Are you impressed by Chalkie world record breaking attempt?

[digitalsoul]

I seriously think people are missing something important out here. How can you call this world record breaking? Seriously don't you think it would be better if this Chalkie fly the same aircraft that Alex Flew 70 years ago? Even so, airports has changed, gathering vital flying information is now more easy than before...for stick and rudder sake...spare me. I AM NOT IMPRESSED! The man has all the high tech equipment and he wants to challenge someone who flew blindly... It just doesn't make sense....he is a captain, i expected him to think better than this...No wonder he is not getting any media attention...even a PPL holder can safely get away with it without being noticed!
I think he just wanted to earn fame the easy way.... perhaps he is just on tour... because i see nothing so special about his flight....
WHAT IS YOU SAY?

[PhoenixDC]

If you are not impressed, there is no need display your nasty side.
May I suggest that you find yourself an original aircraft as used by Henshaw, or some other sub 200HP aircraft, and try it yourself.
Bear in mind that attempts on world speed records are being made almost daily on salt flats around the world, and they are being done using the latest technology.
It’s the name of the game, so don’t knock somebody who has got off his butt and made the attempt.

[digitalsoul]

You know what Chalkie is trying to do is like a racing competition between a person with no leg scrolling and a person with legs riding a motor bike! No credibility given from my side! What he is doing is just similar to an adventure of a PPL holder setting off to build hours towards a CPL in short time. C'mon man, think...please think...don't just argue! It's not about just speed and how long as it taken you to do it.... but it's about the originality of the subject...if so, then i think he should have not mentioned he want to break the record held by Alex...should be something different....why can't people be original...Maybe flying flapping his arms like a bird to London would have earned him respect! Try that next time Chalkie!

[B200Drvr]

Digitalsoul.
Almost every record that is broken, is broken with modern equipment, because most are not broken on the same day. Atlantic crossings by air and sea, races to the south pole, land speed records and millions more, even the 100 meter by H Bolt was broken with new technology, shoes.
Thats is progression, its the way life goes. I am sure alex used everything that was available to him at the time, so why should the same not be done today. Your argument is ignorant!!

[Half-Pint]

Did Sir Alex not actually challenge anyone to break his record? As far as I'm aware, it could be in any aeroplane with less than 200 or 195 hp (I can't remember the exact figure?).

Brave feat, especially bearing in mind that African diplomacy has (or rather hasn't) come a long way since then. And not to mention the weather...

Good luck Mr Chalkie, hope you do well!

HP

[TAVLA]

IGNORE DS. He is an underachieving troll!!!

[Gyro Nut]

I don't know what it is about PPRUNE. It seems to attract a horrible type of person that make comments like this poster, unlike some of the other forums, and yes this may be a big generalisation, but it seems true in my opinion.

I also get the feeling that a lot of PPRUNER's are not really passionate about flying, and prefer the politics it has to offer. :yuk::yuk::yuk:

[Lamyna Flo]

digitalsoul, I think your comments say far more about you than they do about Chalkie. You sound about 12. How sad. :rolleyes:

[cforty7]

With a name like 'digitalsoul' (which does not sound old school at all!!!), what can you expect.

It sounds like you have no idea what a flight like this involves or what it takes to do this.

Have you even tried to do a quarter or even 1 % of what captain Chalkie has with an aircraft that small?? From the way your message goes, it sounds like you don't even have the balls to do this in a piston on MS Flight Sim.

Secondly, you clearly have no respect for the people out there trying to live their dreams and others' out by defying gravity against the wealth of our worlds' worst odds.

Get yourself another username and try again. Your attitude sucks and it is people like you that makes mondays blue!!!!:yuk:

I don't know captain Chalkie, but I take my hat off for what he did! Well done Sir!

[ZUCZZ]

Ok, you got some attention ... now what?

Records are there to be broken.

It took 70 years before someone succeeded ... that must say something about the value of the record setter! and something about the challenger!

If it was that easy it would have been done yonks ago!

Now what records do you hold?

[Lamyna Flo]

Now what records do you hold?

Only ones for whinging, it would seem... http://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/362434-nightmares-jobless-low-timer-pilot.html

:hmm:

[exjet]

I'm impressed, well done too Chalkie. :ok:

[bond7]

Watch out for this space...am gonna be the next record setter...coming after you Chalkie!...And thanks for the inspiration Captain Chalkie...only this time l'll be flying inverted.

