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| ALLIANCE AIRLINES FOKKER F28 MK70 VH-QQW (CN 11569) |
Alliance Airlines is celebrating the Great Air Race’s centenary with the community of Darwin Northern Territory today. To honor the Pilots and Mechanics of G-EAOU and celebrate their courageous accomplishment, Alliance’s VH-QQW Fokker 70 1919 Great Air Race jet aircraft is visiting cities and regional towns around Australia. Heartfelt congratulations to Pilots Ross and Keith Smith, and Mechanics Sergeants Walter Shiers and James Bennett, who won the England to Australia competition in their Vickers Vimy G-EAOU 100 years ago today,the 10 December 1919. (Alliance Instagram page)
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia. Of the six entries that started the race, the winners were pilot Ross Smith, his brother Keith Smith as co-pilot, and mechanics James Bennett and Wally Shiers, in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber. (The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft developed and manufactured by Vickers Limited).
Original Route
The official starting place for the competitive flight was the Hounslow aerodrome (West London). Hounslow was then the main ‘civilian’ aerodrome of London, and all commercial machines inward and outward bound started from or landed there. On the morning of November 12th 1919 at around 8am, the Vickers Vimy took off from the snow-covered Hounslow aerodrome bound for Lyons France.
At 3.40pm on the 10th December 1919 Ross and Keith Smith landed the Vimy at Darwin's Fannie Bay airfield - 27 days and 20 hours after departing Hounslow Airfield in London.
Below is the path they took.
Date Start Finish
| 12 Nov | London | Lyons (France) |
| 13 Nov | Lyons | Pisa (Italy) |
| 15 Nov | Pisa | Rome |
| 16 Nov | Rome | Taranto |
| 17 Nov | Taranto | Crete (Greece) |
| 18 Nov | Crete | Cairo (Egypt) |
| 19 Nov | Cairo | Damascus (Syria) |
| 20 Nov | Damascus | Ramadie (Iraq) |
| 21 Nov | Ramadie | Basra |
| 23 Nov | Basra | Bundar Abbas (Iran) |
| 24 Nov | Bundar Abbas | Karachi (Pakistan) |
| 25 Nov | Karachi | Delhi (India) |
| 27 Nov | Delhi | Allahabad |
| 28 Nov | Allahabad | Calcutta |
| 29 Nov | Calcutta | Burma (Myanmar) |
| 30 Nov | Burma | Rangoon |
| 1 Dec | Rangoon | Bangkok (Thailand) |
| 2 Dec | Bangkok | Singora |
| 4 Dec | Singora | Singapore |
| 6 Dec | Singapore | Java (Indonesia) |
| 7 Dec | Java | Surabaya |
| 8 Dec | Surabaya | Bima (Sumbawa) |
| 9 Dec | Bima | Timor |
| 10 Dec | Timor | Darwin |
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