27 August 2024
UPDATED Catalina seaplane versus 1932 Rolls-Royce in a race across France. Who would you put your money on?
The race is between Duxford-based Plane Sailing’s WWII Catalina and the special Rolls-Royce prepared for the 1932 Earls Court Motor Show.
Saturday 31 August update: Unfortunately, the race has been cancelled at the last minute because the aircraft has ‘gone tech’ with an engine issue (see below).
The idea is ‘a modern take on Woolf Barnato’s famous race in 1930 against the Blue Train, the equivalent of today’s TGV, which ran from the south of France to Calais’.
To show that travelling by car was faster than going by train, Woolf, then chairman of Bentley, bet £100 that he could leave Cannes in his Bentley when the train set off, drive across France, cross the channel, and be at his club in London before the train pulled up in Calais. He succeeded by a mere three minutes!
The very special classic Rolls-Royce
This time Plane Sailing’s Paul Warren Wilson, director and Chief Pilot, will fly the Catalina from Cambrai Airfield near Lille, where it’s taking part in an air show, to Biscarrosse, Parentis Airfield, south of Bordeaux, before flying on to the Biscarrosse Lake.
The lake is used to train seaplane and float plane pilots in water landing and take off, and is the centre of French hydroaviation.
The challenge car is a Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental 1932 with Hooper original sportsman saloon body. It is the winner of various prizes at international RR club events. The drive team are Mark Wadkins, Steve McIndoe and Wojtek Kordel.