Yaba daba doo!!:8

[porra]

Yes - I'm impressed too!:D

[Agaricus bisporus]

If he'd done it with no autopilot or electronic nav-aids I'd be very impressed.

The fact that in this modern age of safety awareness a flight of this duration is made in conditions of almost comatose fatigue is highly questionable, let alone legal.

I take my hat off to him for having made a no doubt epic flught, but "broken" Alex Henshaw's record? Hell no! He bought it, with modern technology and a big chequebook. Anyone with the money and inclination could have done the same...

Chalkie's flight was impressive, certainly, but in no way compares to what AH achieved, as explained above.

His record stands.

[PhoenixDC]

Ab, you'll find that A Henshaw did it with the best that money could buy at the time.
I understand that Chalkie only had a basic wing leveler, so he is on par with AHs feat.

[tuirbo tim]

I am a bit disapointed in the negative response to Chalkie's flight, but I wish to put forward a few facts:

1.Henshaw flew a factory built Percival Mew Gull, while Stobbart flew a home built Osprey GP 4, which is made of similar materials, and has almost the same maximum speed and similar weight limitations.

2.The GP 4 took about 10 years to build from scratch, The aircraft was built for the average pilot and not for long distances, which was one disadvantage. Another is that there are now international regulations which control how and where pilots could fly, such as flight plans, overflight clearances, flight time linitations and least of all African bureaucracy. Chalkie is nearly 61 years old !!!!! How old was Henshaw when he did this flight????

3.About 10 years ago, Chalkie flew a 1939 Stinson with its original Scarb-Warner engine from South Africa to Oshkosh, which was also some achievement.

So please don't be too hard on him digisoul.

TT

[zerothree]

All I can say is that I SINCERELY hope that these are merely trolls by some feeble-minded individuals. If not, then "rather keep quiet and let people think you're an idiot, than open your mouth and remove all doubt." Apart from some other factors mentioned, bear in mind that Chalkie operated in controlled airspace at times, where radios are mandatory. Hence a few hours delay for radio repairs, which Alex would not have had. Then of course there is the legendary African beaurocracy these days, which was probably non-existent in 1939. Hence a few hours delay for paperwork and refuelling, which Alex would not have had. Shorter stopover halfway? Sure, Alex had that option too. Navigation? Without a doubt Sir Henshaw will have encountered far more difficulty here. Will Chalkie have been able to do it with no GPS etc? I have no doubt he would have, but with reduced safety levels. Different times, different challenges. Now if it's so easy, why don't the big talkers build a plane and go beat it? I dare you.

[zerothree]

Just one more comment before I climb off the soapbox. As avid an aviator as I am, I'm ashamed to admit that I had only a vague (and very incomplete) knowledge of Alex Henshaw and his achievements in aviation. I shall certainly be looking out to purchase anything he has written to educate myself. I suspect that a few others would say the same. Despite some of the views expressed in the previous posts, ironically I believe Chalkie has probably done more to enhance Sir Henshaw's aviation reputation than anything to the contrary. It only requires a dozen or so braincells to realise the enormity of what was done 70 years ago, however it would appear that certain individuals still appear to be limited to 10 or 11...

[nbv4]

If he'd done it with no autopilot or electronic nav-aids I'd be very impressed.

I agree. The people who are saying "Alex had the best technology too" is the same as equating someone who just broke the 100m dash record by using super powerful bionic legs. Or a spelling bee champion who used a blackberry during the competition to check spelling? Theres a point at which the technology eclipses the achievement.

[Parrot]

Digitasoul is just a sad troll, the type you find on most internet forums and waste disposal sites !

Me, I am as happy as could be about Chalkie's flight:):)

Im my view it takes nothing away from the amazing achievement of Henshaw in 1939, and it only enhances that remarkable feat. The fact that it has taken so long to break the record just shows how high Henshaw set the bar in 39 so :D to him as well.

Next time someone wants to set a Landspeed record ... do they have to replicate the Bluebird !!!!

[Agaricus bisporus]

Perhaps, Parrot, this is a different kind of record?

Have you beaten Scott's record to the pole if you drive there in a Land Cruiser? You will have the fadster time, sure, but the record? Morally, I think not.

Land speed records are all about technical issues of harnessing brute power, there is little human endurance involved in the "driving" itself, (bar exceptional levels of either bravery or foolhardiness). I don't mean to denigrate Campbell or Greenameyer's skills, but all they had to do was just hit the tit and hang on for a minute or two.

