Podcasts reflect Amy Johnson's solo flight to Australia

Podcasts reflect Amy Johnson's solo flight to Australia

Another podcast to add to the list of those I posted about a month ago and again one of particular historical interest, celebrating as it does the 90th anniversary of aviatrix Amy Johnson's amazing solo flight from England to Australia over the course of nineteen days from the 5th to the 24th May 1930.

Amazing is just the word to describe her achievement considering she had only learned to fly less than a year previously, in July 1929, and by all accounts had barely 75 hours' solo flying experience when she took off from Croydon Aerodrome on the 5th May 1930 with the aim of beating the 15 days' record flight time to Australia that at the time was held by the pioneer Australian aviator Bert Hinkler.

Amy Johnson and her aeroplane Jason in India, May 1930 

As it turned out events conspired against Amy and she missed out on the record by only 4 days, however she was still rewarded with a CBE in the 1930 Birthday Honours and is rightly remembered as the first Englishwoman to fly solo to Australia (and later, in 1932, breaking the record for a solo flight from England to South Africa).

The enormity of her accomplishment(s) and the manner in which they captured the public's imagination at the time can best be appreciated through the sheer number of people both in England and Australia who turned out to greet her on her arrival/ return, as well as her having a popular song written and recorded in June 1930:







Her diary and notes from the Australian flight forms the basis of this series of podcasts created by the Amy Johnson Arts Trust, a charity based in Amy's home town of Hull, and which recreates day-by-day her remarkable journey in what is a very immediate and vivid performance.  They are, as the Trust's director suggests, an excellent and very timely way to mark Amy Johnson's remarkable feat and her important role as a pioneer of women's aviation.  I look forward to listening to them over the coming weeks and hope they will prove popular.



While researching for this post I also came across a recently uploaded amateur production from 2010 by Cambridge theatre company BAWDS, which looks worth watching, and of course the 1942 film They Flew Alone starring Anna Neagle as Amy is also highly recommended by this blogger.

Vintage Adventurer aims to set new world record in U.S. ocean to ocean challenge

source

Vintage Adventurer aims to set new world record in U.S. ocean to ocean challenge

Just over one year ago I featured the story of Australian "vintage adventurer" Ron Wade and his intention to drive his 1930 Ford Model A from Beijing to Paris in the Peking-Paris Rally, then across the continental U.S.A. and finally from London to Cape Town - and trying to break world records into the bargain!

Now Mr Wade and his car have made the news again and I'm delighted to see that they are on the verge of embarking on the second stage of their around-the-world adventure - the "Ocean 2 Ocean America Challenge" - having successfully completed the gruelling Peking-Paris Motor Challenge in a remarkable 33 days earlier this year!  I never doubted that they would do it and the old Model A has proven to be a sturdy motor car I knew it would be.  (Incidentally if you ever get the chance to read the account of the original 1907 Peking-Paris race by Luigi Barzini Jr. - son of the journalist who travelled with the winning car - I can highly recommend it.)

The next challenge for Ron Wade and his Model A begins, fittingly enough, on Columbus Day (the 14th of October) when they begin the Ocean 2 Ocean challenge - to drive across the U.S.A. from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific (and, in a nice touch, Mr Wade will carry a bottle of water taken from the Atlantic Ocean and empty it into the Pacific upon his arrival!).  Here they hope to break their first record - to undertake the journey in less than 60 hours!  Will they do it?  Well, you can follow their progress on the Vintage Adventurer website; I for one am sure they'll manage it.

I'm equally certain they'll beat the London-Cape Town record too, although that attempt has yet to be confirmed.  No doubt we will hear of Ron Wade and his Model A again when it is; in the meantime, good luck to him in the Ocean 2 Ocean and "good on yer, cobber!" for being such a gentlemanly good sport all in the name of charity and "vintage" adventure.

Mallard anniversary: Steam locomotive Bittern marks record run

Mallard anniversary: Steam locomotive Bittern marks record run

This coming Wednesday, the 3rd of July, sees the 75th anniversary of a landmark event in steam locomotion - the world record-breaking 126mph run of the streamlined A4 Pacific steam locomotive Mallard.  On that date in 1938 this beautiful engine left London Kings Cross for Grantham in Lincolnshire, without fanfare, ostensibly for a braking test run.  However during the return journey, on a section of track just south of Grantham, Mallard topped out at a remarkable 126 miles per hour (203kph).  No other steam-powered locomotive has exceeded that speed since and so to this very day Mallard still holds the World Speed Record for steam.  Alas, although it has since been restored and has pride of place at the National Railway Museum in York, it can no longer move under its own power.



However, to commemorate this long-standing achievement, one of Mallard's sister engines - Bittern - was yesterday permitted to exceed the usual 75mph limit for steam trains on a British main line while undertaking a special London-York jaunt, "The Ebor Streak".  Its highest speed was recorded at 92.8mph (149kph), allowing the passengers (and the rest of us, thanks to footage of the event) the chance to experience high speed steam travel - even if it was still 30mph slower than that day three-quarters of a century ago.  Gad, wouldn't I like to have been on that train all the same!



Mallard steam locomotive to return to Grantham

This special run is just one of a series of events planned to commemorate Mallard's record, with further derestricted journeys by Bittern on the 19th ("The Tyne-Tees Streak) and 27th ("The Capital Streak") of July.  The highlight of the celebrations (if 90 mile-an-hour steam trains aren't highlight enough for you!) will be the gathering at the NRM in York of the six surviving A4 Pacific engines (from the original 35) - Mallard, Bittern, Sir Nigel Gresley, Union of South Africa, Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first time all of them will have been seen together!  (Four of them can be seen here in this film from 2008).  Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower have even been specially shipped over from the Canadian Railway Museum in Montreal and the National Railroad Museum in Wisconsin, respectively, to be restored and take part in it all!

Much work has been done to make the marking of this anniversary a rightly special one and the list of events looks truly spectacular.  I'll look forward to seeing more footage of the high speed runs and the six A4s over the next month or so and will maybe feature them on here again (if I can overcome the disappointment of not being there in person!).  All in all, some stunning celebrations for a truly stunning piece of British engineering.

Rare vintage racing Bugatti could fetch world record price

Rare vintage racing Bugatti could fetch world record price

Once again another rare Bugatti makes its way onto the auction circuit and threatens to break the record price paid for a car of its type. This time it is a 1931 Type 51 Grand Prix racer, in highly original condition. That fact alone should ensure that it commands a high premium, even among the rarefied atmosphere of such vintage cars. Of only the 40 or so made this particular example is supposedly one of the best , with a good history (particularly considering that, by all accounts, the Type 51 was not one of Bugatti's most successful race cars - although that may add to the charm). Just as in the art world, these are the things collectors look for in a purchase and as mentioned in the article (and touched upon here in previous, similar posts) the classic car market is well known for bucking the general trend of the economy as the rich and discerning look for secure investment opportunities. I hope (and feel sure) that whoever ends up buying this one-of-a-kind car, however much they pay for it, is a car buff as well as a speculator and will enjoy his purchase for its aesthetic qualities and racing pedigree as much as for its monetary potential.

World's largest coin goes on sale in Vienna

World's largest coin goes on sale in Vienna

A mightily impressive creation here from the Canadian Mint as they produce what is both the largest and highest-denomination coin in the world. Too big (and too expensive!) for my collection I'm afraid! Too big and expensive for the company that originally commissioned it too, it seems. I suppose though that it's just as good as gold bars and is certainly a novel use for 100 kilograms of top grade bullion. I'm sure it will make a good conversation piece for whoever ends up buying it, although I don't think they'll be using it to buy their groceries!