HARELINES

LONDON TO SYDNEY AND EVER ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

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

by David Hare

The Race

Sunday Dubai for once in reasonable shape! Sunday had been declared a non-race day, so with help from our friends in Bahrain we got away in good shape without having to worry about the Organisation, and arrived for once without feeling so worn by sitting around on the tarmac for several hours as to be just an accident waiting to happen. Even so, we had to abandon the Organisation's bus and commandeer another one from the handling Agents to get to the hotel!
Some of the arguments which have been going on are settled; the F.A.I. ruled that the Biggin to Cannes leg must count, (see my last report) which pleased a few, and the Race Committee decided that Cairo to Luxor must count too, so we are appealing against that!

It seems the obvious dissatisfaction among the competitors may have filtered through to the Organisation; clearly they worked hard with the ATC to explain what was going on, with the result we had a properly organised and disciplined departure and arrival here in Muscat. A representative of the Race Organisation was actually on hand when we landed and doing his genuine best to organise the refuelling - with willing help from BP with the actual equipment on hand. Tomorrow, a new departure arrangement is to be tried out, dividing the planes into three groups, the groups taking turns to go first or last. My Captain suggested something like that on the third day out, but it wasn't acceptable to the Organisation. It has now resurfaced in a slightly different guise, and may reduce the tarmac time. Maybe we've turned a corner!

Surprisingly, to me at any rate, among other things we were told last night was that the Air Race is not in financial difficulties and the Race will go "all the way". I have no knowledge of that, nor any comment about it. There is, or was when I last looked, a "reconstruction accountant" among the directors of the company running the Organisation, but the financial arrangements have always been pretty opaque. So I'm not speculating about this; our positioning flight to Sydney should be OK even if we finish under our own steam!

The World Tour

We think we're still on course! Clearances are coming through: Adak in the Aleutians will have fuel for us, leaving us needing just the Weather to worry about. The map seems mainly blue between Hawaii - Midway - Aleutians, but I expect we'll have come to know and love the ferry tanks by then!

Next Report Yangon, or Delhi, or not as the case may be.

Coasting out over the Red Sea en route from Luxor to Bahrain

Some of the competitors on the ground at Muscat

Two Aviators being intrepid by the Muscat Novotel's Pool