Heston Aerodrome - Flight Record Attempts

Flight Record Attempts

On 25 September 1930, The Hon Mrs Victor Bruce took off in her Blackburn Bluebird IV (G-ABDS, named Bluebird) on a round the world solo flight. On 24 November, having covered 10,330 miles in 25 flying days, she reached Tokyo. She travelled by ship to Vancouver, where the Bluebird was re-assembled. She flew via Medford, Oregon, Tucson, Arizona, San Diego and Baltimore to New York, where she embarked on a ship bound for Le Havre. On 19 February 1931, she flew to Lympne Airport, having flown about 19,000 miles and set several world records. The next day, she was given an aerial escort to Croydon Airport, where a reception of press and celebrities awaited her. She later flew back to Heston, and greeted there by Nigel Norman.

On 9 August 1934, the first flight from inland Canada (Wasaga Beach, Ontario) to the UK, a distance of 3,700 miles, landed at Heston after a flying time of 30 hours 55 minutes. The pilots, J.R.Ayling and L.G.Reid, in a DH.84 Dragon (G-ACJM) named "Trail of the Caribou", were attempting to beat the then long distance flying record (5,657 miles) by flying 6,300 miles from Wasaga Beach to Baghdad. However, icing of the engine throttle controls increased fuel consumption and, together with bad weather, resulted in the flight being terminated early.