Biplane touches down in St. John's

CTV.ca News Staff

A replica Vimy Vickers biplane landed in St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday, ahead of an attempt to recreate a historic transatlantic flight.

Having left Quebec City earlier in the day, pilot Mark Rebholz landed the biplane at St. John's International Airport shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time.

Next week, adventurer Steve Fossett will join Rebholz for an attempt to fly the plane directly to Clifden, Ireland, following the route first flown in 1919 by British fliers John Alcock and Arthur Brown.

Their's was the first non-stop transatlantic flight in an open cockpit biplane.

When it's airborne, the ten-year-old wood-and-canvas replica of the 1919 biplane chugs along at a maximum speed of 120 km/h. That means Rebholz and Fossett expect to take as much as 20 hours to complete their trip to Ireland.

In contrast, when Fossett made aviation history last March, he took less than 70 hours to circumnavigate the entire globe.

To recreate the conditions of Alcock and Brown's historic flight, Fossett and Rebholz are eschewing modern navigational aids for a compass and naval sextant.

The pair are expected to launch their flight, depending on conditions, sometime next week.

In addition to his recent non-stop solo circumnavigation distinction, Fossett already holds a number of other aviation and sailing records, including the first round-the-world solo balloon flight.