he is going sans GPS and Autopilot

[Michael Birbeck]

As a South African I feel honour bound to come down to support this effort.

Voorspoed man. :ok:

Is there a planned reception at Southend at +- 05:00 hrs on the 09th May?

[skua]

good effort. But I seem to recall that Henshaw used Gravesend, so why does Chalkie not use my home base Rochester instead? It is nearer to Gravesend and a lot cheaper. I guess it may be because he wants the comfort of an instrument procedure. On the other hand he would not be allowed officially to fly IFR in the UK in homebuilt would he?


good luck to him.

[MichaelJP59]

Fascinating, was looking at the Mew Gull in the hangar at Breighton recently and was wondering how he managed to navigate then land the thing at the sort of strips mentioned in the book - no forward vision and not much to the sides either! Time and again he is unsure of his position having dead-reckoned his position over hundreds of miles with no fixes, then manages to spot a strip at night or in fog in the middle of nowhere.

Glad to see someone attempting the record but with modern avionics it will be so much easier. Still a challenge but takes nothing away from Alex Henshaw's feat.

[Mark 1]

On the other hand he would not be allowed officially to fly IFR in the UK in homebuilt would he?

As I understand it, the day/VFR restrictions in AWN52 can be exempted for flights like these. The organisation nightmare must be obtaining permissions and exemptions for every state that you fly through.

I wonder what the legalities of sleeping while on autopilot are?

Good luck to him

[silverknapper]

Whilst this is no mean feat, one can't help but agree with topoverhaul. The real challenge in the original record would be navigation and flying the aircraft. I can't help but think that most people could do this with the right equipment.

[MichaelJP59]

So today's the day - anyone know if it's going ahead, presumably the attempt needs a reasonable weather forecast?

Thinking about that, where would you even go for forecasts along that route?

[Rod1]

You can watch the fun live at;

Follow Chalkie Live ! (http://www.henshaw-challenge.com/dnn/FollowFlight/tabid/62/Default.aspx)

Rod1

[MichaelJP59]

Looking at the site I hadn't heard of an Osprey GP4 and it doesn't seem to appear on the LAA list - any reason why not? Is it relatively rare?

[Rod1]

The Osprey GP4 is not LAA approved and it is plans build which are much less popular than a kit.

Rod1

[hum]

Looks like not such an early start to welcome Chalkie on Sat...

Good luck!!:ok:

[4HolerPoler]

Chalkie Stobbard, got airborne from Cape Town last night in an effort to break the single engine (200hp or less) record from Cape Town to London & return that has stood since February 1939 -

Follow his progress here. (http://www.henshaw-challenge.com)

To date, the fact that no successful attempt at the record has been made, attests to the magnitude of the feat, which was accomplished by the late Alex Henshaw all those years ago, in February of 1939.

His route and schedule:

Cape Town to Brazzaville (Congo) to Kano (Nigeria) to Algiers (Algeria) to Southend (London, UK)

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.

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

Now in my book this is news - can we please keep it as news (and not Where is He Now?) until he sets the record?

[BackPacker]

Looks like he took of from SA three hours later than planned. First leg 15 minutes faster than planned, but the fuel stop in Brazzaville took two hours instead of one.

All based on the Google maps data of course.

[rans6andrew]

there has been no indicated movement, on the live tracking website, for over 2 hours now. I hope there isn't a serious problem. it may be as simple as forgetting to switch the tracker hardware back on after refuelling.

Track Aircraft (http://www.followchalkie.co.za/index.php)

Fingers crossed!

[Agaricus bisporus]

One has to wonder what the Flight Safety Executives of the various CAAs en route think of this kind of semi-comatose flying in deepest sleep-deprivation...

Presumably to qualify in a moral sense he has no electronic nav-aids or autopilot either? That would be like "breaking" Burt Munro's record at Daytona on a turbocharged Honda. You might have bought the record, but you wouldn't have broken it. Not really.

All the same, good luck to him. He'll be needing it!

[Flying Lawyer]

Take-off last night was delayed due fog.

I hope it doesn't have any repercussions for him later but, for those of us intending to be at Southend for his arrival, it does mean not having to get up in time to be there by 05:00Z!

You can monitor his progress 'live' from his GPS data here -

Follow Chalkie Live! (http://www.henshaw-challenge.com/dnn/FollowFlight/tabid/62/Default.aspx)


FL

[Katamarino]

Does anybody else think this looks like a fantastic trip...would be good to do a slightly more sedate version!

FOllowing him on the satellite picture...looks like good weather where he is :p

[Desert Diner]

Interesting comparison between the two planes.

http://http://www.henshaw-challenge.com/dnn/Aircraft/tabid/55/Default.aspx

[david viewing]

What's the latest estimate for Southend and is there any restriction on people flying in there to witness the event? Thanks

[brockenspectre]

Thanks 4holerpoler for this info!

I have now bookmarked the Track the Flight page and see that it updated just a few minutes ago.

What a fabulous adventure! I do hope that there is a camera on board and that some TV company is following this story :) It would make excellent viewing on the Beeb or Discovery Channel!

This is a true aviation story. Would love to shake Charlie Stobbard's hand... adventurers like him are thin on the ground in this prissy 21st century most of us live in!! :ok:

Have the BBC/ITV/Brit news media been warmed up so that they can at least cover the arrival in Southend?

[BOAC]

http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/372404-henshaw-cape-records-challenge.html (with pics)
and
http://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/373204-world-record-attempt-fact-egmc-fact-single-piston.html

[panjandrum]

There is no restriction on flying in to Southend, (just need PPR before 0800 local), but it looks like he won't be landing until after then.

[Katamarino]

Uhoh, the latest satellite track doesn't look good...he's turned nearly 180 degrees and is heading almost due south (although still making full speed)

[DingerX]

Looks like a bug in the tracking software bounced him off the equator.

edit: they fixed it now.

[BackPacker]

He altered his track about 15 minutes ago and is now flying almost due south. Diverting perhaps?

It would be great if there were some kind of blog/twitter thing on his site so we could see not just what's happening, but also why.

[Rodent1982]

I'm fairly sure he's too busy flying the plane to update his twitter or blog ;)

[beatnik]

Does anyone know why he spent an hour longer than expected at Brazzaville? He's about an hour behind Henshaw at the moment, and still heading south.

As Backpacker says - pity no real time blog from his ground crews (or himself - after all - he's probably on autopilot)

Edited to say: he appears to be headed north again - I think it was a GPS/software glitch as he passed over the equator.

[sleemanj]

Seems to have be on track now? Must have been a reporting glitch or something.

[Rodent1982]

Seems to have been a glitch. He is heading north now, and the historic tracks of him going due south are gone :bored:

[BackPacker]

Haha. The data has just been updated and he's now flying north again according to the data. He never flew south but crossed the equator so his position flipped from S to N of the equator. But I guess there is a script somewhere which was never tested for that.