This record was all about a simply staggering feat of endurance, during which high levels of technical skill was all that kept either pilot (be it AH or Chalkie) from certain death. I think the fact that Chalkie achieved what he did at 61 is a pretty sure indicator that the levels of work and fatigue he encountered were vastly, hugely less than AH's. IIRC Alex Henshaw said in Flight of the Mew Gull that the fatigue was the hardest thing to cope with, and it was a 100% effort on his part to overcome it. He very nearly didn't. This from an exceptionally fit sub 30yr old. I just don't think the two flights are directly comparable from this point of view alone. Chalkie barely had to navigate - he had none of the stress forcing himself to stay wide awake and hand flying on limited panel (no AI) through the night holding a non-gyro compass course in the full knowledge that if he was just 2 or 3 degrees off, or his DR speed 3 or 4 Kts off he'd miss the airstrip and probably never find it. He also didn't have the reassurance of an ELT if he did come down in the Congo jungle. With autopilot and GPS you'd be able to doze or catnap as a solo sailor does. Chalk and cheese.

I don't mean to run Chalkie's achievement down at all, it's a stupendous feat, particularly at his age, technology or not. I am just uncomfortable with claiming the laurels with the help of that technology. That he has flown the sectors faster is not in dispute; whether he can honestly lay claim to beating AH's "record" is another thing altogether.

Bloody well done, anyway!

Amazing, though, just how little the aircraft and engine technology hasn't changed. The comparisons of a/c weight, fuel carried and used, horsepower and speed are astonishingly similar. Just shows how far they'd come in AH's time, and how little that science has changed in the intervening 70 years.

[Der absolute Hammer]

But - the Chalkie did beat the Henshaw statistic record and so well done to him.
I do not see anywhere that the new record holder claims to be a better pilot, finer aviator or greater gentleman for having done so. Thus perhaps it could be sumoarised that the record had been beaten but that perhaps the achievement had not been? Will that possibly keep the trench snipers happy?
Oh yes...Agaricus bisporus...less of the rubbish about the age thing please, lest you wish to encourage commentary about being the fungus of the month!

[groundfloor]

DS no beer for you! And if I am helo flying don`t call for help - walk you gatgogga you....:}.

[arf1410]

a couple of rambling comments...

how many attempts had been made to break the record in the last 70 years? Did 50 people try (and fail)? In which case this would be quite a feat. If no one else had tried, how significant is it? How about the record from JNB to Paris? or George to Manchester? There are an infinite number of city pairs, and is this one specially isignificant?

Also, several comments about this being a feat of endurance. In that case, doesn't 4 days 19 hours show MORE endurance than 3 day 10 hours, or whatever the new record was?

[Flying Lawyer]

digitalsoul Are you impressed by Chalkie world record breaking attempt?
Yes, very impressed.

You might think that if anyone was likely to share your views it would be Henshaw's son.
However, the first person to shake Chalkie's hand and congratulate him on his arrival at Southend was none other than Alex Henshaw Jnr.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000971a900.jpg


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


I was at Southend and made a point of asking 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.
His response:
"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."
Well said Mr Henshaw. :ok:



Nor does the prestigious Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators, a London-based but international organisation, agree with your views.
Two senior representatives of the Guild were at Southend to welcome Chalkie and to acknowledge his efforts - whether or not his attempt was successful.
As it turned out, they were also able to congratulate him on his success in breaking the record from Cape Town.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Chalkie/P1000986a900.jpg



If breaking Henshaw's records in a 200hp aircraft was as easy as you seem to think, it's surprising that it's taken 70 years for someone to do it.

Chalkie Stobbart succeeded - which means a South African pilot is the new record-holder.
Good for him. :ok:

I think he just wanted to earn fame the easy wayI doubt it. :rolleyes:
Chalkie was already a well-known and highly respected aviator long before his latest achievement.

.

[Der absolute Hammer]

An outstanding and well illustrated post Flying Lawyer-as is of your usual habit. Thanks to you for the photographs.

[Lamyna Flo]

Flying Lawyer, thanks for that - great post and great photos. What a gentleman Mr Henshaw Jr seems to be, too :ok:

[Lamyna Flo]

Only just noticed this

I think he just wanted to earn fame the easy way

Of course, and just exactly what have you done lately that matches (or surpasses) Chalkie's achievement?

[shutupanfly]

So, 70 yrs ago, someone goes very far very "quickly" with very little help.

