Vickers Vimy

In the air
© 2005 David W Hebbard/East Coast Productions - used with permission

3 July 2005 - 1604 GMT - Clifden, Galway, Ireland: American pilot Steve Fossett and co-pilot / navigator Mark Rebholz successfully re-created the historic, first-ever 1919 TransAtlantic flight of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown today, landing their replica of the British pair's Vickers Vimy biplane on hole 8A of the Connemara Golf Links just after 5 pm local time.

The re-enactment of this landmark in the world of air transport, following the original route exactly, took 18 hours 15 mins as Fossett and Rebholz took off Saturday night from St John's, Newfoundland and flew at low altitude and at approximately 100 kts airspeed all through the night, navigating by sextant, compass and chart and hand-flying the accurate replica of the WWI era bomber. At 6+ tonnes all-up take off weight and almost 70' wingspan, the Vimy replica is the largest biplane flying today, as well being the largest hand-built aircraft.

Steve and Mark at St John's take-off
© 2005 David W Hebbard/East Coast Productions - used with permission

The 2005 TransAtlantic re-creation caps the career of this remarkable aircraft, conceived by Vimy project visionaries Peter McMillan and Lang Kidby and built in 1991-1994 by John LaNoue in California. The replica Vimy has already completed flights replicating the famous England-Australia (1994) and England-South Africa (1999) multi-stop Vimy pioneering flights of 1919-1920, but it was the fabled non-stop TransAtlantic crossing just 6 months after the cessation of hostilities (some 8 years before Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris) which completed the 'triple crown' for this very special airplane.

For latest information and media updates, please go to www.clifden.ie,  www.ngm.com/vimy and www.vimy.org

Vimy Media Contact: Jenny Moseley, European Crew Chief
Vimy Triple Crown - St. John's Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland
Operations centre, The Alcock and Brown Hotel, Clifden +353 95 21206; Fax +353 95 21842
Jenny Mobile +44 7885 327600 and Jenny UK office +44 1483 546006

Vimy landing in St John's earlier this month
© David W. Hebbard 2005 - used with permission

Saturday, June 25, 2005 - St John's, Newfoundland, Canada:   The Vickers Vimy replica was scheduled to depart from the St. John's International Airport at 7:00 PM Newfoundland time  today, Saturday, June 25, 2005, bound for Clifden Ireland, but it was reported late Saturday that a problem with the voltage regulator of the 6 tonne+ replica open-cockpit plane had temporarily grounded it.

It will take several days to find a replacement for the part.

Piloted by renowned aviator Steve Fossett, and co-pilot and navigator, Mark Rebholz, the Vimy will re-create the historic first non-stop transatlantic flight by John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown of June, 1919, hopefully later this coming week.

The flight is expected to take 18 - 20 hours with the Vimy landing at Connemara Championship Golf Links in Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.

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Broadcast and print press coverage opportunities for Clifden and Shannon, Ireland and the United Kingdom will be announced once the departure has been confirmed.

For all status and media updates, please go to www.ngm.com/vimy and www.vimy.org.

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The celebrated Vimy replica has already completed the first two legs of the "Vimy Triple Crown", historic flights that helped demonstrate the viability of commercial aviation, by successfully flying the 15,000 mile route from England to Australia in 1994, and the 9,000 mile journey from London to Cape Town in 1999.  The Vimy bi-plane has touched down in over 30 countries during her epic flights and even endured an engine failure and crash-landing in Sumatra, Indonesia.

True to the original flight, Rebholz will navigate the Atlantic crossing guided only by a sextant and compass - instruments available to the crew in 1919, and Fossett will pilot the wood and canvas plane at a speed of only 75 miles per hour, a far cry from the speed and conditions in which he recently attained his world record for circumnavigation of the globe in the jet-powered Virgin Global Flyer.  The flight of the Vimy across the Atlantic intrigued Fossett because it will add an historical milestone element to his long list of adventures in the air and at sea.

National Geographic magazine's website (www.ngm.com) is the official site for the Vickers Vimy's transatlantic voyage.  Go to www.ngm.com/vimy. In their only nod to modern technology, Fossett and Rebholz's plane will transmit live images from four onboard cameras following take-off, and these will be posted to the National Geographic website. National Geographic and the Vimy organization began their long standing relationship in 1994 when National Geographic sponsored the England to Australia voyage, and featured it on the cover of their May, 1995 issue. National Geographic Explorer televised a one-hour documentary of that dramatic flight.

The completion of the "Triple Crown" has been a twelve year labor of love for the Vimy team, a consortium of impassioned aviation buffs, led by San Franciscan, Peter McMillan, who assembled the team that created the Vimy replica, and who has piloted it on previous voyages.  McMillan says it best; From an ambitious dream in 1993, this primitive flying machine has now cast her graceful shadow over most of the Earth, as did her predecessors in the early days of aviation.  Wherever she has traveled, she radiates the spirit of the pioneers and reminds us all that adventure leads the path to progress.  Seeing the sunrise on the hills of Ireland will be her crowning moment.

