ENGLAND TO RAND

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3813, 25 September 1936, Page 5

ENGLAND TO RAND

PRIZE AIR RACE. A FIVE DAYS’ LIMIT. London, August, 19. Interest quickens in the race from England to the Rand, for prizes aggregating £lO,OOO, which is scheduled to start on the night of September 29 and must end at Baragwanath Aerodrome, Johannesburg, not later than 120 hours afterwards, m that time competing aircraft must fly 6500 miles; via Belgrade and Cairo; the fastest racer may take no longer than two days for the entire journey, and no competitor is allowed more than five days in which to finish the course. Devised with the help of prizemoney by Mr. I. W. Schlesinger, a South African industrialist, the race coincides with the Johannesburg Exhibition. The eleven aircraft already nominated include single-engined and multi-engined machines capable of speeds approaching 200 miles per hour. At least one entirely new type of commercial aeroplane will make its first appearance in the race. The biggest prize, £4OOO, will go to the competitor who completes the course in the shortest time. Four prizes will be awarded on a formula handicap which is weighted in favour of machines carrying large useful loads. The first will be £3OOO, the second £l5OO, the third £lOOO, and the fourth £5OO. Only British pilots and British aircraft may compete. The racing conditions prepared by the Royal Aero Club, which is responsible for organisation, give every chance for spectacular achievement. No time allowance will be made for refuelling and other ground work; every aerodrome at which competitors alight will be the scene of tense activity directed by pilots who grudge every second that does not see them nearer the finishing line. The machines must be seen at Belgrade—a stipulation made to prevent too daring racers from taking the shortest way between England and Italy over the greatest length of the Mediterranean. Each pilot may refuel where he pleases. He may fly non-stop over long stages, with the power-plant throttled to economical cruising speed, or fly shorter stages at full throttle and refuel more frequently. Probably every crew in the race will have different ideas of the best way to achieve success.