New challengers to Henshaw/Stobbart record

[It flies]

Those with an interest in long distance flying might like to follow two new attempts to beat the London - Cape Town - London record.

Steve Noujaim will leave in his Vans RV-7 at 0438Z on Tuesday 31st.
Look here The Cape Challenge, flight record bid (http://www.capechallenge.com/) and here Cape Challenge Blog (http://capechallenge.wordpress.com/) for more. Progress can be monitored here Track Aircraft (http://www.followsteve.co.za/)

Another attempt will be made later this year by Tony Smith, who will be flying a Glasair. Incredibly he plans to complete the distance with only one stop for fuel each way.
The Cape Run 2010 - Tony 'Taff' Smith - London to Cape Town and back FAI record attempt (http://www.thecaperun.co.uk/index.html)

[Red Four]

Good Luck to them both!

Here's the link to last years thread:http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/373198-henshaw-challenge-success-now-includes-photographs.html

[MichaelJP59]

With a few more entrants they could start off together; it would be like the intercontinental air races of old!

Good luck to both of them.

[GK430]

It's a shame that this cannot be a 'Sticky' for the next few days.
Both Steve and Taff are about to relive the rudimentary and nostalgic days of man and machine against the elements.
No doubt a lot of blood, sweat and tears has gone into both endeavours and I hope they both succeed in what are undoubtedly longheld ambitions.

If the tracking is as good as Chalkie's was, it is going to be difficult to switch off at night, but will be up early each morning to check on G-IIXF's progressive during the forthcoming working week.

[It flies]

Both Steve and Taff are about to relive the rudimentary and nostalgic days of man and machine against the elements. Not so according to Henshaw, if you scroll down to a letter from him here, you'll read: Steve Noujaim (http://www.capechallenge.com/noujaim.php)

With good G.P.S., and large aerodromes it should now be an easy and not un-comfortable flight. :ok:

[IO540]

You still need to get an IFR approval for these VFR-only planes, as I see it.

Unless you plan to do loads of illegal VFR, but even then you have the airspace classes against you; can't fly where you can't get a clearance, and I would expect VFR clearances through CAS are not trivial down there (same as here).

The actual flight is trivial, with a GPS.

Range-wise, a TB20, with a massive ferry tank, could do 2500nm which means 2 fuel stops from London to Cape Town, and that is without even exceeding MTOW. If you go to MTOW+30% then you could do it with 1 fuel stop. Interesting toilet arrangements.... better start off with an enema, and not eat any veg for the preceeding week ;)

IMHO the record will always be held by narrow-cockpit planes, for speed / fuel flow reasons.

[GK430]

The actual flight is trivial, with a GPS.


And the record has stood for How Long?

[IO540]

And the record has stood for How Long?Sure; I can think of several reasons why it has done so.

- logistics
- getting overflight permits, probably very difficult under VFR but there are few a/c types which have the necessary speed and fuel flow combinations which are IFR certified
- extreme personal endurance
- interesting toilet issues (I am fine with plastic bottles but this is "another level" above that, unless you do it in something very fast but then you will need a number of fuel stops, which is how it was done originally, but this is logistically hard these days)
- huge amount of hassle
- logistics
- sponsorship?

Navigation was a huge issue back then, for if you got lost you probably faced death, but today it is easy, and with an autopilot and oxygen thrown in, the actual flight is trivial. And with satellite phones, ELTs, etc, you have a fair chance of getting rescued before the locals boil you up into soup :)

[Rod1]

IO540

These “VFR only aircraft” are not VFR only. True, you need special permission from the UK, but all are IFR capable under South African rules and even the good old CAA have granted special status to the UK reg examples so all can compete on an equal status. If you think the TB can win against these home constructed aircraft give it a go...:E

Rod1
PS all the aircraft trying to brake the record are side by side two seat designs.

[misd-agin]

OK, I'm confused. The track at

Track Aircraft (http://www.followsteve.co.za/)


shows Steve headed(ing) north to the tip of Scotland. Is the record from the northern tip of Scotland or is it from southern England?

[It flies]

The track to Scotland was from an earlier shakedown flight. This has been removed and it now shows Steve heading south, just west of Paris at the moment.