Must be an alert ground crew. Took 'em about 15 minutes to fix.:D

[Katamarino]

Hurrah! :)

[GULF69]

they were delayed out of Cape Town last night / this morning by just over 3 hours due to fog

[MichaelJP59]

Perhaps someone could give Brazzaville a call on +242 820996 and find out how it's going, I would, but my French is terrible:)

Maya Maya Airport (http://www.azworldairports.com/airports/a1400bvz.cfm)

- Michael

[HarryMann]

Corrected link:

Interesting comparison between the two planes.

Aircraft comparison (http://www.henshaw-challenge.com/dnn/Aircraft/tabid/55/Default.aspx)


One major difference not noted specifically is the oil capacity... modern engines burn a lot less oil! 8 litres Vs 23 litres

[It flies]

Does anyone know what the Ghost plane (indicated by a white H on the map to the left of the track) is supposed to show?

[GK430]

From colleagues who are now en route to EGMC in the other Cape Challenger, I believe the white 'H' is a direct comparison to where G-AEXF was after the same elapsed time on his Cape - LON return journey.

(How this is worked out remains a mystery - computed perhaps)

[brockenspectre]

I emailed a link to 4holerpoler's PPRuNe thread (I wasn't aware of this one :uhoh: ) to the "admin" email address for the flight... and they obviously read the thread as well as my email because this is the reply I just got:

Thank you.

I will have to register to reply, the reason there was no movement is that the airport was closed as the President was flying out.

This would not have happened if he wasn’t delayed out of CT 3 hours due to the weather.

Take care


Is the challenge based on chock-to-chock times, d'you know?

Flying Lawyer - due Parkinson's I can't get to Southend (I am mostly housebound these days as you probably recall) but do please shake Chalkie Stobbart's hand for me... and... I hesitate to ask, but would you be able to get his autograph for me?

[BEagle]

Does anyone know what the Ghost plane (indicated by a white H on the map to the left of the track) is supposed to show?

Click on it and all will be revealed.......

[GK430]

The President was flying out

Africa hasn't changed much :ugh:

[It flies]

GK430 & BEagle: thanks for that. It is indeed the calculated position from Henshaw's flight if they had both started at the same time. Henshaw flew from Libreville to Gao which places him west of Stobbarts track.

[beatnik]

I believe (one of the 3) records is total time - so take off CPT to landing EGMC. So it looks like the presidential problem at Brazzaville is going to cost him some time.

[vanHorck]

Landed at Kano safely it seems 1700 Zulu

[GK430]

Whilst I congratulate anyone who flies this route either Northbound, Southbound or accomplishes the round route solo in a 200 H.P. single engined piston, I cannot see how flying the reverse of what A.H. achieved actually competes with his record.
I have no conception of the advantages/disadvantages of the winds, however if you circumnavigate Planet Earth Westbound (either by air or by sea), it is a different challenge and record to those going Eastbound.

To my mind, Chalkie's will be a new record in its own right.

[vanHorck]

Perhaps he lives in South Africa and would like to keep his plane there after his exploit?

Does anyone know how long he is planned to stay on the ground at Kano?

Stretch legs, refuel, file flight plan?

[Feathers McGraw]

van

According to the plan, refuelling is supposed to be completed and departure from Kano in 1 hour from the landing time. But that didn't happen at Brazzaville.

Much as I will be impressed by Chalkie's achievement if he manages to reduce Alex's time, having read "The Flight of the Mew Gull" many times I still take my hat off to the extraordinary pilot and adventurer that was Alex Henshaw. How much I should have liked to talk to him and Jeffrey Quill when they were together at Duxford before Jeffrey's death, but of course no chance ever again now.

[vanHorck]

message on the website about the sat signal being intermittent but that the pilot is fine. No word yet however as to his departure from Kano...

[brockenspectre]

Rats! The update comment is now saying Chalkie is stuck on the ground at Kano waiting for fuel grrrrrrrrr

[BackPacker]

Looks like he got back in the air at 19.20Z. That's a 2:20 hour fuel stop. The first one was 2:00. Looks like a one-hour turn-around is a bit optimistic in Africa. His flight time estimates are dead-on so far, though.

For those going to welcome him at Southend, don't get up too early. He's almost five hours behind his original schedule. But three hours of those are delay incurred before he started, so with regards to the record, he's only two hours late.

[GK430]

It's been such a busy day in Kano.
They must have been run ragged. Just surprised that Chalkie did not position someone in these neanderthal parts of the world with some Avgas and a pump.....or some $$'s

Arrival Term
Origin Flight Carrier Scheduled Actual Gate Status Equip.
ABV Abuja B3 200 Bellview Airlines 9:45 AM Scheduled
737
ABV Abuja B3 203 Bellview Airlines 9:45 AM Scheduled
737
LOS Lagos W3 401 Arik Air 2:05 PM Scheduled
73W
ABV Abuja VK 49 Virgin Nigeria 7:50 PM Scheduled
733

[Flying Lawyer]

For comparison

Alex Henshaw's Route & Times
Airborne time (h:m) - Statute Miles - Average Speed (mph)

Gravesend-Oran 6:30 - 1236 - 190.15
Oran-Gao 6:15 - 1367 - 218.72
Gao-Libreville 6:15 - 1325 - 212.00
Libreville-Mossamedes 5:15 - 1094 - 208.38
Mossamedes-Cape Town 6:13 - 1355 - 217.96
Total Elapsed Time: 39 hrs 23 mins Statute Miles: 6377Average Speed: 209.44 mphCape Town-Mossamedes 6:45 - 1355 - 200.74
Mossamedes-Libreville 5:15 - 1094 - 208.38
Libreville-Gao 6:15 - 1325 - 212.00
Gao-Oran 6:45 - 1367 - 200.40
Oran-Gravesend 5.51 - 1236 - 211.28
Total Elapsed Time: 39 hrs 36 minsStatute Miles: 6377Average Speed: 206.40 mph

[Red Four]

So based on 1920 from Kano and the flight timings, I make that 1010z at Southend with 1 hour stop at Algiers, or slightly earlier if it takes less than an hour at Algiers or makes better time than predicted??

[Katamarino]

Tempted to pop over from Rotterdam in the 172 and meet him...anyone interested?

He'll probably be asleep though! :p

[vanHorck]

There seems to be some issue with the data transfer (intermittent). I mailed to Tim and this was his answer:

The snag is that without the data we don't know where he is.

If we lose tracking data then we phone him every so often to find out where
he is and we manually enter the coords on the tracking page to update the
tracking info.

Right now (18h45 GMT) he is still on the ground at Kano but should take off
any minute.

