Friday, November 18, 2016

Wasaga Beach to Baghdad

Larry Milberry, Aviation in Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1979
Pick two random places in the world to attempt a long distance record. James Ayling and and Leonard Reid pose in Wasaga Beach with their DeHavilland Dragon Trail of the Caribou (and their Ford) before setting off for Baghdad in August of 1934. Unfortunately they never made it, 31 hours into the flight, the plane was forced to land near London England and the attempt was abandoned. This was the first transatlantic flight from the Canadian mainland to Britain.

2 comments:

Planemech said...

I had never heard of this attempt. From a different website : "On August 28, 1958, a stone cairn commemorating the historic flight was unveiled with due ceremony at the entrance to Nancy Island Historic Site."

Good ride destination for next summer!

Mister G said...

I had never heard of the flight either- or the cairn.

BTW, send a picture of the cairn if you get there before me :-)