s
980
RIGHT
International,
11 June
1970
Fourteen hours
to
Singapore
HOW THE RAF CLAIMED A NEW RECORD
On May 18-19 and 19-20 the RAF flew two pairs of
McDonnell
Douglas I Rolls-Royce
Spey-powered
Phantom
FGR.2s from Coningsby
to Tengah in an official
attempt
on the London-Singapore
record, achieving a best time of
14hr 8min. Here the background
to the flight, and the
fastest
crew's experience,
are described
by
Humphrey
Wynn after he met the crews in Singapore.
CHIEVEMENT OF TIMES of just over 14 hours for non-stop
flights between London and Singapore—14hr 14min on
L
May 18-19 and 14hr 8min on May 19-20—marked the
culmination of more than a year's determination by 54 Sqn
of R A F Air Support Command to prove that its Phantoms
could go that far that fast. The time of 14hr 8min (both days'
flights were observed by the Royal Aero Club) is being
submitted as a new record time between the two capitals.
The idea for such an attempt sprang from the squadron
itself, after it had deployed two Phantoms to R A F Tengah,
Singapore, in December 1969. At that time, R A F Phantoms
were ony cleared by the Ministries of Defence and Technology
to fly continuously for periods of up to lOhr. T h e trip to
Tengah was a proving flight, to see how the aircraft would
stand up to it, and what the refuelling and other requirements
were. T h e Phantoms staged through Masirah on the way out
from the UK, and through Masirah and Luqa on the way
back. Previously in 1969 the squadron's " C " Flight commander, Sqn Ldr John Nevill, and senior navigator, Sqn Ldr
Don Read, had done a ten-hour proving flight round the U K
and had discussed the non-stop to Singapore possibility.
On December 13 and 15, 1969, they had achieved the then
fastest flying time between London and Singapore—15hr 49min.
From this flight the idea of doing it non-stop emerged at
squadron level, its progenitors "sowing thei seed" as widely
as they could at higher levels.
This seed flourished, for approval had already been given
for release of Service time on the Phantom to up to 15hr. At
1800hr local time on April 23, 1969, two Phantoms took off
from Coningsby, flew round the U K for 15hr and landed at
A
Phantom arrival at Singapore: first of the 54 Sqn aircraft just after
touch-down at RAF Tengah
Coningsby at 0905hr on the following morning. Crews of the
two aircraft were, respectively, Sqn Ldr John Nevill and
Fit Lt Barry Maynard, and Sqn Ldrs G. Arkell-Hardwick and
Don Read. On this trip, regarded as a 100 per cent success,
the Phantoms made six circuits of the U K and were refuelled
five times by Victors from Marham off the east coast. After it
the aircraft were pronounced serviceable and the crews were
in good shape. This confirmed that both could do 15hr flying
with safety. The "ten hour barrier" had been thrown down.
Meanwhile the squadron knew it was going out to Singapore
Bersatu Padu for Exercise.
It got clearance for a non-stop flight, provided the aircraft
met certain engine criteria. T h e CO, Wg Cdr R. J. Bannard,
said: "We will go for two pairs." The leader of each pair
was to be a crew which had done 15hr flying around the UK.
Thus the two pairs, in order of departure from Coningsby,
were Sqn Ldrs G. Arkell-Hardwick and D. Read and Fit Lts
J. Armstrong and B. Mayner; and Sqn Ldr John Nevill and
Fit Lt "Jim" Straughan, and Fit Lts John Walmsley and
Aubrey Spencer, the first pair leaving on Monday, May 18.
By way of preparation, the four crews each had 24hr off duty
and endeavoured to get a good night's rest beforehand.
In-flight rations for the trip consisted of sandwiches and
apples, and two pints of (cold) fluid. As for comfort en route,
a suitable pack provided for relief when necessary, and the
crews found their Martin Baker Mk 5A ejection seats "most
comfortable"—"we suppose they never thought that a chap
would sit in it for fifteen hours." T h e seats are well contoured,
have a formed plastic seat, give good support under the legs,
and the lumbar pack is in the right place in the back. The
back of the pilot's seat has a 2 deg greater slope back than the
navigator's. Although this doesn't sound much, it gives the
pilot the right amount of back-rest, which the navigator
doesn't need as a good deal of the time he's bending forward
slightly as he looks at' charts or writes. Sqn Ldr Nevill
reckoned that with the Phantom's "splendid autopilot"
(American with British-made parts) the pilots did only about
two or three hours' manual flying on the trip.
Victor tankers from Marham operated from there and along
the route—at the three islands, Akrotiri (Cyprus), Masirah
and Gan—to refuel the Phantoms. At each R V (refuelling
rendezvous) two Victors gave fuel to the Phantoms, the first
giving a big offload, the second a top up.
To time the flight as an official record attempt, Royal Aero
Club observers were located at Coningsby, Heathrow radar
and Tengah. At Coningsby, the observer put seals on the
airframe and engines and noted the tail numbers; the Heathrow
observer timed the start a t Hornohurch (a record attempt