So, recently someone repeats said feat, slightly "faster" with the following, GPS, oodles of experience, flight planning, up to date Met, modern technology, etc etc etc............the list goes on.

Bravo and well done, lovely trip, but in no way is it comparable.............im sure both were knackered, but having 2009 technology on your side, must have been very reassuring.

A record may have been broken, but the spirit of the original feat shall linger.............

[Agaricus bisporus]

Amen to that!

[james ozzie]

Yeah, there are always a few out there - those who cannot recognise the achievements of others. Much easier to devalue, degrade and denigrate, presumably to feel better about their own dull lives?

How many of us had ever heard of Henshaw before this? Chalkies achievement is a celebration of the original feat.

For better (or for worse, as some will say) there are sure to be more attempts on this record, so then you can all knock the next guy and give Chalkie a break.

[farmpilot]

Oh grow up children! Both of them did bloody well and thank God there are people out there that want to push the limits.

I say well done to them both.

The record is now a South African one and I know for a fact Mr Henshaw would be applauding it.

Now can we go back to moaning about something worth while?

[LittleMo]

Your comments about Chalkies flight being an easy feat and being a 'bought' record just illustrate what a mediocre aviator you must be with no real world experience. Anyone who'se flown any kind of light aircraft long distances by themselves will know how much strain and fatigue ones system takes.

Fly a C404 from Madagascar to FALA direct at night with no auto-jock or a Dornier from Loki to JNB in one day with no autopilot either and tell me how knackered you'd be after that. Thats with GPS, the mind set of having 2 engines and if your lucky someone to share the flying with and even then thats only for 8 or 9 hours. The answer is VERY knackered.

Now picture at 61 years of age, flying a little 200hp piston single over all that jungle and sand etc, all by yourself, pissing in a nappy with no weather radar in the ITCZ for just under 4 days...
I say its an achievement and a half, big respect for Chalkie. Also it highlights just what an amazing feat Sir Alex achieved in 1939. Hats off to you gents :D

[soggyboxers]

FL and LM,

Well said! :ok: I've ferried a number of helicopters from various parts of Europe to various parts of Africa, some 2 pilot and some single pilot, the last, single pilot when I was 59 years old and I can testify that even with modern aids it's hard work. I remember doing it without GPS back in the old days and there were obviously more worries about holding headings and airspeeds to help with the DR, but even these days the weather and nature of the hostile terrain are unchanged and ATC, met forecasting and refuelling facilities in most of Africa are pretty unchanged in the last 30 years. Irrespective of whether he had broken Alex Henshaw's old record, Chalkie should be proud of his achievement at his age.

I echo LittleMo's sentiments - hats off to both of you gents :D

[flyingfemme]

Am I impressed? Damn straight!

Chalkie may have had some whizzy electronics but they didn't all work. Back to the old-fashioned way........... and as far as I know the weather in Africa hasn't improved greatly since Henshaw's day.

Henshaw had the time and money to do a complete recce flight beforehand. Don't think Chalkie had that advantage. And he was in better physical shape than a man half his age.

If GA was actually in the twenty-first century Chalkie would have zipped along at 400kts in an oil burner with autoland. As it was he had few actual advantages - good fuel injection, GPS and satellite tracking. Big deal. We might have known if he came to grief but wouldn't have been able to do much about it. The rest was pretty much as Henshaw did it. :ok:

[RobinB]

With a name like 'digitalsoul' (which does not sound old school at all!!!), what can you expect.

It's coz he cannot spell "RSOUL" :E

[RobinB]

While I have sod all experience flying anything other than paper jets and my MS 2004 Flight Simulator, I have been following this flight with more than a passing interest. I am intrigued by the various comments posted re this record. Some points to think about.

Who issued the challenge ? Alex Henshaw issued the challenge. If you look on the Alex Henshaw Challenge web site, apart from modern avionics, both aircraft were very similar in performance. Yes Alex would have experienced a greater "effort" in actual flying havng no auto pilot and navigating via slide rule compass and stop watch - however, that was the norm in those days so it was obviously not a "show stopper" for him. Perhaps one could argue that Alex had age on his side to compensate.

I would agree that Chalkie's flight carried less risk in the case of a problem manifesting itself. That's because we live with today's technology. One could then argue that Alex's flight was less risky than Charles Lindbergh's cross Atlantic flight back in 1927 - The "Spirit of St Louis" was far less "advanced" than the Mew Gull. So using some arguements put forward on this post, Alex's record was "less impressive" than Charles Lindbergh's. And one could then compare Charles Lindbergh against the Wright Brothers against Joseph-Michel Montgolfier against Icarus and Daedalus - a "silly arguement" I would venture.