Tim

[Woof etc]

Whilst I congratulate anyone who flies this route either Northbound, Southbound or accomplishes the round route solo in a 200 H.P. single engined piston, I cannot see how flying the reverse of what A.H. achieved actually competes with his record.
I have no conception of the advantages/disadvantages of the winds, however if you circumnavigate Planet Earth Westbound (either by air or by sea), it is a different challenge and record to those going Eastbound.

Its a round trip journey consisting of two legs: Cape Town / London and London/Cape Town.

It's irrelevant which leg he flies first since he is flying the same legs - any advantage will cancel out on the return.

I think you missing the point! It's a different plane, different pilot, different airspace, countries, different navigation systems communications etc. The spirit of adventure is the same.

[Tiger Bob]

Chalkie is well ahead of Henshaw. In Algeria. I understand he will be trying to get an hour or so's sleep before the next leg to London
Track Aircraft (http://www.followchalkie.co.za/)

[Flying Lawyer]

0404Z

Chalkie is safely on the ground in Algiers having a quick power nap.
He will then refuel and take off again within about 90 minutes.

His estimate for Algiers - Southend was 5hrs 15 mins.


brokenspectre

Will do. :ok:


FL

[Katamarino]

That should mean he's taking off about now, I guess? Any idea on a Southend ETA? We've got the plane ready to come over from R'Dam!

Anyone got any contact details for his Southend team, or anyone else going to visit? Would be nice to meet up with someone so we can be sure of seeing things!

[Flying Lawyer]

Katamarino

His estimate for Algiers - Southend was 5hrs 15 mins.

He'll arrive at the main apron.

My friends and I are meeting at the passenger terminal.

[Katamarino]

Sounds good FL! Mind if I PM you our contact number (and maybe get yours?) so we can be sure of meeting up? Or will it be very obvious indeed where everything is going on...? :)

[Flying Lawyer]

I think it will be very obvious where everything is going on. ;)

But, just in case .....

There's a recent photograph of Chalkie in post #44 of this thread about Alex Henshaw's Cape Flights and the 70th Anniversary Dinner the Guild of Air Pilots organised in Cape Town in February >> http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/265662-alex-henshaw-rip-2.html#post4789504

Although I suspect he'll be in a flying suit rather then a DJ!

FL

[Katamarino]

Great :D

I just hope he arrives before we have to leave to get back, now... :p

[vanHorck]

latest update from the webmaster:


I am able to update the website directly.

We had about four days to put together a system that we would normally have allowed a couple of months to develop and test.

As I type this our web developer is adding a message box to the web page where it will be easier for me to add comments more often and this will hopefully help a bit.

Regards,

Tim

This should mean we will be getting a bit of additional written information from time to time as they get it, will be great!

[aviate1138]

Somebody wake Charlie up! He hasn't moved for some time, or is the tracker U/S?

[Tiger Bob]

On his way again:ok:

[brockenspectre]

This is the latest on the website:

]2009-05-09 08:47:39 GMT
43° 13′ 6″ N 2° 29′ 12″ E
189 knots, 350 km/h
Chalkie is currently in or over: France

:ok:

[GK430]

2009-05-09 08h26 GMT
Chalkie's now over land again, flying along the east coast of France and looking good.

Hmm, let's hope Z-LC is navigating better than whoever is updating
'Follow Chalkie Live'

France's eastern coast :D

[TimJNB]

Hello all,

By way of an intro, I am the Tim who was referred to in an earlier post in this thread, who is responsible for the live tracking website Track Aircraft (http://www.followchalkie.co.za).

My wife is one of those nauseatingly brilliant people who does magic with software, especially software related to Internet/Web applications.

Just a week ago we learned of the Henshaw Challenge. We knew nothing of it prior to that.

I heard Chalkie being interviewed on a local radio station in Johannesburg and when he was asked if people could follow his adventure on the Internet he said that while there is a website for the Henshaw-Challenge, there is no tracking facility.

Chalkie explained to the radio presenter that he and his team had tried to find someone who could make it happen but had luck in that department.

I was astonished that this adventure was about to be undertaken in a way that was almost hidden from the world and decided that something had to be done about it.

Having had some experience with tracking systems, and knowing that my wife, Julia, would be able to work her magic on the Internet side of things I twisted her arm and we agreed we'd find Chalkie's contact info and ask him if he'd like us to do it. (Purely for the fun of it, no money involved.)

A couple of hours after his radio interview I was on the phone with Chalkie and he loved the idea.

Over the last week my wife and I have been working flat out to make it all work and we keep tweaking it and adding bits to the website to improve it.

Although it's Chalkie up there in his tiny plane we feel very much a part of the adventure and have had very little sleep this past week.

Chalkie would be overjoyed if there was a welcoming committee for him at Southend.

Please tell him how you came to know about it and that you've been following the live tracking.

Tim

[TimJNB]

GK430 said: "Hmm, let's hope Z-LC is navigating better than whoever is updating
'Follow Chalkie Live'

France's eastern coast :D"

:p

Sorry about that. Not much sleep has happened here in the last week.

Tim

[vanHorck]

Welcome to the forum Tim !

I think considering the amount of time you re doing a brilliant job!

I used 2 tabs on a (safari) browser where I keep both the live track and this thread open all the time.

The scroll box is a big improvement.

Perhaps for the return leg you can get agreement from the pilot to post more info in the scroll box as and when it comes available. Things I am thinking about are:
weather updates en route (you may be able to link to an aviation weather site for it
Pilot state as and when he reports in (tiredness etc)
updates on ETA for the next fuel stop
State of the plane and engine

Finally unless your wife has collapsed would it not be great to have a tab on the website where people (who have registered) can post their comments directly, or failing that make a link on the live route page to this thread so that people can also read what is being posted here?

Regards from Tulip country!

BvH

[vanHorck]

Houston, the Eagle has landed!

[Cirrostratuss]

Fantastic achievement! Looking forward to following the trip back to Cape Town!

Please post photos from Southend!!

-Finn

[BEagle]

Bloody marvellous!

Tudor, me old, please pass on my congrats as well!

TimJNB, thank you and your good lady SO much for such an excellent live tracking website.

[TimJNB]

Thanks vanHorck, we appreciate the pat on the back.

Chalkie's plan is to be on the ground at Southend for twelve hours, sleeping for ten of those, before he sets out on the return journey.

This gives us a bit of breathing room and we'll see what extras we can implement on the website.

Talking to him while he's flying has proven quite challenging so far.

I can't talk to him right now because he's surrounded by people and is rather busy but, hopefully, I can talk to him some time in the next hour or two and will discuss the possibility of more regular calls to him on his satellite phone while he's flying and, if that's doable, then I'll certainly be posting more updates with info directly from him.