[It flies]

You still need to get an IFR approval for these VFR-only planes, as I see it.Tony Smith plans to fly the whole trip IFR at 12,500 feet.

The Cape Run 2010 - Planned Route (http://www.thecaperun.co.uk/route.html)

[GK430]

Hi Misd-agin,

Glad to see you are up watching;)
The tracker did not show that the aircraft had left Glos for Southend and the experts in S.A. realised that something was amiss and it is now fixed.

Making great progress!

[Katamarino]

Tony Smith's website is not very informative; does he have planned dates for the flight yet? "September/October 2010" is quite vague, and very close!

[misd-agin]

GK - Stuck in SJU. Windy and rainy last night as Earl spun just NE, then north, of the island.

The tracker is very interesting. :ok:

[GK430]

It's very captivating. He's still ahead of Chalkie and only has one more stop compared to the two that Chalkie made after Algiers on his southbound leg.

Misd - just posted you some lo-res from the Tam stop.
Glad you missed Earl - hear it went close to St. Barth's and I am due TNCM post Hurricane season.

[Sam Rutherford]

He's going strong at the moment. He was very glad of the leg stretch in Tam!

I'm afraid I can' agree with the 'easy' suggestions, 6x10 hour stints with barely a pause in a small, uncomfortable plane at just the right height to get all the weather.

We're early days yet, with all to play for...

Safe flights, Sam.

[misd-agin]

GK - thanks for the pictures.

Finally got to stretch after 3+30 in a 737. A lot more room than Steve's aircraft. I'm sure he really enjoys being able to move around on the stops.

Questions about the stops -

1. why so long (1-2 hrs?)
a. fuel slow to get into the extra tanks?

2. are advance teams in place or has he contracted out maintenance checks on the aircraft with FBO's?
a. what checks are being done? Oil replacement, etc?

Sat. picture for the weather south of him looks great!

[Sam Rutherford]

Hi, perhaps I can answer a couple of those questions...

Questions about the stops -

1. why so long (1-2 hrs?)
a. fuel slow to get into the extra tanks?

In Tam, we were 55 minutes from touchdown to a possible 'request engine start' - but in fact Steve needed a little more time to de-compress (physically and mentally). There are 6 tanks on the plane (takes about 2.5 drums) and this took about 40 minutes from start to finish (we're hoping to manage faster on Thursday night, but it's a slow process with changing between 3 drums and using a hand pump).



2. are advance teams in place or has he contracted out maintenance checks on the aircraft with FBO's?
a. what checks are being done? Oil replacement, etc?

We're covering Tam, then there's a team (resident company) in Brazza, and then another team sent out for the challenge is waiting in CT. For us, quick check of airframe, add oil and that's about it. In CT they'll do the full pit-stop.



He's on schedule to take the record London-CT, so fingers crossed on that one. Then he has to turn her around and do it all again to get the CT-London and the big one, London-CT-London!

Safe flights All, Sam.

[GK430]

Misd,

You can actually thank Sam for the Tam photos - we'd all like to be at each transit point, but I shall have to be content with being at Southend for the arrival.

As Sam says, all looking good on the Southbound leg so let's hope Steve get's sufficient R & R in C.T. for the northern slog.

Finally got to stretch after 3+30 in a 737. A lot more room than Steve's aircraft. I'm sure he really enjoys being able to move around on the stops.


Kind of reminds you of the old joke of the fast jet pilot showing off alongside the C.130 and the latter crew brewing a fresh cup of coffee!

[Katamarino]

He's doing well! We're planning to be in Southend for the arrival too; maybe we'll see some of you there :)

[Sam Rutherford]

He's looking really good for the London-Cape Town record, and that'll give a big morale boost for the return...

Sam.

[Katamarino]

Sam, will there be a regularly updated ETA somewhere for Southend, so we can ensure we're there in time on Friday? We're flying in from Rotterdam and don't want to miss his return!

[Sam Rutherford]

There's live tracking at www.followsteve.co.za (http://www.followsteve.co.za), I can tell you now that the planned/hoped ETA Southend is 1405Z.