As far as I am concerned, It's a GREAT bit of flying and it took 70 years for someone to achieve a better time than Alex did back then. It refocused a huge amount of attention on both Chalkie as well as Alex Henshaw, as it should. In closing, commeth the hour, commeth the man !!!

[KRONOS]

O.K. Digital Soul, build a plane in your garage or livingroom, and fly it to the UK and back, without all Chalkie's superelectronics, and break the record af A.H. In fact, I will draw you the plans for a Mew Gull so you can build it, fly it, and impress us all...and most importantly, impress yourself...KRONOS personally doesnt think you have the balls nor the flying skills to drive a single seater that stalls at 80 kts...across Africa and back, KRONOS however knows Chalkie Stobbart, he is a very nice guy who has done more to promote flying among the mere mortals than anyone on this thread, he was Chairman of South Africa's E.A.A. for many years, he has crossed the Atlantic twice to Oshkosh, once in RV6 ZU-EAA, once in a WW2 Fairchild, Digital Soul, what have you done to promote general aviation today?????

[Woof etc]

I can only conclude that those ignorant few who would try and marginalise Chalkie's achievement have no concept of record breaking and obviously no relevant aviation experience that puts them in a position to pass comment. Flying a twitchy homebuilt light aircraft through the ITCZ at night with only a wing leveller to assist, with no weather radar or stormscope, and that while fatigued from days of flying is a feat in itself.

As someone mentioned earlier, breaking the record has taken nothing away from Alex Henshaw's original achievement - in fact it has heightened his profile and I am sure will inspire many pilots to go and read his brilliant books "Flight of the Mew Gull" and "Sigh For a Merlin". I myself am in awe of Henshaw flying his tricky little Mew Gull the length of Europe and Africa, a good portion at night, navigating only by map and compass. It is the nature of record breaking to use the latest equipment available - what would the point be otherwise - we would still be trying to break world landspeed records using horse driven carriages if this were not the case!

[Chuck Notyeager]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the support, ignore the trolls, they enjoy causing knee-jerk reactions...

Herewith a letter from Alex Henshaw Jnr.

Regards, Chalkie.:)

CAPE TOWN - LONDON - CAPE TOWN

3 DAYS 15 HOURS 17 MINUTES

On Monday 11th May at 14:22 GMT Charles “Chalkie” Stobbart landed at Cape Town after an epic flight from Cape Town to London and back shattering my Father’s record set in February 1939 by 18 hours 59 minutes. I was at Southend to meet him on his arrival and was staggered to see less than thirty enthusiasts there to greet him. No national or local news reporters, no television coverage, and no support from any aviation groups other than two representatives from the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. Had this been any other sporting event with a world record likely to be achieved the venue would have been heaving with the press.

For a person to fly night and day and night for thirty six hours in a most uncomfortable aircraft, have a rest for 14 hours and then do the same again on the return is quite an extraordinary feat of airmanship, and displays great courage, determination, and self discipline, to the point of complete exhaustion. I am sure my Father would have been the first to congratulate him on this magnificent achievement.

Many people have said that my Father’s record should have been left sacrosanct. He did not believe that, otherwise he would not have issued the challenge in his book “The Flight Of The Mew Gull,” and nor do I. Yes conditions were totally different 70 years ago, Once my Father left Gravesend he had no communication with anyone until he landed. He had no radio, no navigational aids, no weather forecasts of any note, and the airfields and facilities were dire to say the very least, and he had the constant worry that if he could not find the airfields or land before sunset he would be finished. The tolerance he allowed himself to find and land at Gao was 15 minutes. The next problem my Father had was that whilst he could fly at night, but could not land at night, so landings had to be made at sunrise or sunset where appropriate. Therefore my Father was stuck at Gao for 6 hours both going out and on the return, equally he had to stay in Cape Town for 27 hours so that he made Gao at sunset.

Things have certainly changed some for the good and some not so good, Chalkie did not have the navigational problems, and had his auto pilot worked properly it would have made life a little easier for him. However his avionics packed up on him over France so he had quite a torrid final hour coming into Southend. The bureaucracy in Africa drove him mad, firstly the President closed Brazzaville airport for two hours so Chalkie could not get out, and then in Kano there was fuel waiting for him but the locals were just impossibly inept and the bureaucrats were unbelievably slow and uncooperative, and similarly in Algiers. So the end result was that Chalkie was on the ground for 8 hours, with one less landing; to my Father’s 9 hours, 6 of which were spent at Gao.