Tim

[vanHorck]

Tim

We can all be proud of the pilot and he can be proud of you and your wife!

So now the plan is for you to get some sleep, your wife to carry on and then she can sleep once he s back in the air and the updated site works! Hihihihi!

If all fails just post your info here and add a link to this thread on your live tracking page

[GK430]

Great Job done Tim JNB :D

I hope MQ's abilities are not going to be too stretched when he looks under the canopy at EGMC. Hopefuly just an oil change when it all cools down?

[brockenspectre]

I have been flipping News channels but haven't seen any mention of this at all... really don't understand why the media haven't picked this up! Have to admit I had been hoping to catch something of it "live"!!

Congratulations to Chalkie and his support team back in S Africa - I do hope the Immigration and Customs officials at Southend weren't too jobsworth with the arrival in UK - with Flying Lawyer at hand I am sure it all went smoothly!!

Well done TimJNB and to your wife for an excellent tracking site - I would never have guessed that you had so little time to get things up and running.

For those at Southend, here's hoping your cameras take lots of pics!!!

:ok:

[Humaround]

Why is AH's Ghost in Northern France SE of Caen?

So Manuel's doing the oil change is he? Chalkie can rest easy...

[Rodent1982]

Do we have any idea about times as yet? Has he beaten the sa -> uk leg record?

If I didn't have the wife's gran visiting I would have loved to join the welcoming commitee :*

[Woof etc]

Some photos here:

AvCom • View topic - Record Flight Cape-London-Cape ZU-CLC (http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=44462&start=405)

[Katamarino]

Well, we flew over to Rotterdam to see him arrive, and it was fantastic! What an achievement! It was tremendously exciting to see the plane, and realise that just a few hours before it was all the way down in Cape Town. Didn't identify any forumites, but met a lot of great people nonetheless!

All the best Charlie, for your return leg - I sincerely hope to meet you again some day!

[Fly-by-Wife]

Woof, nice photos, but he's been disqualified from record attempt because of no hi-viz jacket! :p

FBW

[ASD]

Congratz Tim (and your wife) on a great site which makes this whole experience that much more exciting as we track Chalkies position...

Glad to see he arrived safely in UK, may he get some good sleep and best of luck for the return journey.

Now if only I could track my UPS parcel like that!

See ya back in CT!

[Pirate412]

Was great to see Chalkie arrive safely, and he was met by an army of very visible enthusiasts! ZU-CLC went in for some TLC (a wash, new oil, new plugs, new filter, and fixing a comms issue) and then to fill that b-e-e-e-g ferrytank with blue go-go-juice for the return flight.

Go Chalkie, proud day for us South Africans :D:D

Katamarino, was good to meet you, and glad to hear you made it safely back to NL :ok:

Blue skies

:- P

[Tiger Bob]

By my calculation Chalkie has probably broken the record (one way) but I do not have accurate times and distances, nor does the FAI have the speed for the CT-Lon leg.

The FAI Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) - Aviation and Space World Records (http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=c&id=5874) has the speed for London-Cape Town as 244.88km/h and the round trip London-CT-London as 243.74km/h

The rough distance is 9671km and the approx time for Chalkie was 36hrs 35 min giving a speed of 264km/h

Does anyone have the actual take off and landing times.

Chalkie was carrying a FAI approved GPS logger so we will have accurate times when the track is downloaded.

[Flying Lawyer]

Chalkie touched down at 1139Z - breaking the record from Cape Town.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000961a900.jpg
Taxiing in


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000962a900.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000966a900.jpg
With Dennis Parker, head of Chalkie's UK team


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000968a900.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/Chalkie_wave900a.jpg
Acknowledging the cheers


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000971a900.jpg
Welcomed by Alex Henshaw Jnr


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/Chalkie_HenshawJnr.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000986a900.jpg
Welcomed by Air Cdre Rick Peacock-Edwards on behalf of Guild of Air Pilots


BTW .....

I asked Alex Henshaw Jnr what he thought of the view of some that his father's records should have been allowed to stand, or that breaking them in a modern aircraft with modern avionics doesn't really count .........

"I disagree. I'm pleased pilots are trying to break my father's records, and I believe my father would be. He knew his records would be broken one day. It's easier in some ways now but more difficult in others, and it's still an enormous feat for a solo pilot in a single engine aircraft.

I think it's good that Chalkie has limited himself to 200 hp but, apart from that, you can't recreate how things were 70 years ago. I don't think breaking the records in a modern aircraft in any way diminishes what my father achieved in 1939. That still stands. This is different. It just reflects how aviation has progressed since then.

I'm pleased Chalkie's efforts are drawing attention again to what my father achieved. It had been forgotten, which is understandable. Many people weren't born when he did it; I wasn't myself.

I think it will boost people's interest in General Aviation, and hope it will encourage other pilots to try."


I left Chalkie heading off for a sleep - saying he he didn't feel tired. I suspect that changed the moment his head hit the pillow!
Provided a comms problem is fixed, he will set off for Cape Town at 0000Z


FL

[brockenspectre]

Fab pics!!! Flying Lawyer, thank you :) The quote from Henshaw junior would make a useful intro to the book don't you think?

Thank you also to Woof for the link to the Avcom website :ok:

I was keeping an eye on the wx, from home and on various met websites, and couldn't believe just how pleasantly the UK welcomed Chalkie - considering the fairly 'orrible windy stuff that's happening further north!!

Hope C has managed some good quality sleep and that his return flight is un-marred by Presidential matters and delays in refuelling :ok:

[treadigraph]

Well done Chalkie and best wishes for the return leg!

[ANW]

Tim,

Well done on your tracking web site - makes all the difference to following events as they unfold.

Is there anyway you can add a 'height' read-out to the data?

[Horace Blok]

FL and all fellow Brit aviators,

As a Sefrican - I want you guys across the waters to know that I acknowledge the graciousness/humility of Mr Henshaw Jnr in the quoted text. I give you a huge 11/10 Sir.

Yes we all know the world has moved on and we are attempting record breaking feats with newer technologies and with that many will argue it is almost unfair. The fact that this record has stood since 1939 is testimony to the amazing grit and "balls" Alex Henshaw had.

However, this record (as I type)is still being challenged - the show isn't over until the fat ladie sings . . . . . Go for it Chalkboy!

[vanHorck]

Good morning all and especially Tim!

Well done for increasing the amount of info on the flight!

Like a good wine, this challenge improves as time goes by!

[Flying Lawyer]

Horace Blok

Thank you. I was interested to know what Alex Henshaw's son thought. Absolutely right, IMHO.