About the Vimy Project: The Vimy Project was organized in 1993 by Peter McMillan and Lang Kidby to build a flying replica of the 1919 Vickers Vimy and relive its historic first flights across the globe.  The Vimy has flown nearly 40,000 miles to date, touching down in over 30 countries, reminding all who see her of the proficiency and self-reliance demonstrated by the pioneers of aviation.  This machine has truly become "The Galleon of the Skies" as she was known in 1919.  The project has been driven entirely through volunteer enthusiasm with the critical assistance of corporate and media partners, including the National Geographic Society.

About Steve Fossett: Steve Fossett is perhaps the world's best known adventurer, holding current world records in five sports - balloons, sailboats, gliders, airships and powered aircraft.  Steve's extraordinary 67 hour flight in March 2005 in Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer - the first solo non-stop round the world aircraft flight makes a unique match for his equally remarkable 2002 Bud Light Spirit of Freedom, the first solo round the world balloon flight.  In 2002, Steve received aviation's highest award, the Gold Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).

About Mark Rebholz: Co-pilot and Navigator Mark Rebholz is a long standing member of the Vimy team, having piloted many of the Vimy's previous flights.  Mark is responsible for all flight related activities, including flight planning, clearances, meteorology, and navigation.  Mark was chief test pilot for the Vimy's FAA certification, and has over 20,000 flying hours, 4,500 of which are in 24 different vintage-type aircraft. Mark is currently a Boeing 747 Captain for United Airlines.

About National Geographic magazine: National Geographic magazine is the official journal of the National Geographic Society, one of the world's largest nonprofit educational and scientific organizations. Published in English and 27 local-language editions, the magazine has a circulation of around 9 million that spans every country around the globe. It is sent each month to National Geographic members and is also available on newsstands for $4.95 a copy. Single copies can be ordered by calling (800) NGS-LINE, also the number to call to apply for membership of the Society.  The magazine's website is www.ngm.com.

Contacts:

Vimy Atlantic Media Coordinator - U.S and Canada
Linda Hannan
Media Gate Partners
(415)845-4880
lindahannan@yahoo.com

Local St. John's Newfoundland Media Coordinator
Dean Williams
(709)727-1769
williamsdean@nl.rogers.com

Vimy Atlantic and Media Coordinators - Ireland and United Kingdom
Jennifer Moseley Rosemary Dawson
011-44-7885-327-600 +353 868-279-380
jennifermoseley@aol.com | rdawson@eircom.net

National Geographic magazine
Laura Reynolds
Manager, Media Relations
(202) 857-7001
lreynold@ngs.org

Mark Rebholz and Steve Fossett with the Vimy replica before the latest test flight
© Thor Swift 2005 - used with permission

24 April 2005 - Novato, California, USA: Just a month after achieving the world's first solo, non-stop round the world airplane flight, record-setting aviator Steve Fossett (USA) has joined forces with American co-pilot and navigator Mark Rebholz and the Vimy Project to target the re-creation of one of the aviation world's first and greatest non-stop flights, the 1919 TransAtlantic flight from St John's, Newfoundland in Canada to Clifden, Co, Galway, Ireland achieved by British flyers John W. Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown. Their aircraft for the re-creation of the 16 hour+, 1,960 mile journey across the North Atlantic will be the well-known Vimy replica which was built in 1991-1994 and which has already made multi-stop flights from the UK to Australia and UK-South Africa.

The twin-engined replica bomber is the world's largest flying biplane, has a 70' wingspan and 4-bladed 10' propellers, stands over 15' high and will weigh over 6 tonnes fully laden on takeoff. It is built of wood, metal and fabric - just as was the original some 86 years ago, but as the original Rolls Royce Eagle V-12 engines are, understandably, hard to find, the aircraft has been powered by a number of different automotive-based engines - first from Chevrolet and then BMW - and now by a pair of 8.4 litre Canadian-built Orenda V8's, aero motors developed from a General Motors truck engine design.

Fossett and Rebholz have been flying the VImy relica - a veritable aerial time machine - with its new engines since last autumn here in northern California. According to Fossett, this very early design is a bear to fly and requires both pilots' attention, especially on take-off and landing. Following the completion of the installation of long-range fuel tanks, new engine cowlings and other final preparations for the Atlantic, the replica will be flown across the USA and Canada during May to arrive at St John's in anticipation of a TransAt weather standby period beginning around June 14 - the anniversary of Alcock and Brown's epic flight.

For additional information please contact Stuart Radnofsky - stuart@project100.com