HARELINES

LONDON TO SYDNEY AND EVER ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

(or round-and-round, there and back, etc.)

by David Hare

16th March 2001. LUXOR

The Race

5 legs completed, and we're not winning! For me, it started with a TV interview which I think my captain handled very well, but I made a pig's ear of, so I hope I'm edited out if it ever sees the light of Tele.

Anyway, the handicapping system requires us to cruise at a speed we can hardly achieve in a power dive, so we're a fair way off it in normal cruising flight. So we gave that up after Biggin Hill to Cannes and Cannes to Corfu, and went on to "precision". This means setting one's time at the start and declaring a couple of points en route and at the finish, with times to the nearest second at each. Robert is very good at this, so we have made up a few points, but unhappily yesterday (Cairo to Luxor) we were put into an en route hold for about 40 minutes, which ruined our timing. We thought to get an accurate time we should take actual time and subtract the holding time, since the hold is at a clearly defined point, but apparently the Race Organisation (if that's not too strong a word) thinks otherwise. Robert hopes to get this put right. The Biggin to Cannes section was declared a non-race, on account of the Organisation's flight recorders didn't work, and this caused a certain amount of grief, but I think it's probably fair enough, one must expect a certain amount of shaking down. Whether it was absolutely in accordance with the Rules I'm not sure, but I'm not sure it matters either.

There is at present a certain head of steam building up among the competitors, not least because of the very tiring hours we have to keep. Not untypical was yesterday, when we rose at 4.30 a.m. and finally got to the hotel at 5.30 p.m., even then after abandoning the air-race bus and getting our own taxi. All this for a flight of barely 3 hours, even including over an hour's holding at the en route point and overhead the field. That can't be helped, its an air traffic control thing, which varies all over the world. But the tiredness is quite a serious matter, which is apparently being addressed today. There is a meeting about it, but I prefer to write my report, because the problems are apparent enough, and I'm not sure the Race Organisation is capable of solving them. Better arrangements for refuelling would make a difference, but that would have had to be organised at least several months ago, when the Race Organisation carried out some of its reconnaissance, so I'm not sure what can be done at this stage. It seems they were told arrangements would be made for fuel, but no-one seems to have carried out any inspection of the available facilities. At Chania, for instance, one small bowser had to be refilled from drums by hand every two or three aircraft. A proper reconnaissance would have shown that the existing facilities were inadequate, and enquiries could have been made, and should have been followed up, to find out what was being done to bring them up to speed for a fleet of aircraft. For example, arrangements could have been made for an extra bowser to be temporarily available. These things can be done if they're worked at. But we in turn relied on what we were told by the Organisation, without carrying out an inspection of them, so maybe we've got what we deserve!

But clearly the Organisation carried out a proper reconnaissance(s) of the hotels! I think one can judge hotels by the quality of the showers, which puts Cannes Royal Hotel Casino at AA, Corfu even better, Crete the odd one out, but you can't win them all, and both Cairo and here at the Luxor Sheraton very good value. Today's r. & r. will be very welcome.

The World Tour

Not much to report here yet. Our clearances seem to be coming through OK; and money was sent to buy fuel at Midway today - it looks like Hawaii Midway Aleutians etc., which should be good. More later.

We have a Farewell at Biggin Hill

A member of the Airrace team's engineers (who has made an excellent impression) fixing our HF aerial which came unstuck again, at the front this time, between Biggin and Cannes (note that, Chris, if you're watching!)

The view of the Nile we enjoyed whilst going round and round and round in the hold at Luxor. We could almost draw it from memory.