Chalkie's attempt on the records will also help strengthen links between aviators in the UK and SA, which is another very good thing. :ok:


Just a quick question -

Are you the same Horace Blok who was navigator of Pelican 16 which force landed in the Western Sahara at night en route Cape Town-UK?
(I know Derrick Page. He helped the Guild of Air Pilots (http://www.gapan.org) organise the Henshaw Commemorative Dinner in Cape Town in February.)


Tudor Owen

[buckaneer]

That's our Horace:ok::D:D:D

[vanHorck]

Warnings of CB's en route, stormscope U/S still?

AvCom • View topic - Record Flight Cape-London-Cape ZU-CLC (http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=44462&start=525)

[Flying Lawyer]

Some stats .....

CAPE TOWN - SOUTHENDCT - Brazzaville
Flying time 09:53:13
Average speed 185kts
Top speed 223kts

Brazzaville - Kano
Flying time 05:35:00
Average speed 188kts
Top speed 213kts

Kano - Algiers
Flying time 08:38:31
Average speed 179kts
Top speed 218kts

Algiers - Southend
Flying time 06:12:38
Average speed 188kts
Top speed 225kts

SOUTHEND - CAPE TOWNSouthend - Algiers
Flying time 05:30:28
Average speed 170kts
Top speed 237 kts


.

[Horace Blok]

Hi Flying Lawyer - as Buckaneer says - :ok:

I thought of Chalkie when he crossed the Sahara - it is almost 15 years ago when we had our accident - but lets not digress - keep our eye on the ball - as I type Chalkie is almost in Kano.:D

[MichaelJP59]

Interesting data for the speeds etc. Anyone know what kind of altitude he cruises at for these African legs?

[Mr_Grubby]

Shocking that this event has recieved no media interest in the UK.

Nothing on TV News or the press that I've seen.

Terrible.

Clint.

[daikilo]

I admire Charlie for his attempt at beating a record; it is a recognised challenge that wiil be his, if he succeeds.

I am not sure that performing multiple sectors with landings and takeoffs after many hours with minimal or zero sleep is reasonable, with the knowledge we have today. But some humans have have qualities others do not have.

That said, I hope the UK media will recognise the result if Charlie beats the record.

[Feathers McGraw]

Did you expect any better?

I would be surprised if more than 0.1% of the population had ever heard of Alex Henshaw in the first place, so any mention of this challenge would leave most people scratching their heads and wondering what it was about. :ugh:

Now, talk to the crowd at a Shuttleworth display and the percentage of people there who would know ought to be much higher. :ok:

[Woof etc]

Then again when Ellen MacArthur sailed around the world she received saturation coverage in the UK press. I think it's pathetic that there's not a mention in the press about the Henshaw challenge, especially if you consider all the negative stuff in the press at the moment. It just makes me wonder how much other relevant news we miss when it ends up in the editors waste basket.

[vanHorck]

To be fair to the press, I think Chalky's efforts concentrated on the flight and hardly on the press.

The tracking by Tim only came about as a late entry and in fact they were still adapting the website past Kano!

On the SA website i ve just asked if there will be a live broadcast on internet of his arrival. There too is are complaints about the lack of press, the press releases of his arrival went out this morning at 6 local. So we ll have to wait and see.

It is a lesson to be learned for all who attempt such an odyssey, a missed opportunity. Richard Brandson did not suffer from this lack of press, it s all in the preparation.

That said, I can well imagine he concentrated on the sortie itself, plenty of work there too!

Landing is expected between 1430 and 1440 Zulu today. I will post links here if there is live internet TV of the arrival expected

[MichaelJP59]

As much as we're all interested - the proverbial man in the street wouldn't really understand why it would be such a challenge. Just take off, set the autopilot then land when you're running low on fuel.

It's only when you're a pilot familiar with the difficulties and dangers of single engined light aircraft flight in such territories that you can appreciate it.

Also I'd venture to say Ellen Macarthur really only arrived in the public domain due to her "from the heart" video diaries direct from her boat mid-challenge. With all due respect to Chalkie there's nothing equivalent here.

[vanHorck]

correct.

Some self recorded diary video's which were delivered to designated press at every refueling stop would have helped no end.

I am rather surprised sponsors like Breitling did not seize the opportunity....

[Tailspin2001]

I personally think that this thread should have remained in the ‘Rumours and News’ section. Chalkie might well be making history but it is still news.

[TAVLA]

If PPruNe see fit to relegate it to "history and nostalgia", how can we expect any news agencies to see differently? :(

[BEagle]

Seems it's the same old PPRuNe policy - 'R&N' posts are only for 'R&N' in the people-tube business........

Reporting Points that may affect our jobs or lives as professional pilots. Also, items that may be of interest to professional pilots.

Yup, so sorry, but news of this brave attempt on a 70 year old landmark aviation record is shunted off to obscurity so that the airline co-pilots can discuss beetles in pitot-static systems as the top new story on R&N.....:(

[vanHorck]

I too would have liked to have seen it in R&N or private flying and spoke to a mod about it twice but to be fair, the thread started here so they merged them here. I understand there was quite a bit of discussion between the mods but the relegationists won i guess...

I also noticed irritation with the mods as to comments it could better be moved to Private Flying, so i think there is little point in pushing the issue.

Perhaps once he s landed it will be possible to get a news thread with good pics in R&N or private flying. The AVCOM forum thread now is well above 40 pages and makes good reading.

[yvonne cawood]

It may be of interest to you the the builder of the plane is of Dutch decent: Tony van den Heuvel. What Chalkie has achieved is monumental, but Tony who built the plane in his garage at home needs some credit too!

[vanHorck]

Yvonne

Well done to Chalkie as well as Tony, goed gedaan, man!

Will the plane be sold off by auction after the event? Or will Tony attempt something similar?

[yvonne cawood]

de vliegtuig blijft Tony se eigendom. He builds and flies the planes as a hobby. This is his third plane.

[PPRuNe Pop]

It was decided that it should be in AH&N with references in both R&N and PF.

[BackPacker]

Pop, would it be possible to make the references in R&N and PF a "sticky" for the next 24 hours or so, so that this thread is easier to find from there? Since the references are now locked, they get bumped down rather quickly.

[MichaelJP59]

de vliegtuig blijft Tony se eigendom. He builds and flies the planes as a hobby. This is his third plane.

Must admit, I love that aircraft, both for looks and performance - and entirely plans built! Any details or photos on the build you know of?

[vanHorck]

Latest ETA 14.24 ZULU (16.24 local, 15,24 UK)

[PPRuNe Pop]

I'll put this one up as a sticky for 24hrs or so.

That OK?

PPP

[yvonne cawood]

Very proud of my brother!! and chalkie
I am sure there are many photographs, you can contact him on [email protected]

[ZUCZZ]

Hi Folks,

So on my first mail here goes ... My name is Chris and I built a Cozy Mk IV, callsign ZUCZZ ... so, FWIW.

