Vickers Vimy replica arrives in St. John's

Last updated Jun 10 2005 08:18 AM NDT
CBC News

ST. JOHN'S – A replica of the history-making Vickers Vimy biplane has landed safely in St. John's, as two adventurers prepare to recreate Alcock and Brown's transatlantic flight of 1919.

CBC NEWS INDEPTH: Aviation

Arthur Whitten Brown and John Alcock made world history in June 1919.

Adventurers have brought the replica to the start of the famous 1919 flight that redefined the possibilities of aviation.
John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown stunned the world when they completed the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. They lifted from a field in St. John's – off Blackmarsh Road – on June 14, 1919.

Alcock and Brown landed in Ireland 16 hours later, winning a prize offered by the Daily Mail newspaper.

Mark Rebholz, who served as pilot for the pilot's 11-hour leg from Quebec City, described the flight as bone-chilling, but exciting.

John LaNoue, the co-pilot on this leg, says the plane comes as close to the original as possible, without jeopardizing safety.

"We have a tail wheel, which the original did not have, [and] we have brakes, which the original did not have," LaNoue says.

Using just a sextant and a compass, Rebholz can sympathize with what the original flight was like for Alcock and Brown.

"They maintained their airplane, they tried to dress warm and when they [landed], their feet [were] just as numb as mine are right now," said Rebholz.

"It's very close to the original."

The replica left Toronto June 1, and has been making hops across Canada since.

FROM JUNE 1, 2005: Vickers Vimy replica en route to St. John's

Rebholz will act as co-pilot and navigator for the recreation of the 1919 flight.

The pilot will be Steve Fossett, who made history of his own in March by completing the first solo, nonstop flight around the world.

Fossett and Rebholz will not be using conventional navigational tools, but will rely on the same types of sextant and compass that Alcock and Brown deployed.

Roger Pike of Labrador Airways, which is a sponsor of the flight, admires the dedication that has gone into the recreation.

"I think they're adventurers," he says. "They're not crazy – they're professional pilots."

The Vickers Vimy was a technological marvel of its age.

The original biplanes were used as bombers during the First World War, gaining their name from the 1917 battle of Vimy Ridge, one of the greatest victories in Canadian military history.