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The Trip
The Vimy team re-enacted the London to Cape Town flight
in 1999. Here's a summary of the flight's stops. Numbers beside
Arrival locations in Africa are cross-referenced to the
Africa map below.
Date |
Departure |
Arrival |
Flight Time / Comments |
1-Jun-99 |
Brooklands |
Local |
.5 / Demonstration flight
and send-off hosted by South African High Commission |
2-Jun-99 |
Brooklands |
Farnborough |
.5 / TAG Aviation event,
upload maximum fuel load for non-stop flight to Munich |
3-Jun-99 |
Farnborough |
Oberscheisheim Airfield,
Munich |
7.6 / Hosted by Deutsches
Museum, BMW display / event |
10-Jun-99 |
Munich |
Nancy, France |
3.6 / Customs / Immigration
stopover. Delayed by customs bureaucracy |
11-Jun-99 |
Nancy |
La Ferte Alais, France |
2.8 / Home of the Amicale
Jean-Baptiste Sallis aviation collection. Staging
base for the Paris Air Show |
14-Jun-99 |
La Ferte Alais |
Le Borgett, Paris |
1.1 / Appearance at the
Paris Air Show |
16-Jun-99 |
La Ferte Alais |
Cannes, France |
6.5 / Trying for Rome,
not enough daylight remaining. |
17-Jun-99 |
Cannes, France |
Taranto, Italy |
7.8 / Taranto was the staging
point for the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean
by Van Ryneveld and Brand. |
17-Jun-99 |
Taranto, Italy |
Brindisi, Italy |
.7 / No AVGAS in Taranto,
Brindisi for fuel. Took most of the day to get fuel.
Much bureaucracy. |
21-Jun-99 |
Brindisi, Italy |
Corfu, Greece |
3.5 / Had to leave Brindisi,
could not stay overnight. Too heavy to land back in
Taranto |
22-Jun-99 |
Corfu, Greece |
Alexandria, Egypt (1) |
9.3 / Our re-creation of
the first non-stop crossing of the Mediterranean Sea. |
23-Jun-99 |
Alexandria, Egypt |
Embabba, Giza ( near Cairo
- 2) |
1.7 / Modified cowlings
for better cooling. |
24-Jun-99 |
Embabba |
Local flight |
.8 / Dedicated photo flight
around Pyramids of Giza |
26-Jun-99 |
Embabba |
Luxor, Egypt (3) |
4.4 / First leg of deviation
of route to avoid Sudan airspace. Followed Nile River. |
27-Jun-99 |
Luxor, Egypt |
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (4) |
6.9 / Hosted by Peninsular
Aviation Services and Arabasco Delayed one day by
war between Eritria and Ethiopia. |
29-Jun-99 |
Jeddah |
Djibouti (5) |
8.9 / Intercepted by French
Air Force Mirages guarding airspace around Djibouti. |
4-Jul-99 |
Djibouti |
Djibouti |
6.0 / Aborted attempt to
cross Ethiopia non-stop to Kenya. Bad weather and
headwinds. |
12-Jul-99 |
Djibouti |
Mandera, Kenya (6) |
7.7 / Overflew parts of
Somalia, crossed Ethiopia to Kenya. Over night at
pilots quarters for relief agency serving refugee
camp. |
13-Jul-99 |
Mandera |
Nairobi, Kenya (7) |
8.8 / Hosted by Aero Club
of East Africa. R&R and Vimy maintenance. First
test flights at high density altitude. |
15-Jul-99 |
Nairobi, Kenya |
Lake Naivasha, Masai Mara
N.P. Sunburu Nanyuki (8) |
1.0 / Hosted by Iain and
Oria Douglas - Hamilton. Wild game photos. Mt. Kenya
photos. More high altitude testing. |
15-Jul-99 |
Nanyuki, Kenya |
Chyulu Hills, Kenya (9) |
2.6 / Hosted by Richard
Bonham and family. Kilimanjaro photos. Crosswind landing
damage and repair. Arrange for fuel in Mbeya, Tanzania |
21-Jul-99 |
Chyulu Hills |
Kilimanjaro Intíl
Airport (Arusha, Tanzania
- 10)
|
1.4/Tanzanian inbound customs
/ immigration. Fuel and lunch hosted by Kilimanjaro
Airports Development Company. |
21-Jul-99 |
Kilimanjaro Intíl
Airport |
Dodoma, Tanzania (11) |
2.8/ Fuel stop, high density
altitude departure test |
21-Jul-99 |
Dodoma, Tanzania |
Mbeya, Tanzania (12) |
3.3 / Overnight stop for
fuel and rest. Hosted by Mission Aviation Fellowship
(MAF) |
22-Jul-99 |
Mbeya, Tanzania |
Lilongwe, Malawi (13) |
5.3 / Mbeya was the most
critical high altitude take off of the entire journey.
Now we knew we had the performance to complete the
flight to Cape Town, South Africa |
23-Jul-99 |
Lilongwe, Malawi |
Lusaka, Zambia (14) |
4.4 / Zambian inbound customs
and immigration, fuel and lunch |
23-Jul-99 |
Lusaka, Zambia |
Livingstone, Zambia (15) |
3.2 / Original stopover
of 1920 flight. Aerial photos of Victoria Falls. |
24-Jul-99 |
Livingstone, Zambia |
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (16) |
4.4 / Largest and most
enthusiastic reception of the entire trip. Crash site
of the Silver Queen II in 1920. |
27-Jul-99 |
Bulawao, Zimbabwe |
Pietersburg, South Africa
(17) |
3.9 / First landing in
South Africa. Inbound customs and immigration. Fuel
and lunch. A very cold flight. |
27-Jul-99 |
Pietersburg, South Africa |
Swartkop SAAFB, near Pretoria,
S.A. (18) |
2.3 / Hosted by South African
Air Force Museum. |
28-Jul-99 |
Pretoria, S.A. |
Bloemfontein, S.A. (19) |
3.2 / Original stopover
of 1920 crew. Fuel and rest, very cold. |
29-Jul-99 |
Bloemfontein, S.A. |
Beaufort West, S.A. (20) |
3.8 / Low cloud, rain and
snow. Original stop in 1920. Very cold |
29-Jul-99 |
Beaufort West, S.A. |
Cape Town, S.A. (21) |
3.9 / Very cold. Low cloud
and rain in mountain passes. Arrival hosted by Air
BP. |
Africa Map
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