Chalkie Stobbart, Tony van den Heuvel, Mike Davis and the many other helpers are mostly EAA Members of Chapter 322 (Midrand Johannesburg) or RV builders.

Tony van den Heuvel is an incredible Amateur Homebuilder.
When we met Tony he had completed an Avid (or was that Kitfox)

Then an exquisite KR2

Then a VP1, equally spectacular (At the same time helping the late Martin Clarke build an RV4) He still keeps the VP1 at FASY (Baragwanath) and flies it occasionally, looking like the "Lego-man" when he does.

The GP4 is his latest creation and you simply have to stand in awe at the quality of this plane. visiting his home workshop will show you a few "perfect" parts, which he decided were simply not "perfect" enough.

Of course, Tony is ALWAYS busy and is currently restoring a SAAB.

Mike Davis, a mate of note and highly experienced pilot, trained by the SAAF and has many other ratings and experience in both types and hours.
Together with Tony they spent many (read MANY) hours finetuning, tweaking, planning and redoing stuff in the hangar at Baragwanath
(this is not the same as the legendary BaraG. Yes, it;s the same club & moved old hangars, but a different location. Home of the JLPC, oldest active flying club in RSA)

Chalkie Stobbart, part of the inner circle in our aviation environment.

These three (and the many that support them) are the friendliest, most helpfull fellers a person can find. Ever helping others, never mind how busy they ore on their own project.

Now, if I could work out how to attach photos ...

[buckaneer]

And so you should be Yvonne:ok: So are all of us:D:D:D

[vanHorck]

ZUCZZ

You need to post your pics on the web somewhere, there are free places for that, use google, and then just copy paste the link to those pics here

Well done to all, current speed 214 knots so he may even beat the latest estimate of 14:24 Zulu if he gets a straight in!

Latest info 14:17 ZULU , 20 minutes from now!

[vanHorck]

Landed!

Unofficial

Henshaw Flight: 04 D, 10 H, 14 M - Chalkie Flight: 03 D, 15 H, 17 M, 01 S

what a fab team effort, congratulations to all!!!!!!

[DingerX]

Congratulations to Chalkie and his crew.

[Tiger Bob]

:ok::ok::ok::ok:
What an enthralling 31/2 days
Congratulations Captain Chalkie - you have re-written the history book

[skua]

according to the website, he has now landed. Hero.

[Captain Airclues]

Many congratulation. I have spent many hours watching his progress on the website. The world needs more positive stories like this.

Dave

[4HolerPoler]

Great achievement! Sadly didn't crack the nod as newsworthy on either this website or with any of the major news networks. Serves to accentuate the import of what Mr. Henshaw did so many years ago.

Well done Chalkie!

[panjandrum]

Well done Chalkie! :ok::)
from all at London Southend Airport ATC (EGMC).

[BB954]

Congratulations to Chalkie and Team. Very well done. Now at last I can get some sleep having been up most of last night watching progress!!!:ok::ok::ok:

[BEagle]

Fantastic result - very well done, Chalkie!

A really outstanding effort - I hope you enjoyed your epic flight!!

[Loki]

Story goes that as he vacated the runway, the tower controller asked him what he was going to do next weekend.

[yakker]

Well done Chalkie. Congratulations to you and the team.

I wonder if Steve Noujaim is now re-planning his attempt as the record has been reduced by 19 hrs.

[Feathers McGraw]

What an astonishing few days, and what an amazing result. Naturally we have not heard much about the undoubted trials and tribulations that will have occurred, but Chalkie and his support team seem to have made it look easy. :ok:

I never expected to see this record beaten in my lifetime, but clearly that was because I didn't think that anyone was really planning to do it more than it being impossible.

What a superb endeavour all round! I do hope that some mainstream press attention is forthcoming.:D

[S'land]

Heartiest congratulations to Chalkie and the team that achieved this incredible result. It took an adventurous pilot to set the record all those years ago and another one to break the record. It just goes to show that not everyone wants to sit in front of the goggle box and watch big brother.

[rpe]

My congratulations to Chalkie and his team, a fantastic achievement. How is the numb bum.

[Mr_Grubby]

Brill Chalkie.

Well done !!!!

Clint.
:ok::ok::ok:

[farmpilot]

Was great to be there and watch him land and taxi in! Did love tower's comment of "so what you doing next weekend?"!

[ZUCZZ]

health & safety riddled nanny world there are still intrepid aviators

Ahem, My Cozy hold the altitude record in the RSA at 28197' :)

and thanks for the tip ... we're celebrating with all & sundry that can hold a glass :) later, much later for the photos :)

[Heliport]

Well done Chalkie Stobbart! :ok:

Great to see that even in this health & safety riddled nanny world there are still intrepid aviators prepared to try to break records. :ok:


ZUCZZ Now, if I could work out how to attach photos ...

Try www.photobucket.com (http://www.photobucket.com/)
It's the picture hosting site most Pruners use.

It's free, reliable, easy to use and, best of all, allows you to include the pictures in your posts - unlike some picture hosting sites which only allow a link.

Also, you can post bigger pictures because they aren't surrounded by blurb about the host site.

All the pics on this thread so far are hosted by Photobucket.


farmpilot

Rumour has it that you're SA's top aerial filming photographer.
Did you get any stills you can post?

[treadigraph]

Great stuff Chalkie, well done! :ok:

Cheers

Treadders

[farmpilot]

Heliport, who's been talking out of turn!!!!!

I may have done a bit of filming in my time.......

Unfortunately I had just landed from Namibia where I was shooting and ran round to the GA area to see Chalkie, so no photos. There were two news crews there, one SABC and E News and plenty of 'real' photographers!

[brockenspectre]

I followed Chalkie's progress home on the Track Flight site and on the Avcom forum and then caught the radio interview... so apologies for my belated "Congratulations" on PPRuNe :ok:

What an utterly superb piece of aviating :)

[wasp229b]

I was pleased to see Chalkie at Southend. I was even more pleased to hear that he arrived home safely.

Congratulations to Chalkie and the team for a great achievement.

You have to do epic things to have epic memories.

[Katamarino]

Congrats Chalkie! It was an honour to meet you at Southend and shake your hand.

And well done too to the entire team!

[Parrot]

Congrats to Chalkie:D:D:D
And congrats to Tony who built the plane and Mike who did all the testing and tweaking.
And a toast to Henshaw who set the bar so high it was not bettered for 70 years:D

[Flying Lawyer]

A wonderful achievement by an outstanding aviator - and a nice guy. :ok:


To those concerned that this thread was moved here from the Private Flying forum:

As the originator, I'm not concerned because there are re-directs in both PF and R&N (PPRuNe's 'flagship' forum) and, so far, there have been more than 8000 views of this thread.
Chalkie's progress, and ultimate success, have been seen by pilots and aviation enthusiasts all over the world.

