On 5 February 1939, British air racer
Alex Henshaw (27 years of age at the time) flew a return trip from Cape Town to London on
4 days, 10 hours and 16 minutes in a single-engined aircraft, setting a world record that would last for an amazing
70 years.
Finally, Henshaw’s record has been broken – by a South African pilot.
SAA captain
Charles “Chalkie” Stobbart, is 60 years of age - just 10 years younger than the record he broke. He, too, flew a single-engined plane (an
Osprey GP4, home-built, right) and bettered Henshaw’s time by 18 hours and 59 minutes, completing the return trip in three days, 15 hours and 17 minutes.
Stobbart was delighted at his achievement and says the experience was frightening as often as it was tedious. A broken satellite phone (he sat on it!) faulty stormscope, dust storms over the Sahara and freezing rain all added to the excitement en route.
At one point he had nothing but the light of the full moon to guide him through thunderstorms as he flew between Kano and Brazzaville.
The flight was not non-stop. There were 3 fuelling stops in Africa on both legs of the journey and Stobbart slept for 12 hours in the UK capital before his return flight.
Alex Henshaw passed away in 2007 – less than 2 years too early to see his record broken.
(Image of Alex Henshaw: Wikicommons. Image of Osprey aircraft: Source)