All that said my Father did the outward journey in 39 hours 23 minutes to Chalkie’s 36 hours 35 minutes, and the flying times were 30 hours 28 minutes and 28 hours 38 minutes respectively, so the record was beaten both in the air and on the ground. The return journey is more or less the same other than the turn round where my Father was on the ground for 27 hours and Chalkie only for 14 hours.

There were a couple of interesting situations, firstly Cape Town was closed due to fog for 3 hours prior to Chalkie’s take off. Had this happened to my Father in his day he would have taken off anyway, as would Chalkie have done had he been allowed. If my Father had not taken off his record attempt would have had to be postponed as he would not have reached Gao before sunset. Then secondly Chalkie jokingly said that if the storm scope is not fixed at Southend he was not returning to Cape Town, my Father did not have that luxury. The storm scope was not fixed but Chalkie had the courage to go anyway.

On the other side of the coin my Father could not have coped with the air traffic control directing him here, there, and everywhere, so at least he had peace and quiet and was able to fly a direct course to each airfield other than Gravesend to Oran, where he had to go down the Rhone Valley to Marseilles before turning to Oran because of the Spanish Civil War. It was bureaucracy that finally stopped him flying in 1948. He was supposed to pick up his permit to cross the Sahara Desert at Colomb Bechar but could not get in due to the bad weather and returned to Oran, his nominated alternate airfield. After leaving Oran he was supposed to stop at Colomb Bechar and pick up this permit, but he could not waste the time so he threw a note out of the window of the plane saying “I am on my way”. He expected fire works in Oran on his return but the Commandant saluted my Father and wished him “Bon Voyage”.

Both flights were quite extraordinary, both had difficult aircraft to fly, both had problems of one sort or another. I think my Father was a man of his time and I think Chalkie is certainly a man of his time. And do not forget that my Father was only 26 years old, Chalkie is 60 years old. In this context to return to Cape Town after only 10 hours sleep out of the 14 hours stop over, where my Father had two good breaks at Gao and a 27 hour turn round at Cape Town I think Chalkie’s flight, for endurance, far exceeds my Father’s.

I am a little sad that at last someone has broken my Father’s record which has stood for over 70 years, but it has gone to a charming, unassuming, very professional pilot, whose courage, determination, and skill surpasses all others. I have been informed that technically the FAI will not recognize the record as an “old one” broken as Chalkie flew it in the “wrong” direction. So a new one will be registered. As my Father has thrown down the challenge, I understand that Steve Noujaim is going to attempt to break the “old record” in October, I only hope he has more support from the Nation than Chalkie got on his arrival at Southend. Best of luck Steve.

Alex Henshaw.

[Der absolute Hammer]

Thank you for posting that letter.
There is a connection here to Steve Noujaim....who I think is British and not South African?
The Cape Challenge, Steve Noujaim (http://www.capechallenge.com/noujaim.php)
from which I copy out the following line....
Steve Noujaim intends to prove to the world that he can do it.
and there is more of him here...
RV-7 G-IIXF Steve Noujaim - VAF Forums (http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=32303)
and here....
Steve Noujaim record flight to South Africa |Cirencester News | Western Daily Press (http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Gunning-aviation-record/article-514763-detail/article.html)
So we must wish him good luck I think and hope that he does not get food poisoning or malaria.

[Chuck Notyeager]

Der Hammer,

You and the Brits are cousins. :) Steve is my opposition, yet he was part of my ground crew in Southend; as I will be his ground crew in Cape Town.

Chivalry is alive and well in aviation.

I wish him well at improving on the record.

Strange that for 70 years there were no contestants, then this year two!

Regards. Chalkie.

[Graham Ross]

Congratulations Chalkie and best regards.:ok:

[Contract Dog]

Congrats! I think its an amazing thing you have done Chalkie! :D it is great to see passion for aviation is still alive and well. Some times flying taxis can drain the passion a bit!

Just for interest sake, how did you cope with the fatigue? I once flew 13.6 hrs in a day and was a zombi when I landed, I cant begin to imagine how tiring it must have been? whats the secret?

Well done and congrats again

Dog

[Lamyna Flo]

Congratulations Chalkie, you are a true inspiration :ok: