At least two aircraft retire from Vintage Air Rally after engine failures

06 December 2016 - 16:17 By Roxanne Henderson
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The aviators of two vintage airplanes journeying across Africa in the Vintage Air Rally have flown into the face of danger and been forced to pack their bags and go home.

Pilot Maurice Kirk‚ dubbed the Flying Vet‚ recently dropped out of the rally after he struggled to stay on course and suffered a reported engine failure.

This according to rally spokesman Alan Evan-Hanes at a press briefing hosted by the organisers on Tuesday in Sandton‚ Johannesburg.

The rally's remaining crews are expected to touch down in the city next Monday before finishing the journey in Cape Town on December 17.

The Crete2Cape had 20 aircraft travelling over 8‚000 miles (12‚875km) in 35 days‚ stopping in a number of destinations including Greece‚ Egypt‚ Sudan‚ Ethiopia‚ Kenya‚ Tanzania and South Africa.

The vintage biplanes‚ manufactured mostly in the 1920s and 1930s‚ are supported by seven modern airplanes and three helicopters.

Kirk was flying a 1943 Piper Cub‚ first developed in the late 1930s in America‚ according to Evan-Hanes.

“The Piper Cub flies at about 120km/h. Flying against the wind it's easy to get blown off track. It is also limited on fuel‚” he said of Kirk's flying woes.

Two other aviators flying a Boeing-Stearman have also retired from the rally‚ after an engine failure sent their aircraft over on its nose in a forced landing.

“Both occupants are okay. The plane is not flyable‚” Evan-Hanes said.

All of the crews flying in the rally have had some misfortune along the way.

The entire rally was detained at Gambela Airport in Ethiopia for three days when authorities allegedly accused them of entering the country's airspace illegally‚ according to the organisers.

Zohra McDoolley-Aimone of the rally's official fuel sponsor Puma Energy‚ said that when she saw the crews in Zanzibar last week‚ after the ordeal‚ they said their morale had improved after spending some time in the natural beauty of Tanzania's Ngorongoro.

For Puma Energy‚ refuelling the planes along the way was no easy feat.

“We have had to transport fuel in drums [to hard to reach areas]. In the north of Zambia‚ after they had left Tanzania‚ there was a stretch where there was nowhere to land.

“We eventually identified a farm with a landing strip. The farmer agreed to let all the crews land there and refuel‚” said McDoolley-Aimone.

The rally will on Tuesday fly between Lusaka‚ Zambia and the Victoria Falls‚ Zimbabwe‚ before flying through Botswana and finally into South Africa.

Botswana's President Ian Khama‚ a pilot himself‚ has confirmed he will meet the teams at a cocktail party.

Once the rally is complete the aircraft will be disassembled and placed in containers‚ to be shipped to where they came from.

The participants mentioned above are not the only teams that have retired from the rally thus far‚ but other teams have joined along the way too‚ Evan-Hanes said.

He will join the rally for its South African leg.

“There is a certain romance to flying vintage aircraft‚ covered in oil‚ wearing goggles‚ suffering from wind burn. [You get to see] the spectacular scenery of the setting sun.”

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