Short clip of Chalkie being welcomed by his wife Maureen on arrival at Cape Town International this afternoon:
YouTube - Henshaw Challenge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdArDRqguYA)

Link to news item in the Cape Times this morning:
Cape Times (http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20090512052147394C901366)


FL

[BackPacker]

Now that the magnitude of his achievement is settling in, I am left wondering about the other contender to break this record, Steve Noujaim. He featured in an article in the latest Flyer and will attempt to break the record London-CT-London later this year in an RV-7.

From the article: "At this power setting, I'm a little slower than the Mew Gull, but I can fly nearly 1000nm further, meaning I can only shave about an hour off the flight time, so it's a proper race."

So if Steves planning allows him to shave one hour off the 1939 world record time, and Chalkie shaved (well, cut actually) some 19 hours off the world record time yesterday, where does that leave Steve? Is he still going? Revising his plans?

The Cape Challenge, flight record bid (http://www.capechallenge.com/)

[Stan Woolley]

Congratulations! Fantastic effort.

Puts the dreaded ' night Tenerife ' into perspective......

What an achievement by Alex Henshaw all those years ago.

[deltayankee]

Chalkie shaved (well, cut actually) some 19 hours off the world record time yesterday

Did somebody work out how much of this was saved on flight time and how much on the ground?

I am also with the people who found the tracking site very useful. For any activity that you can't watch directly the public needs a tracking site and, when possible, some sort of remote video coverage. Look at the progress made in major yacht races, cycling and so on. For anyone else contemplating a record challenge like this I would very strongly setting up a tracking service. If you can also fit some sort of webcam it would be even better.

[flyingfemme]

So if Steves planning allows him to shave one hour off the 1939 world record time, and Chalkie shaved (well, cut actually) some 19 hours off the world record time yesterday
Steve has much more fuel - he could do the route with only two fuel stops. Chalkie didn't actually cut down the flying time but had one less stop and shorter stops. His layover at Southend was also much, much shorter than Henshaw's in Cape Town. Most of the time was cut on the ground.

[japie]

I hope that Steve Noujaim will make a posting on this thread soon and answer some of the issues that have been raised. Chalkies flight has been exciting enough but we all look forward to seeing how Steve does in October. He will be about 15 knots slower but hopes to cut out at least one stop. The suggestion of a "web cam" in the aircraft and at the stops would be amazing.
Here is a link to s podcast recoding an interview with Chalkie after the flight.
http://www.pod702.co.za/podcast/bestofd ... osbest.mp3


Nice one Charles.:ok:

[TimJNB]

Wow! What a day yesterday was for us.

As explained in a previous post, I only heard of Chalkie's mission six days before he was due to leave and when I heard that he hadn't been able to find anyone to track the flight my wife and I decided to volunteer for the task.

It was an adventure for us trying to make something work in a few days that should have been "properly" done over a few months.

During the flight it became obvious to us from the media talking about the tracking site and from the data showing traffic to our server that there was a lot more interest than we had expected.

Actually I don't know what we expected, we just jumped right in without really thinking because we thought it would be fun to do it and because it would have been sacrilege for this flight to take place without people being able to follow it.

We got a phonecall yesterday morning from Dolph (a partner in the challenge) and Maureen (Chalkie's wife) inviting us to join them in Cape town to welcome Chalkie home.

We didn't need any convincing and tickets for a flight from JHB to CTN were arranged in double quick time.

I went to my daughter's school and kidnapped her. Molly (my daughter) burst into tears when I told her why I was fetching her. She was so excited that she was going to meet Chalkie after spending the last week surrounded by nothing but Chalkie stuff around the clock. At the time that she was called out of her class she had been telling her teacher and her class all about Chalkie and what he was busy doing and how her parents were involved.

We raced off to the airport and hoped that nothing went wrong because, even if everything went like clockwork, we would still only arrive in Cape Town with minutes to spare before Chalkie landed.

We landed at Cape Town and were immediately whisked away in a waiting car to the other side of the airport (didn’t realise how big the place actually is) to join the waiting crowd at the hangar where Chalkie would taxi to on landing.

We were immediately greeted and made to feel very important by Chalkie’s partners in the adventure and by his family. They hurriedly gave us special team shirts to put on and we were then allowed out onto the apron to wait for Chalkie, who landed just five minutes after we arrived. It was a VERY close call but our whole week has been like that.

Chalkie got out of his plane, hugged his wife and family and then walked a few paces to face a wall of media.

Among his first words: “Where’s Tim?”

Jules and I waved and shouted and he called us over, shook our hands and told everyone who we were and what we'd done.

We were so chuffed and felt quite humbled.

We were approached by one person after another thanking us for making it such a special event by allowing people to follow it.

Some people had had Chalkie parties where they’d invited friends to come over and watch Chalkie’s flight. Other’s showed us pictures on their cellphones of them and their families in their PJs in the middle of the night following the progress and reading my ongoing commentary. We’ve had emails from people all over the place thanking us.

It was just a totally amazing experience! Very hard to describe.

We feel incredibly privileged to have been involved.

I took some pics and got other folks to take some of us with my camera.



About three minutes after our arrival at the hangar, wearing our team shirts
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2215.JPG



Chalkie taxiing up to the hangar
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2209.JPG



Chalkie greets his family and partners in the adventure
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2217.JPG



"Where's Tim?"
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2218.JPG



Chalkie and our little Molly
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2222.JPG



Lots of media people
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2237.JPG



Meet the press
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2229.JPG



http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2226.JPG



Tim, Jules, Molly
http://md.co.za/web/IMG_2245.JPG



The Team (we're in there too - a real honour for us)
http://md.co.za/web/Clipboard01.jpg

[Vansman]

