CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) — A vintage biplane flew past and landed near Egypt’s iconic Pyramids of Giza on Sunday (November 13) on the second leg of a month-long journey through Africa.
The biplane, from the 1920s and 1930s, is just one out of 12 others embarking on the journey, which began in Crete, Greece on Saturday (November 12).
The landing represented the first time an aircraft was allowed to land at the ancient site. However the site did not have the capacity to host all 12 biplanes.
The planes are recreating a route traveled by Imperial Airways, a British commercial air transport company that served the routes of the British empire to its colonies in Africa during those two decades.
“This vintage air rally is a wonderful opportunity to recreate what the great pilots of the years 20 have done in the past, and it’s now also for us an opportunity for us to discover this wonderful continent, and of course this wonderful country and this site in particular, the Pyramids of Egypt, it’s just absolutely fantastic,” said the pilot, Cedric Collet.
The race, which is being held for charity, is expected to cover over 12,800 kilometers, with the oldest plane from 1928. The route ends in Cape Town, South Africa.
The pilots will be challenged by the weather elements in open cockpits, stretching their flight limits with the long distances. They will be sleeping in sandy deserts, under the wings of their planes in tents, and on riverboats on the Nile.
“So next step in Egypt we will visit Luxor, we will visit Aswan as well, we will fly above the Nile. We will visit Abu Simbel, we’ll also go to the Red Sea and then after that we continue onto Sudan,” Collet said.
Seven modern planes and three helicopters will be flying next to the group for support.
It is expected to take 35 days and 37 stops for the teams representing 18 countries – including Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, the United States, and Britain – to complete the race.