Safe flights, give him a big punch on the shoulder from me!

Sam.

[Katamarino]

You bet! :)

[Sam Rutherford]

He's landed in Cape Town, a new record!:ok:

Just two more records to go now :eek:

Safe flights, Sam.

[It flies]

Excellent, it looks like a problem free flight so far. Just before the landing I saw 204 kts at 3,700 ft on the tracker. That is diving for the finish. :D

[GK430]

Katamarino,

G-XF is filed out of FACT at 02:25z
All being well, Sothend at approx 14:00 ish on Friday.

[misd-agin]

Just following from a distance but it is exciting to see results after all the hard work put in by the volunteers. :ok:

[Sam Rutherford]

A quick update, and not be taken 'officially', but he's more likely to hit Southend around 1500Z. It's a take-off + darkness + large lumps of granite kind of thing:eek:

In any case, you'll have about 10 hours after his departure from here to get yourself to Southend with a bottle of bubbly (finger crossed).

Safe flights, Sam.

[Chuck Notyeager]

Hi Sam, depending on how long Steve takes at Brazza, Steve might still have some waiting time at Tam as he will not be taking off at night due to the Cumulus Granitus you referred to as due to high oil temp he will need to climb slowly (read high IAS) so will delay departure till daybreak.


Chuck

[Katamarino]

OK! Just hope I can get back to Rotterdam before darkness - they don't allow night VFR due to all the dangerous mountains here in Holland :ugh:

[Sam Rutherford]

Hi,

I got up before the sparrows this morning to check real-time 'useable minimum' daylight. I reckon with clear skies he can get away at 0440Z, and 0455Z if overcast (like this morning).

So, extrapolating that further, makes an arrival in Southend of 1530Z - should be enough time to give him that punch and head back to the land of clogs ;).

Safe flights, Sam.

[misd-agin]

Airborne @ 1620Z. :D

Looking at the sat. picture for Africa, especially Nigeria/Cameroon, and I was wondering if he has any real time weather briefing service that can contact him inflight?

[Sam Rutherford]

He gets phonecalls on an Iridium from the base team if there's anything really nasty out there, and his stormscope is running on overdrive for the ITCZ...

Safe flights, Sam.

[misd-agin]

Looks like he'll have to get through a small band of weather in southern Nigeria and then he'll be on the east side of the significant weather in central Nigeria that is over his southbound route.

[It flies]

misd-agin, can you show where you get wheather info for Nigeria/Africa?

[Floppy Link]

Try Sat24 (http://www.sat24.com/ng)
for a look at the sat picture

[misd-agin]

Floppy - thanks.

If Flies - I get it from a company(work) provided site.

[It flies]

Thanks, Floppy & misd. There is quite a bit of difference in groundspeed. 150 kts now vs. 180-ish earlier.

[misd-agin]

Using the nouth/south border between Gabon and E. Guinea as an east/west reference, and the east/west coastline in southern Nigeria, and comparing his location vs. the Sat24 pictures, it appears that he's made it through the first line of weather and is starting to deviate east of track .

From there probably due north to avoid the weather in south/central and north/western Niger, and then hopefully clear flying towards his refueling stop.

[Katamarino]

Go, Steve, go!

[Sam Rutherford]

Quick update from Tamanrasset:

There was more water in than out of XF when she arrived (and the alternator had given out). We got the cowling off and sleeves rolled up. Nothing found so we did the obvious thing which was to put the cowling back on! :cool:

Steve got a little over an hour to relax, eat, ‘sleep’ and chill out – he then sat on the piano keys until there was just enough light to take on the final stretch. He’s in very good spirits (as you might imagine). He’s not sure he’ll beat Chalkie’s northbound record, but fingers crossed Henshaw’s (and Chalkie’s) round trips are for the taking…
Stats:
0301Z Arrival
0337Z Turnaround complete
0440Z Engine start
0450Z Taxi
0500Z Lifted
Oh, and by the time he re-started, the Sahara had kindly dried out his alternator!
Sam. (job done, off to bed...)

[Sam Rutherford]

Message by Martin, the Challenge Coordinator:

……now for that ETA. Southend.

