MacRobertson Air Race

The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race (also known as the London to Melbourne Air Race) took place in October 1934. It was a part of the Melbourne Centenary celebrations.
The idea of the race was devised by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and a prize fund of $75,000. The price was put up by Sir Macpherson Robertson, a wealthy Australian confectionery manufacturer. The conditions was that the race should be named after his MacRobertson confectionery company, and that it be organised to be as safe as possible.

The race was organised by the Royal Aero Club, and would run from RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia to Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne. The distance was approximately 11,300 miles or 18,200 km.

There were 5 compulsory stops at Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin and Charleville, Queensland. Apart from this the competitors could choose their own routes. A further 22 optional stops were provided with stocks of fuel and oil by Shell and Stanavo.

The Royal Aero Club put some effort into persuading the countries along the route to improve the facilities at the stopping points.

The basic rules were:
- no limit to the size of aircraft or power,
- no limit to crew size, no pilot to join aircraft after it left England,
- the aircraft was to carry three days' rations per crew member, floats, smoke signals and efficient instruments.

There were prizes for the outright fastest aircraft, and for the best performance on a handicap formula by any aircraft finishing within 16 days. Take off date was set at dawn (6:30) on 20 October 1934.

Significantly in the development of long-distance air travel, the second and third places were taken by passenger transports flying regular routes with passengers.

The KLM Douglas DC-2 Uiver (Stork) gaining a narrow advantage over Roscoe Turner's Boeing 247-D, both completing the course less than a day behind the winner.

Dramatic events
The most dramatic part of the race was when the Uiver, hopelessly lost after becoming caught in a thunderstorm, ended up over Albury, New South Wales.

The townsfolk responded magnificently - Lyle Ferris, the chief electrical engineer of the post office, went to the power station. From here he signalled "Albury" to the plane by turning the town lights on and off.
This was not all! Arthur Newnham, the announcer on radio station 2CO Corowa, appealed for cars to line up on the racecourse to light up a runway for the plane.

The plane landed, and the next morning it was pulled out of the mud by locals to fly on and win the handicap section of the race.

In gratitude KLM made a large donation to Albury Hospital and Alf Waugh, the Mayor of Albury, was awarded a title in Dutch nobility. Later that year 1934, the DC-2 crashed near Rutbah Wells, (now known as Ar Rutba, Iraq), and is now commemorated by a flying replica.

Official Finishing Order

Aircraft type - Identity - Race No. - Crew - Country of origin - Notes

1. DH.88 Comet'Grosvenor House' - G-ACSS - 34 - C. W. A. Scott, Tom Campbell Black - Britain - Elapsed time 71 h 0 min Outright Winner

2. Douglas DC-2 'Uiver' PH-AJU - 44, K.D. Parmentier, J.J. Moll, B. Prins, C. Van Brugge - Netherlands - Elapsed time 90 h 13 min Winner on handicap

3. Boeing 247D 'Warner Bros. Comet' NR257Y - 5 - Roscoe Turner, Clyde Edward Pangborn, Reeder Nichols - United States - Elapsed time 92 h 55 min

4. DH.88 Comet G-ACSR - 39, O. Cathcart Jones, K.F. Waller, Britain, - Elapsed time 108 h 13 min

Source: Wikipedia

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