Good idea for a thread, Stewy44, hope lots of people join in!
Just finished a 're-enactment' of the DH88 Comet's epic flight in the 1934 MacRobertson England-Australia Air Race. Route was from Mildenhall, England via Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin, Charleville (Queensland), to Melbourne. I Just started putting on the odd video, hope this one (of the first leg) works.
http://www.simteevee.com/watch.php?mdid=1248&t=De+Havilland+Comet+Grosvenor+House++1934The trip left me lost in admiration for the two guys, Scott and Campbell Black. I kept track of time and date, made a point of allowing an hour for refuelling between parking and taxiing out, and used the 'real weather' for October 1934 (which seemed to be just about right, including lots of cloud).
My time (by the clock, including adverse time-changes) was 71 hours. Believe it or not, Scott and Campbell Black's time was ALSO 71 hours!
They were working on 'elapsed time,' of course - so I can say that I 'beat' them by 8 hours in terms of 'clock time.' But, of course, I did it in comfort, over several nights, with full 'navigation aids,' fully-equipped airports, and even my home-designed autopilot to do most of the flying.
They were risking their necks, flying nonstop, they had weather trouble AND engine trouble on the way, they could only navigate by map-reading and dead reckoning and - above all - they were risking their lives every mile of the way!
Left me convinced that that flight of theirs was one of the greatest aviation achievements ever.........