Hi all,
Many, many congratulations to my friend Chalkie, who will notice that I tie wrapped your plasma plug leads on at Southend and wrote you a small note on your oil filter!
I am so pleased that this flight has raised so much interest. The record in itself is a complex mix of many parts, comprising, logistics, stop strategy, aircraft performance, human performance, and many others.
If we refer to flight time Alex Henshaw’s time was 30 hours 28 minutes from London to Capetown averaging 209.44 mph or 182.12 ktas. Chalkie beat this (flight time) by 38 minutes taking 29 hours 50 minutes for the leg. Chalkie’s average speed 200.7 mph or 174.5 ktas
On the Capetown to London leg Henshaw took 30 hours 51 minutes flight time averaging 206.4 or 179.47 ktas. Chalkie beat the flight time by 1 hour 18 minutes taking 29 hours and 33 minutes. Chalkies average speed was 201.74 mph or 175 ktas.
The above figures show that the Mew Gull was faster than the Osprey but Henshaw flew approximately 342 miles further on his more Westerly track.
So in essence Chalkie flew a more efficient Great Circle route and he stopped less. Interestingly the Osprey was not as fast as anticipated at around 175 ktas average.
Based on the above London Capetown leg and assuming that Steve’s performance figures are correct, by flying the “Chalkie” route at an average of 170 ktas (slower yes) but stopping less (twice) and assuming 2 hour stops the RV7 should do it in 34 hours and 53 minutes or 30 hours 53 minutes flight time as opposed to 36 hours 16 minutes and 29 hours 50 minutes for Chalkie.
The RV7 G-IIXF is not 15 kts slower than the GP4 based on testing and the above figures.
Notwithstanding all the above, I think Chalkie has done a superb job and I look forward to flight following on the website in October. By my reckoning AH will zoom ahead followed by the GP4 but as the 2 lead aircraft pull up for fuel just keep an eye on the RV7 which with luck and no bureaucrats will slowly but surely edge in front. Arriving in Capetown 1 hour and 23 minutes ahead of Chalkie. Then sleep and repeat Northbound. All will have to run on rails, the weather will have to be fair and a myriad of events will have to take place before success is possible. One thing for sure if the bureaucrats let the British bird fly then it will be a race to watch and with today’s technology we can all do it together on the web.

[Chuck Notyeager]

Hi Steve / All,

Much has been said about 'Chalkie's flight,' most positive (aside from 'Digitalsound' on the African Aviation posting on Pprune, perhaps too much bass fused the two brain cells he had) :yuk:

ZU-CLC, an Osprey GP4 was designed to be neutrally stable to enhance performance and being built of wood with retractable gear, is 100kg heavier than an RV-7 and for this reason could only carry 378 liters of fuel plus survival equipment / legal docs / food etc. The main spar of the GP4 is stressed to +10 / -6 G at 2400 lbs; that is only the spar, the completed wing is stronger so perhaps this would explain the 100 kg more. The GP4 was cruised at 2380 rpm as it has a vibration node between 2400 and 2450, just the spot that would be the prefferred rpm and of course 2380 resulted in an economical fuel burn.

It has taken more than 70 years for a challenger to rise to the 'Henshaw Challenge' and finally the record has been broken. Times could have been better, but bureaucracy won on the day and I do wish Steve the best of British luck. Steve still has a fight ahead of him to convince the CAA / LAA that homebuilts should be allowed to fly IFR; after all, most homebuilts are better equipped for IFR than many Cessnas / Pipers et al. Now that a South African aircraft holds the record, perhaps this is the catylist needed for the British homebuilder's group to stand together and take on the CAA. Flying Lawyer, are you going to lead the way?

In South Africa we sure have more VFR days than the UK and we are allowed to register our aircraft for day / night IFR, provided the aircraft owner / pilot has an IF Rating. Flying IFR in Europe with a South African homebuilt is legal as CLC is registered in the RSA and approved for IFR and if the aircraft is deemed to be safe in the RSA, it is safe in the 'neighbour's airspace' too. In 2003 I flew my RV-6 IFR into the UK and when ATC requested "aircraft type" it was a pleasure to announce "Romeo Victor 6" which was followed by silence...

So if a South African or American homebuilt can fly IFR in Europe, why not a local aircraft?

When Steve attempts to better my record, I will be there to assist him and perhaps submit a flight plan to Madagascar...:):):)

Regards, Chalkie.

[brockenspectre]

I will be there to assist him and perhaps submit a flight plan to Madagascar

heheheh nice one, Chalkie - somehow that might not appear to be the most direct routing ... even to Brit eyes :E :E :E

How are you feeling? I read that you would recommend a better seat cushion?!!

[Gyro Nut]

I coudn't get that podcast link to open, so here's the full link for others that had the same problem: http://www.pod702.co.za/podcast/bestofdavid/20090511Dosbest.mp3

[frangatang]

Congrats and now try it, without autopilot and no GPS!

[flyingfemme]

I think he did quite a bit without autopilot......

[skua]

Congratulations Chalkie on a great achievement, and in being in the vanguard of bringing the capabililties of homebuilt/permit aircraft to the authorities' attention.

Skua

[Chuck Notyeager]

frangatang
Congrats and now try it, without autopilot and no GPS!

After you Sir...

[Chuck Notyeager]

The GP4 is fitted with an MGL EFIS and this has software to drive an autopilot that can be programmed in flight, in 'real time' with the autopilot active. The autopilot was a late addition and was tested and adjusted a few days before departure.

It worked OK in pitch at low weight and more fwd CG, but on the London flight at high gross weight and CG approaching the aft limit the autopilot could not handle pitch inputs. I did spend hours trying to find a happy point of control input; control authority and control lag but after having the autopilot try to eject me through the canopy more than once, I elected to tell the EFIS that a pitch servo was not fitted. This allowed me to use the roll channel as a wing-leveller. I do agree that this reduced my workload, but the aircraft had to be flown every single second till the ferry tank was empty as this allowed the CG to move forward a bit and I could then relax a bit.

Remember that the GP4 is designed to be neutrally stable and as the aircraft was designed for the Lycoming IO-360 (angle valve heads) and CLC has parallel valve cylinders, it actually has a more fwd CG than design
and we only went back to 34% MAC where the limit is 35% MAC, even at this CG, the aircraft had to be flown all the time. Any pitch disturbance had to be corrected, before it became exponential.

So I did fly many of the hours without an autopilot, and at times, simply to keep myself busy and awake. I also logged more actual IF time than I care to remember.

To the purists: there is only one Mew Gull in the word and I doubt it will fly to the Cape and back again in its life.

Regards, Chalkie.

[japie]

Chuck,
I found your experience with the pitch/stability problems very interesting. Would you care to share any other experiences/issues or anecdotes about the flight with us? How much help did you receive from A.T.C. with weather avoidance and direct routings? Any more detail on the problems encountered on the ground? What were the most difficult challenges to overcome?

[Chuck Notyeager]

Ja Nee Japie, :confused:

Just read my own posting again and what is not clear is the lighter engine pushed the CG back, but we moved the battery FWD to counteract this force and ended up with a less AFT CG for the design at light weights. Heavy with fuel, pilot and survival gear, pushed the CG aft, but not beyond limits.

ATC in Africa (RSA) gave direct routings, but the routes are close to direct at any rate. France gave direct routings and wished me "Bon Voyage" through Military airspace, but this only saved a few miles, if any.

Luanda demanded that I route over VNA, but to any / all who know this airspace, it is about the most congested and also the worst controlled airspace in Africa, so I elected to stick to my flight plan and route direct.

This made me a nervous boy, but prevented a long detour over Luanda.

Regards, Chalkie.