23 August 2013

This August marks the 100th Anniversary of the Circuit of Britain Race, a challenge sponsored by The Daily Mail, for the first pilot to fly around Britain in a waterplane. Of the four pilots who entered the race, Harry Hawker, an Australian, was the most successful. Not only was he the only entrant to start the race, he flew over 1000 miles of the 1540 mile race before crashing just north of Dublin. This was the longest distance flown over water at the time.

To commemorate Harry Hawker´s heroic flight, the oldest airworthy amphibian still flying in the UK, the IWM Duxford based Catalina G-PBYA plans to complete the same circuit. The plane and crew will, as closely as possible, follow the 1913 route over a five day historic flight.

Martin Briscoe has provided the following information about the proposed timetable of the flyover by Catalina seaplane

Thursday 22 August

1030 Depart RAF Leeming
1048 Return to Whitby and then coastal route north
1105 Orbit Seaham. (Hawker put down here for repairs)
1128 Orbit Beadnell. (Hawker put down here too)
1202 EGQL RAF Leuchars
1216 Orbit Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre. Hawker put down here.
1225 Continue coastal to Stonehaven.1231 Display at Aberdeen and flypast airport
1300 Peterhead
1310 Fraserburgh
1320 Banff (former Coastal Command base with monument)
1332 EGQS RAF Lossiemouth (Possible landing)

Following times assume no landing at RAF Lossiemouth but if there is a landing then extra 60 minutes at least would be added to subsequent times.
Continue west to Cromarty Firth.
1345 Orbit Invergordon
1347 Display at Cromarty
1400 Return to Invergordon and
1405 overfly Dingwall
1414 Overfly Dores to proceed down Great Glen
1424 Overfly Glendoe and
1436 Overfly Fort William
1450 Oban. Overfly Highland Games prior to closing and arrive EGEO Oban 1500
Day 3 - Friday 23 August Rest Day in Oban with morning display over harbour at 1030. (Display application has been made broadly open
to allow for a display at anytime throughout Friday or on Saturday morning to allow for weather issues. If weather is good then it will be Friday morning.)
Aircraft open for inspection at Oban Airport in afternoon with short local flight late afternoon.

Day 4 - Saturday 24 August
1100 Depart EGEO Oban and overfly Oban Harbour then coastal route south to overfly North Coast and Kiells (Hawker set down for repairs here)

No doubt times may change so worth keeping an eye on their web-site
(http://projecthawker2013.com/) or Twitter (@ProjectHawker).