Steve is meeting headwinds over Algeria and his speed is down to around 160 knots. At his planned speed of 168 knots he will arrive Southend at 1525Z.

Gill Courage of Aerodynamics is watching the weather (a beautiful day over France and England with winds light and variable) but at his current rate of progress she has him arriving at Southend nearer 1600Z. It is likely that he will pick up speed once over the Med and then France.

What is nail-biting is that Chalkie Stobbart’s time for the northbound leg, Cape Town – London was 36 hours and 35 minutes. For Steve to beat this time, and take the hat-trick, he must fly the leg in less than 10 hours 55 minutes. At 168 knots he will have an elapsed time of 10 hours and 54 minutes!!! At his current speed he will be 30 minutes slower than Chalkie.
SO, will he pick up enough speed over the Med and France to recover 31 minutes and beat Chalkie?

He already has the London – Cape Town leg in the bag and at the slower speed will still take the round trip record – but not Chalkie’s northbound record. (For those of you who, by this stage, will understandably be confused by my arithmetic, the fact that Steve has spent less time on the ground than Chalkie accounts for the fact that he can still take the round trip record without taking Chalkie’s northbound leg).

All I can say is watch that sat tracker and will the winds to be in Steve’s favour…………….

What a day for Steve. What a day for British light aviation.
Martin


He needs to be wheels on by 1555Z to get the northbound as well - it's going to be real tight. Sam.

[Katamarino]

Exciting stuff!! We're heading to the airport soon to jump the North Sea to Southend, and hoping he can pick up the speed he needs!

[Humaround]

Tracking website seems to have stalled... how's he doing, anyone know?

[oversteer]

Refresh your browser, mine stopped too.
He is now just E of Tolouse

[Sam Rutherford]

Taken from Tim's post on the tracking site www.followsteve.co.za (http://www.followsteve.co.za):

2010-09-03 13h04 GMT
Something very interesting to bear in mind: Although Steve looks set to break the overall round-trip record, he is also trying to beat Chalkie's times for each of the two legs (London to Cape Town and Cape Town to London). London to Cape Town is already in the bag but, to beat Chalkie's time for the Cape Town to London leg, Steve needs to land at Southend before 15h56. If you keep an eye on the ever-changing ETA shown above you'll see that this is a very tight race! The ETA shown above is based on distance still to go and current ground speed.

[Sam Rutherford]

Okay, 90 minutes to go and his ETA is within 2 minutes of the northbound route record!

Sam.

[Sam Rutherford]

He's presently showing an ETA 3 minutes within the required landing time...

[Min Sink]

It's going to be close.

Has he got to land or just fly through the overhead?

[oversteer]

Hopefully they can clear everyone out of the circuit before he arrives! :cool:

"G-IIXF go around, student pilot has failed to clear the runway"

e: looks like he landed before 1556, well done!

e2: i'd love to see his landing profile

[Sam Rutherford]

2010-09-03 15:53:54 GMT
51° 34′ 1″ N 0° 42′ 27″ E
Altitude: 200.0 feet, 61.0 m
Speed: 204 knots, 377 km/h
Destination: SOUTHEND (0.95km)
ETA: 2010-09-03 15:53:54 GMT


It doesn't get closer! Sam.

[Humaround]

He's done it!!! With seconds to spare!!!

[Floppy Link]

2010-09-03 15h55 GMT

Yes! He's done it! With only seconds to spare, Steve has aced it! tujeyujetujyetjkyetjetjetjet

[BEagle]

Fantastic news - Steve did it with only seconds to spare! Landed at 15:55 GMT!

CONGRATULATIONS, STEVE!

[Min Sink]

Altitude: 200.0 feet, 61.0 m
Speed: 204 knots, 377 km/h

:) :) :) :)

[Sam Rutherford]

London-CT, new world record
London-CT-London, new world record
CT-London - we don't yet know!

Sam.

[Sam Rutherford]

It's the Hat Trick!

Apparently he doesn't have to land, just be overhead below 1000ft - hence the 200kts when 900m away!

All three, good job! :ok::D:D:D:D:D

Safe flights all, Sam.

