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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. |
Go, Steve, go!
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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...) |
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. |
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!
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Tracking website seems to have stalled... how's he doing, anyone know?
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Refresh your browser, mine stopped too.
He is now just E of Tolouse |
Taken from Tim's post on the tracking site 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. |
Okay, 90 minutes to go and his ETA is within 2 minutes of the northbound route record!
Sam. |
He's presently showing an ETA 3 minutes within the required landing time...
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It's going to be close.
Has he got to land or just fly through the overhead? |
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 |
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. |
He's done it!!! With seconds to spare!!!
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Originally Posted by followsteve.co.za
2010-09-03 15h55 GMT
Yes! He's done it! With only seconds to spare, Steve has aced it! |
He's Done It!
Fantastic news - Steve did it with only seconds to spare! Landed at 15:55 GMT!
CONGRATULATIONS, STEVE! |
Altitude: 200.0 feet, 61.0 m Speed: 204 knots, 377 km/h |
London-CT, new world record
London-CT-London, new world record CT-London - we don't yet know! Sam. |
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. |
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 |
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