The Second day
On the second day of the race – October 21st – Wright and
Polando took off from Rome in Monocoupe "Baby Ruth", bound for Athens. Also
in Italy that morning, the Fairey Fox G-ACXX flown by Gilman and Baines
crashed near Palazzo San Gervasio. Harold Gilman and James Baines died in
the crash.
KLM's entry, DC-2 PH-AJU 'Uiver',
crewed by K.D. Parmentier, J.J. Moll,
B. Prins, C. Van Brugge
The Mollisons set a new England-India record when they landed Comet G-ACSP
"Black Magic" at Karachi, around 10 a.m. With Scott and Campbell-Black
drawing closer in G-ACSS, they were soon airborne again, but problems with
the landing gear failing to retract forced them to return for several hours
of repairs. They took off again but had to return, as their maps were
unsuitable for night flying.
As G-ACSP was returning, the Dutch crew in DC-2 PH-AJU "Uiver" touched down, to take off again in half an hour. The other Dutch entrant, the Panderjager, landed in the dark. The crew could not see that one wheel was not down, and the aircraft was damaged, but the crew were confident of rejoining the race. After midnight, Cathcart-Jones and Waller landed in green DH.88 Comet G-ACSR with an oil leak.
The first serious mishap of the race put one of the Australian entries out of contention, when the Woods and Bennett Lockheed Vega "Puck", G-ABGK, overturned on landing at Aleppo, Syria.
Scott and Campbell-Black, in the lead, stopped briefly at Allahabad before taking off directly across the Bay of Bengal, bound for Singapore.
As G-ACSP was returning, the Dutch crew in DC-2 PH-AJU "Uiver" touched down, to take off again in half an hour. The other Dutch entrant, the Panderjager, landed in the dark. The crew could not see that one wheel was not down, and the aircraft was damaged, but the crew were confident of rejoining the race. After midnight, Cathcart-Jones and Waller landed in green DH.88 Comet G-ACSR with an oil leak.
The first serious mishap of the race put one of the Australian entries out of contention, when the Woods and Bennett Lockheed Vega "Puck", G-ABGK, overturned on landing at Aleppo, Syria.
Scott and Campbell-Black, in the lead, stopped briefly at Allahabad before taking off directly across the Bay of Bengal, bound for Singapore.
Red DH.88 Comet, G-ACSS 'Grosvenor House', of C.W.A. Scott & T. Campbell-Black
Roscoe Turner was, meanwhile, having trouble finding Allahabad, having
encountered storms and strong winds which forced him off course. Finally he
spotted the airport when they responded to his request to blink their
lights, and pulled off a proficient landing down-wind. His Boeing was now in
third place, thanks to the Dutch Panderjager's misfortune, behind the DC-2.
Scott and Campbell-Black struggled through a fierce storm but reached Singapore safely, refuelled, and set off on the leg for Darwin. The DC-2 stopped at Calcutta, then pushed on to Rangoon. Back at Karachi, Cathcart-Jones and Waller found that G-ACSR had a serious oil leak, and whilst it was under repair, the black Comet, G-ACSP, took off for Allahabad, but landed at Jobbolpore, an unscheduled stop, for fuel. Finding no aviation fuel, they filled up with petrol used by the local bus service. Flying on this, a piston siezed and an oil line ruptured. There was no hope of timely repair when they reached Allahabad, and the Mollisons withdrew.
Scott and Campbell-Black struggled through a fierce storm but reached Singapore safely, refuelled, and set off on the leg for Darwin. The DC-2 stopped at Calcutta, then pushed on to Rangoon. Back at Karachi, Cathcart-Jones and Waller found that G-ACSR had a serious oil leak, and whilst it was under repair, the black Comet, G-ACSP, took off for Allahabad, but landed at Jobbolpore, an unscheduled stop, for fuel. Finding no aviation fuel, they filled up with petrol used by the local bus service. Flying on this, a piston siezed and an oil line ruptured. There was no hope of timely repair when they reached Allahabad, and the Mollisons withdrew.