[Sir George Cayley]

In congratulating Steve on a top class job - Hero- :D I would like to recognise also the team that made it possible.

I think you can all allow your selves a few moments of celebration:ok:

BZ's all round

Sir George Cayley

[panjandrum]

Time clocked overhead the ATC Control Tower was 1553:54z
Very well done Steve!

From all in Southend ATC team.

[Chuck Notyeager]

On the Avcom thread AvCom - Your Aviation Community (http://www.avcom.co.za/) seems there is an FAI law that requires a record to be broken by at least 1%, so the northbound record might still stand. We will have to wait for the official results :{

Chuck

[Sam Rutherford]

Quick, unconfirmed, update.

It's possible that for a record to be beaten, it has to be beaten by at least 1%.

So:

London-CT - new world record, Steve Noujaim :ok:
London-CT-London, new world record, Steve Noujaim :D:ok::D:ok:
CT-London - we'll have to wait a bit to see :ooh:

[It flies]

CT-London - we'll have to wait a bit to see http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/icon25.gifIf it isn't to be, maybe he could try again next month? :) Maybe he could set of together with Tony Smith...

Still, an awesome performance. I hope he gets the record :ok: It looks like a near perfect flight and I would love to read a trip report. And thanks to the people who wrote the excellent tracking software.

[GK430]

The World Record Holder - supported by a great team.

Twy 'B' at Southend having vacated Rwy 06
(thanks to ATC for the transport!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v156/Emirates/G-XF-pprune.jpg

[misd-agin]

Wow. Down to the wire....That actually shows how hard it is to achieve the record.

I'm sure after a pint or two Steve will not be seen for hours and hours...sleep, it does a body good.

[The Original GF]

Bloody good show Nouj, what next?:ok::ok::ok:


OGF

[It flies]

Trip report now up on this website:

Cape Challenge Blog (http://capechallenge.wordpress.com/)

It makes interesting reading to those who think the flying part is easy...

[Flying Lawyer]

Congrats to Steve Noujaim on setting new records for London-CT and London-CT-London. :ok:

I don't know the technicalities of the rules but I hope Chalkie Stobbart retains the CT-London record.


FL

[Katamarino]

Not that I mind either way, but given that he did it one minute faster, why should it not count as breaking the record? Does this rule also apply to things like the 100m sprint, etc?

[It flies]

Tony Smith has announced he will depart for Cape Town on October the 19th. Satellite tracking and news updates will be available.

The Cape Run 2010 - Latest News (http://www.thecaperun.co.uk/news.html)

[Katamarino]

Rather disappointing to see them asking people not to come and see him return to Southend; I've flown over for both Chalkie and Steve's arrivals, and would intend to complete the "hat-trick", so to speak!

Why such a different attitude; do they not want people supporting?

[Planemike]

So no repeat of the scenes at Le Bourget in 1927, then........!!!!

Planemike

[davski]

Hi guys,

The theory is that Tony will be totally exhausted and rather than appear nonchalent or ungrateful for the support he'd rather keep things low key with the minimum of fuss regardless of the outcome of the flight.

That said, Katamarino, he can't really stop you visiting Southend can he - we'd hate you not to get your hat-trick?! And you can always pop over to Breighton...

Davski
The Cape Run

[PontiusPilote]

IO540 is certainly correct to point out that the CT flight is not as difficult and dangerous as it was seventy years ago for a small SEP...but 'Trivial'...I think not. Going as SLF maybe would.
Sure the Nav & Coms now are beyond the wildest dreams of Alex' Henshaw is '39. Nor did he have EFIS or an autopilot, or even decent lit runways to alight upon.

Alex' didn't have to worry much about CAS, and actually, the Mew was very fast, but as the oil consumption was much higher, it was almost as big an issue for him as fuel.

Despite the many obvious advantages that the modern contenders clearly have over Alex' in '39, it's still a fantastic achievement and a great bit of publicity for GA in these straitened times.... Good for them, and I'll be following Tony Smiths attempt to 'walk the walk' with great interest. Good luck to him....! :ok:

[Sam Rutherford]

We'll be watching from here as well!

Safe flights, Sam.