The Race for the Cape
For the first time Martin Barraclough tells the full story how, throughout the last century, British and South African pilots conquered the air routes from London to Cape Town with ever-increasing speeds.
His history starts in 1920 with the creation by the Royal Air Force and the colonial administration of 43 landing grounds from Cairo to Cape Town – later known as the Imperial Route – to allow aeroplanes to fly the length of the continent. It closes with the continuing challenge to current aviators to beat the FAI’s Class records, or aspire to the ultimate challenge of a solo return flight of 10,000 miles over some of the world’s most inhospitable country and through some of the planet’s most hostile weather.
For the first time Martin Barraclough tells the full story how, throughout the last century, British and South African pilots conquered the air routes from London to Cape Town with ever-increasing speeds.
His history starts in 1920 with the creation by the Royal Air Force and the colonial administration of 43 landing grounds from Cairo to Cape Town – later known as the Imperial Route – to allow aeroplanes to fly the length of the continent. It closes with the continuing challenge to current aviators to beat the FAI’s Class records, or aspire to the ultimate challenge of a solo return flight of 10,000 miles over some of the world’s most inhospitable country and through some of the planet’s most hostile weather.