1953 Air Race - Viscount at EN

Viscount G-AMAV, race number 23, at a damp Essendon during a refuelling stop-over on the way home after the October 1953 London to Christchurch Air Race. Click here to see a colour photo and read more about this interesting aircraft.

The winner of the transport handicap section of the race was a KLM DC-6A, however the Viscount gained second place. It also set an FAI Class C1/1 speed record from London to Melbourne of 293.6 mph, covered in 35 hrs 47 mins and halving the 71 hr winning time set by De Havilland Comet racer G-ACSS in the 1934 MacRobertson air race.

(Photo: CAHS collection)

1953 London to Christchurch Air Race

Viscount G-AMAV, race number 23, at a damp Essendon during a refuelling stop-over on the way home after the October 1953 London to Christchurch Air Race. Click here to see a colour photo and read more about this interesting aircraft. The winner of the transport handicap section of the race was a KLM DC-6A, however the Viscount gained second place. It also set an FAI Class C1/1 speed record from London to Melbourne of 293.6 mph, covered in 35 hrs 47 mins and halving the 71 hr winning time set by De Havilland Comet racer G-ACSS in the 1934 MacRobertson air race. (Photo: CAHS collection)

The crew of KLM's entry in the 1953 Air Race, DC-6A PH-TGA Dr Ir M H Damme. L-R: Third Officer J Noomen, Capt. H A A Kooper, First Officer J F Griffith, Second Officer P J Aarts. This aircraft, carrying a load of passengers and mail, won the Handicap Section with a time of 37 hrs 30 min. (Photo: Qantas, published in Airways, October 1953) See the Tally Room at DCA HQ, Melbourne Read Fifty Years Ago - 1953 Back to the main Items of General Interest index If this page appears without a menu bar at top and left, click here