Eddie sez:

One hundred years ago the effort to fly where no one has flown before, set speed and altitude records, and take risks that were more likely to fail than succeed was pretty much the way things were. If you wanted to expand the horizons of aviation, that's what you did. This is the story of one such effort, the attempt to link London and Cape Town.
I write about this only to discuss that such risks might be necessary at times to expand our horizons or rally the national spirit. The Royal Air Force had a vested interest in this particular record as a way of exercising national power. But that was then and this, as they say, is now. These days the lure of setting records are a bit silly. See Record Setting Intentional Noncompliance for an example. These days, a more methodical approach is called for. With the increased speed and mass of airplanes the probability of walking away from a crash are diminished. As population density worldwide has increased dramatically in the last 100 years, the chances of collateral damage are also increased.
Having said all that, this is part of our history as aviators. It is history worth knowing. (So we can better detect similar efforts in the future.)
Everything here is from the references shown below, with a few comments in an alternate color.
Photo: Cairo to Cape Town Aerial Route 1920, Barraclough, pp. 10-11
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[Barraclough, p. 6] Major General W. G. Salmond, KCMG, CB, DSO, Commanding Officer of the Royal Air Force in the Middle East, was a visionary. He and Major General Sir Frederick Sykes, GBE, KCB, CMG, who had the title of Controller General of Civil Aviation, dreamt of Cairo being the hub of the British Empire's air routes, as it already was for the Empire's sea routes which transited the Suez Canal on their way to India, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand, and down the east coast of Africa to Cape Town. . . . Barely three months after the end of the war, Salmond organised three survey parties to create the necessary string of landing grounds. The first party, under Major Long, DSO, was to create the airfields from Cairo to Lake Victoria. The second party, under Major Emmett, was to cover the sector from Lake Victoria to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, while the third party under Major Court-Treatt, was to be responsible for the remainder of the route to Cape Town. The brief given to these officers was that there must be airfields stocked with fuel not more than 400 miles apart and interspersed with emergency landing grounds every 120 miles.
[Barraclough, p. 9] Major General Sykes wrote about the new Imperial air routes: "If an Empire air power, both service and civil, is developed, organised and co-ordinated, our supremacy in the air may in the future be more valuable in assisting to maintain the peace of the world than our supremacy on the sea has been in the past. The Empire is geographically in an unequalled position for establishing air depots, re-fuelling bases and meteorological and wireless stations in every part of the world. Egypt must be the 'hub' of the Indian, Australian and Cape routes and the heart of the whole system." . . . "We have seen the great value of the aeroplane in war; the next war will in all probability open with a fight for the mastery of the air."
[Barraclough, p. 15] In the House of Commons, Winston Churchill, one of the greatest proponents of aviation during the First World War, voiced the hope that someone would encourage the opening of the air route to the Cape by offering a reward for the first successful flight. The response was not long in coming. While the aircraft constructors were struggling with the post-war recession it was the megalomaniac Lord Northcliffe, owner of The Daily Mail and The Times, who offered a purse of £10,000 (£427,000) to be awarded to the owners and crew of the aeroplane that made the first successful flight from Cairo to the Cape.
20200220
One Hundred Years Later
Photo: The Vickers-Vimy-Rolls commercial machine charted by The Times, Barraclough, p. 17
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[Barraclough, p. 18]
The Vimy took off from Brooklands on January 24, 1920 and flew to Ystres, France. Over the next week they stopped in Rome, Malta, Tripoli, and then to Cairo. On February 6th they had to make a precautionary landing near Luxor for a water jacket leak, and then they flew on to Assouan. The next day they made two more forced landings but made it to Khartoum on February 8th.
[Barraclough, p. 21] By the time the Vimy reached Mongalla however her airframe and engines were in serious need of overhaul and this took five days of steady work. When they eventually took off on 20th February a magneto cut on the starboard engine, resulting in a difficult forced landing for Cockerell and Broome back at Mongalla. The defective magneto replaced, they made a further start and were reported over Rejaf on their way to Jinja in the Protectorate of Uganda.
[Barraclough, p. 22]
Photo: Cockerell and Broome route, Barraclough, p. 23
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Photo: Brackley's Handley Page O/40 crashed at El Shereik, Sudan, Barraclough, p. 29
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[Barraclough, pp. 25 - 27]
The weather forced them to land short but they made it the next day. Winds were such that at times their groundspeed was only 40 mph. They made it to Istres the following day and then to Rome. Leaving Rome they had to turn back due to weather and landed at a nearby Naval Air Station.
On the 18th they left for Athens, the day after that Sollum, then on to Heliopolis and Cairo. The next few days saw more forced landings and stops in Assint (due to a misread of the map along the Nile) and Assyut.
Progress was good with a ground speed of 65 mph, steadily improving to over 90 as we climbed into a more northerly wind. At 6,000 feet, after climbing for an hour, we seemed to be at our ceiling. Engines were running full out, but the air was cooler and after another half hour we were at 7,000 feet. Then, with engines still running flat out, we lost height. Brackley's aim was to gain as much height as possible before the heat of the day in the hope of maintaining it with the reduced load of the aircraft. Conditions improved. We reached 7,800 feet and maintained it. Ground speed increased to 90 mph and all looked fair for our goal (Khartoum), 1,200 miles from Cairo. We began to plan our next flight to start before dawn in the hope of beating the bogey of the route - low density heated air. Our course lay along the Nile to Korosko - where is the most fascinating desert of black rocks set in golden brown sand - thence across the desert to Station 4 on Kitchener's railway from Wadi Haifa to Abu Hamed - the railway a thin pencil line on a flat featureless desert; and eventually following the Nile again via Atbara to Khartoum. We reached Abu Hamed after four hours' flying.
Twenty minutes later fate ordained the end of the flight. A violent oscillation and vibration of the machine set in, which seemed to threaten a break-up; the biplane tail twisted and rocked in the most alarming manner. Later we recognised the symptoms as tail flutter, but the knowledge would not have been much comfort to us then. No one expected the airframe to last more than a minute. Two of the crew had to hold down a large box of spares and tools which was screwed down on the rear gunner's compartment, and which came adrift. Brackley shut down the engines and put the machine into a slow straight glide. There followed the longest quarter of an hour any of us had experienced, and none wished to repeat. The rudders were jammed by the oscillating elevators. At 2,000 feet we began to think it worth while to look for a forced landing place. We were over the railway and the river and Brackley selected a suitable looking area ahead. He had only partial control by using ailerons and was unable to complete his turn into wind. The north wind which had generously helped our ground speed, now proved too strong for our undercarriage, and G-EAMC ploughed her nose into the desert sand. Most of the crew were thrown clear. Brackley was somewhat shaken - no one else was hurt. So, on 25th February the attempt failed 6 miles north of El Shereik, Sudan some two hundred miles north of Khartoum.
Photo: Brackley and Tymms route, Barraclough, p. 30
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[Barraclough, pp. 15 - 16] Matching the enterprise of Lord Northcliffe was the patriotism of Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, by then President of the Union of South Africa. Smuts was a strong supporter of air power and he was determined that South African pilots should have the honour of conquering the new Imperial route. To this end he ordered, at a cost of £4,500 (£192,000), the purchase by the South African Government of a second Vickers Vimy, registered G-UABA and christened Silver Queen, but still in the configuration of the World War I bomber.
Pilots: Lieutenant Colonel Pierre van Rynevald, DSO, MC and Captain Quintin Brand, DSO, MC, DFC
Aircraft 1
Photo: The crash of Silver Queen at Korosko, Barraclough, p. 35
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[Barraclough, pp. 31 - 34]
From there they made it to Taranto and decided they would cross the Mediterranean at night.
They flew on to Sollum and then to Cairo.
Aircraft 2
Photo: Crash of the Silver Queen II at Bulaway, Barraclough, p. 36
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[Barraclough, pp. 34 - 36]
They landed in Wadi Halfa when faced with strong headwinds and then on to Khartoum. They found their cylinder water jackets were leaking and had each replaced with spares provided by the RAF.
They pressed on a discovered dust devils up to 8,000 feet on their way to Kisimu. The next flight saw more engine problems and a forced landing on the shores of Lake Victoria, 3,680 feet above sea level and the highest landing field they had yet encountered. van Ryneveld decided to discard all non-essential equipment to lighten the aircraft. Their next airport was Abercorn (5,500 feet above sea level) and then on to Ndola with fuel blockage to three cylinders.
Aircraft 3
Photo: Voortrekker landing at Beaufort West, last stop before Cape Town, Barraclough, p. 37
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[Barraclough, pp. 36 - 38]
Photo: van Ryneveld and Brand route, Barraclough, p. 40
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It’s incredible to think that in less than 25 years from the Race to the Cape the B-29 was produced...25 more years and we’re on the moon!
- “The Beav”
It’s only been 100 years since those and similar attempts and yet look how far we’ve come. As much as we have advanced in such a short time I can only imagine what the next 100 years in aviation will be like.
- Wally
Autoland was in its infancy when I started and the idea of navigating to less that 0.01 nautical miles accuracy would have been laughable. And that was just 42 years ago. I can't begin to hypothesize about the next 100 years but I can take a crack at the next 10. I do think we will be seeing single pilot airliners by then and I rue the day. Last year “Robo Pilot,” a drop in device that held the yoke and throttle as well as pushed the rudder pedals of a Cessna 172, passed its practical test with the FAA watching. Of course it also crashed a few flights later. But no matter, we are getting there. The FAA is also on a verge of approving single pilot cargo flights on very large airplanes. The idea is that if the only pilot on the aircraft is incapacitated, a standby pilot on the ground will guide the airplane to a large runway capable of supporting auto land and will do just that.
Photo: RoboPilot, New Scientist, 9 Jan 2019
Unlike a traditional autopilot, the ROBOpilot Unmanned Aircraft Conversion System literally takes the controls, pressing on foot pedals and handling the yoke using robotic arms. It reads the dials and meters with a computer vision system.
Click photo for a larger image
Most of we human pilots who have been around for a while are prone to rejoicing the fact the long awaited pilot shortage is here. Not me. As I near the age where most of my flying will be in back with two youngsters up front, I fear the day it will be one youngster up front and I am certain I will be around for that to happen. What really scares me, however, is the day it becomes no youngsters up front.
I read a study a while back that asked members of the flying public if they would give up the second pilot on an airline flight they are aboard if it meant the would save five dollars on the ticket. The results were predictable: an overwhelming majority said no. But buried in the study was this: a majority of the millennials asked said yes.
So that leads me to the 100 year prediction: Beam me up, Scotty.
- Eddie
Record Setting Intentional Noncompliance
. . . and other Case Studies
Barraclough, Martin, The Race for the Cape: A History of the Record-Breaking Flights Between London and Cape Town, 1920 - 2010, Words by Design, U.K., 2016
Hambling, David, New Scientist, 9 September 2019,
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